Adjusting Height in Follow-Me Mode

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Hey everybody -

I played around with the follow-me mode significantly for the first time this past week in Austin, and it was definitely a learning experience. I figure before I go rambling on my experience - here is my burning question of the night:

In follow-me mode, does the Solo stop moving horizontally when the height (vertical) is adjusted?

I've tried to adjust the height to go over some trees and it just stopped to adjust the height. I wanted to see if this was similar to your experience with the follow-me mode as well? I know we can adjust the height simultaneously when it's continuously moving in orbit mode...but follow-me mode seems to be different....?

My learning experience with Follow-Me Mode taught me a couple of things:
  • When you point the camera/solo towards you and move towards the Solo while moving, the solo does a good job with its Gimbal keeping you in the frame. I was in a car and we passed the Solo in about a minute later moving steadily at 20-25 MPH. This is kind of disappointing (single-ski water skiing goes 30-36 MPH) but hope I can figure something out.
  • Whenever you traveling faster than the Solo, the gimbal will eventually have been adjusted to at 0 degrees keeping you in frame...but when you finally fall out of frame, the Solo will simply stop flying and the gimbal will return to it's preset (mine was 87 degrees) giving you a nice view where you've recently came from. It would be nice to see an option where it can follow you after you pass the Solo because those kind of shots are simply brilliant and awesome.
  • When you point the camera/solo behind you, and move away from the Solo...it does a pretty good job catching up if you get too far, but the flight itself wasn't smooth when I was steadily moving at 25 MPH. It kept catching up, fall back, then catch up again. It wasn't that noticeable with some of the clips when I moved slower though.
  • When I pointed the camera/Solo facing me, and I drove towards it before turning left. The Solo will not notice that you've changed direction and try to get back in front of you. It does look cool when the Solo was flying backwards, then sideways by itself...but it would have been nice if the Solo raced in front of keeping their original position of facing me....might be asking too much from Solo though =)
Thanks for reading my post and hope you can help me solve the Follow-Me Mode riddle! Have a great day, everybody!

Jon
 
I'd like to add my 2 cents to this topic. I just received my solo yesterday (have yet to be able to test fly). Ive been building and flying homemade crafts for the last couple years. I came to this hobby via independent filmmaking. With that said, one of the reason (among the many) i bought a solo, was the ability to do smart shots. I think the follow me mode is cool, but for the type of action shots you are describing, I would fly myself, as opposed to try and let the onboard computers try and figure out. From a filmmaking perspective, these types of action shots, we'd meet and discuss what is going to happen, what the director wants to achieve in the shot, and fly it.

I wouldn't count on follow me to be super accurate. I find the cable cam the most appealing smart shot. Since I could set up a beginning and end to a shot, run it through, adjust speed and framing as needed. Then I'd get an almost repeatable course over and over again (another reason I like tower). Looking forward to cable cam being a little more expandable, like creating multiple camera points along the path, to be a little more precise with where the camera looks. But as I said before, if I need to be that precise, I'd fly it myself, or aim the camera myself.

But thank you for your write. Sounds like the testing was a lot of fun.
 
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Have you tried using the follow me features in Tower? Its far better than the solo app. You can set it to follow left, right, circle, directly overhead, etc, as well as change the follow distance and altitude in flight.
 
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I'd like to add my 2 cents to this topic. I just received my solo yesterday (have yet to be able to test fly). Ive been building and flying homemade crafts for the last couple years. I came to this hobby via independent filmmaking. With that said, one of the reason (among the many) i bought a solo, was the ability to do smart shots. I think the follow me mode is cool, but for the type of action shots you are describing, I would fly myself, as opposed to try and let the onboard computers try and figure out. From a filmmaking perspective, these types of action shots, we'd meet and discuss what is going to happen, what the director wants to achieve in the shot, and fly it.

I wouldn't count on follow me to be super accurate. I find the cable cam the most appealing smart shot. Since I could set up a beginning and end to a shot, run it through, adjust speed and framing as needed. Then I'd get an almost repeatable course over and over again (another reason I like tower). Looking forward to cable cam being a little more expandable, like creating multiple camera points along the path, to be a little more precise with where the camera looks. But as I said before, if I need to be that precise, I'd fly it myself, or aim the camera myself.

But thank you for your write. Sounds like the testing was a lot of fun.

Troiano27 -

Thanks for your response and for your advice on manual flying! Manual flying is definitely a top choice for myself - and I feel comfortable doing so with the Solo. I am fairly new to the hobby and am loving every minute flying. I will continue to explore what droning has to offer. I do hope I get an opportunity to build/fly other drones so I can compare flying capabilities.

Another reason why I wanted to solve this follow-me mode riddle is because I wanted to try that out when someone is skiing down a mountain. My fear is that the Solo wouldn't lower themselves down the mountain when in follow-me mode - and I'm still looking for an answer to that.

