Discussions

Can a APM-equipped quadcopter take off from a boat?

Posted by Shouyeh Gong on March 19, 2014 at 6:21pm

Hell, I am trying to do photomapping by UAV for a remote coral reef near Taiwan. It's out of the cruise range of our quad from land. I am thinking to take the quad, with APM 2.6 + GPS 6H, on a boat, sail to the reef, then launch the quad from the boat.

My question is, will the gyro in APM 2.6 function properly if it take off from a boat if the boat wobbles more or less?

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26, apm, gyro, photomapping, quadcopter

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Replies

Choppy March 21, 2014 at 5:49am

I have done similar work and found a aluminum hulled boat works best. We had found the compass cal failed as there was a steel frame for the shade cloth roof very close to our takeoff platform at the bow so we removed it and replaced it with wood.

Re calibrated and flew off water for 40 days.
- Shouyeh Gong > Choppy March 21, 2014 at 6:32am
  
  You could save me a crash. I never thought about the metal effect to magnetism. Good to hear from someone who has done it. The boat is made of FRP, the keel is probably wood. But the sunshade has steel frame. I need to do some test first.
T3

Richard Boyhan March 21, 2014 at 4:53am

You should think about building a Tupperware box copter. So if you ditch in the ocean you won't lose it all.
- Choppy > Richard Boyhan April 10, 2014 at 6:37am
  
  This is a good idea. However baro pressure is hard to sense and hard to alt hold if the container is rigid. Ive tried it.
  
  There are waterproof membranes around as well for this reason. In fact, try AQUACOPTERS.com and their latest version has this option. I have the first version and made a small snorkel as a breather and it went great. Can carry a gopro for about 7mins.
  
  Aquacopters.com
- criro1999 > Richard Boyhan March 21, 2014 at 5:24am
  
  when I fly over the water I do attach those noddles pools...
  
  sure the flight time will be shorted because of dragging airflow, but at least save my model
  
  remove them easy when not need
  
  www.aerialtasks.com
  - Shouyeh Gong > criro1999 March 21, 2014 at 6:17am
    
    Cool! Just like the floats. But it's better never use it. The electronics will be damaged by water I guess.
    - criro1999 > Shouyeh Gong March 21, 2014 at 6:43am
      
      I land couple of times in water, no damage to electronics, even with GoPro without waterproof case.
      
      If land by water by mistake, just unplug the battery (GoPro also), then flush all electronics with distilate water, dry them with heat gun (hair is good) and leave them in a pot with rice couple of days.
      
      Never try to re-plug the battery if you are not 100% the humidity is off.
      
      Salt water create more damage, because is corosive. If you land in salt water, wash all electronics immediatelly with regular water, do not allow to dry the salt water on them.
criro1999 March 20, 2014 at 7:09am

Take into consideration the RTL (return to launch) if your boat is moving during the flight.

If boat is moving, then maybe you need to adjust your Home location, you can use a GPS attatched to MissionPlanner to see the drifting
- Shouyeh Gong > criro1999 March 20, 2014 at 7:39am
  
  Good point. I better anchor the boat when I do it.
Shouyeh Gong March 20, 2014 at 6:56am

@ Eddie

I will work on it.