I haven't explored into Tower...meaning to give it a try sometimes soon.

Jon
 
Troiano27 -

Thanks for your response and for your advice on manual flying! Manual flying is definitely a top choice for myself - and I feel comfortable doing so with the Solo. I am fairly new to the hobby and am loving every minute flying. I will continue to explore what droning has to offer. I do hope I get an opportunity to build/fly other drones so I can compare flying capabilities.

Another reason why I wanted to solve this follow-me mode riddle is because I wanted to try that out when someone is skiing down a mountain. My fear is that the Solo wouldn't lower themselves down the mountain when in follow-me mode - and I'm still looking for an answer to that.

I haven't explored into Tower...meaning to give it a try sometimes soon.

Jon
The 'Down The Mountain' shot would probably be best hand flown or use cable. Follow can not adjust altitude automatically since it has no way of know the altitude of the object/person it is following. Solo is getting position updates from your phone/tablet by GPS, but does not use GPS for altitude due primarily to the limitations of GPS accuracy (approx 20x horizontal, or +/- over 100'). Follow me mode accuracy/smoothness has also been shown to vary a great deal based on the phone/tablet used.
 
As @Jubalr said, the "down the mountain" shot for skiing is definitely a Cable Cam shot. I've experimented with it a lot. First of all there is the issue with elevation. None of the phones are accurate enough to give the Solo good elevation data. The Solo could use terrain maps to gauge altitude, but those aren't accurate enough either. Terrain maps are a little more accurate in the US than Europe, but still not good enough.

Also when following a skier, you have to be careful not to "wag the tail" into the woods on either side of the slope. In other words, as the skier turns the drone will swing out to the side (where the trees are!) as it tries to stay behind. If you do this, set your leash length accordingly and tell the skier to stay in the middle of the slope (which kind of defeats the purpose if you want to catch them arcing big wide GS turns).

The best is to set a cable cam shot up and manually control its speed. Alternatively, you can set two (or more) waypoints up in tower along the length of the slope, and then edit the params so the camera isn't locked to the path, but can be adjusted by the user as the mission plays. That's a lot more involved and the results aren't any better than doing a quick cable cam shot, unless you really plan it out in Tower ahead of time (and give yourself some time to practice).
 
Besides the fact that many ski resorts don't want drones on their mountains, "follow me" mode on a skier, is one of my top "things" I wanted to do with my Solo. Having said that, it is a shame that 3DR didn't keep "people going down a hill" in mind. It can't be that hard or expensive to make a little handheld device, with a barometer build in, that works be perfect for scenarios like going down a mountain. Wether it is on Mtb, dirt bike, skies or what not.

People say that flying manually will solve this, which is true, but I wanted to fly manually, I might as well gotten something else. Something that is not smart. [emoji5]

Speaking of barometer. I wonder if the barometer is used in cable cam, to set the altitude, or if GPS is used?

Thanks.
 
Besides the fact that many ski resorts don't want drones on their mountains, "follow me" mode on a skier, is one of my top "things" I wanted to do with my Solo. Having said that, it is a shame that 3DR didn't keep "people going down a hill" in mind. It can't be that hard or expensive to make a little handheld device, with a barometer build in, that works be perfect for scenarios like going down a mountain. Wether it is on Mtb, dirt bike, skies or what not.

People say that flying manually will solve this, which is true, but I wanted to fly manually, I might as well gotten something else. Something that is not smart. [emoji5]

Speaking of barometer. I wonder if the barometer is used in cable cam, to set the altitude, or if GPS is used?

Thanks.
It uses the barometer for anything related to altitude. It just can't be done remotely for shots like follow. As mentioned before, GPS can't be used for altitude and that is not a solo issue, it's a limitation of GPS. With accuracy margins over 100', it doesn't have much use in any drone. GPS Altitude Limits
 
Besides the fact that many ski resorts don't want drones on their mountains, "follow me" mode on a skier, is one of my top "things" I wanted to do with my Solo. Having said that, it is a shame that 3DR didn't keep "people going down a hill" in mind. It can't be that hard or expensive to make a little handheld device, with a barometer build in, that works be perfect for scenarios like going down a mountain. Wether it is on Mtb, dirt bike, skies or what not.

People say that flying manually will solve this, which is true, but I wanted to fly manually, I might as well gotten something else. Something that is not smart. [emoji5]

Speaking of barometer. I wonder if the barometer is used in cable cam, to set the altitude, or if GPS is used?

Thanks.
Having drone videoed skiers quite a bit, I think the ultimate skier mode would be a combination of Cable Cam and follow me. The skier would "pull" the Solo down the cable. (or "push" if you want a front view). That would prevent the skier from swinging the drone into the trees slope side - which can happen when skiers turn. We call it wagging the tail.

Even if you are skiing above tree line, on steep pitches you still have to be careful about swinging the drone into the mountain side (i.e. extreme skiers). Especially in chutes. With a 3DR Iris+ modified for high altitude (bigger props), you can do follow me by giving the phone with a MavLink antenna to the skier. You keep the transmitter and adjust altitude manually while the drone follows. Then you bring the drone home, disconnect from the first phone, connect to a new phone, and send another skier off with that.
 
It uses the barometer for anything related to altitude. It just can't be done remotely for shots like follow. As mentioned before, GPS can't be used for altitude and that is not a solo issue, it's a limitation of GPS. With accuracy margins over 100', it doesn't have much use in any drone. GPS Altitude Limits
I figured that the barometer would be used for anything altitude related.

What 3DR should do is, make a small device that connects to the Solo directly, not the controller, with a barometer build in. That way the issue of getting out of range and terrain follow would be solved.

Remember, with the Pixhawk you can do follow me using your phone and a telemetry radio attached to it. This way you don't even need the controller. Which is great, because it is much easier to put a phone in your pocket than a transmitter, ha ha.

Thanks.
 
Having drone videoed skiers quite a bit, I think the ultimate skier mode would be a combination of Cable Cam and follow me. The skier would "pull" the Solo down the cable. (or "push" if you want a front view). That would prevent the skier from swinging the drone into the trees slope side - which can happen when skiers turn. We call it wagging the tail.

Even if you are skiing above tree line, on steep pitches you still have to be careful about swinging the drone into the mountain side (i.e. extreme skiers). Especially in chutes. With a 3DR Iris+ modified for high altitude (bigger props), you can do follow me by giving the phone with a MavLink antenna to the skier. You keep the transmitter and adjust altitude manually while the drone follows. Then you bring the drone home, disconnect from the first phone, connect to a new phone, and send another skier off with that.
You were typing what I was thinking, or the other way around, ha ha.

Coming from a Pixhawk, I know exactly what you mean. Phone with telemetry in skiers pocket, send him down the mountain and you adjusting altitude. Done. However, I was quite disappointed when I found out, that the Solo's controller needs to be in range of that second phone... (assuming you have phone number one to see what's going on).

To me this is a big fail. How can they not think about that!? Not everyone sits on an ATV, like Collin does, dragging a backpack around, ha ha.

Another thing to consider is, that when you put your controller in a backpack, how are you supposed to "keep in control" of your aircraft???

Thanks. Pretty cool info about the skiing.
 
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Besides the fact that many ski resorts don't want drones on their mountains, "follow me" mode on a skier, is one of my top "things" I wanted to do with my Solo. Having said that, it is a shame that 3DR didn't keep "people going down a hill" in mind. It can't be that hard or expensive to make a little handheld device, with a barometer build in, that works be perfect for scenarios like going down a mountain. Wether it is on Mtb, dirt bike, skies or what not.

People say that flying manually will solve this, which is true, but I wanted to fly manually, I might as well gotten something else. Something that is not smart. [emoji5]

Speaking of barometer. I wonder if the barometer is used in cable cam, to set the altitude, or if GPS is used?

Thanks.
In cable cam the altitude and position of Solo is manually set by the user. No barometer or GPS involved.
 
In cable cam the altitude and position of Solo is manually set by the user. No barometer or GPS involved.
That's only the initial fixed point. They are talking about the object being followed changing altitude. Solo stays at the initial altitude since there is no way to monitor the altitude of the one being followed.
 
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You were typing what I was thinking, or the other way around, ha ha.

Coming from a Pixhawk, I know exactly what you mean. Phone with telemetry in skiers pocket, send him down the mountain and you adjusting altitude. Done. However, I was quite disappointed when I found out, that the Solo's controller needs to be in range of that second phone... (assuming you have phone number one to see what's going on).

To me this is a big fail. How can they not think about that!? Not everyone sits on an ATV, like Collin does, dragging a backpack around, ha ha.

Another thing to consider is, that when you put your controller in a backpack, how are you supposed to "keep in control" of your aircraft???

Thanks. Pretty cool info about the skiing.
Well we strap the MavLink antenna between the shoulder blades. You get the best reception for skiers that way.
 
In cable cam the altitude and position of Solo is manually set by the user. No barometer or GPS involved.
The Solo's barometer is used for altitude data as it is much more accurate. GPS is only used for X Y horizontal position. And of course the Solo itself takes care of camera tilt.
 
As @Jubalr said, the "down the mountain" shot for skiing is definitely a Cable Cam shot. I've experimented with it a lot. First of all there is the issue with elevation. None of the phones are accurate enough to give the Solo good elevation data. The Solo could use terrain maps to gauge altitude, but those aren't accurate enough either. Terrain maps are a little more accurate in the US than Europe, but still not good enough.

Also when following a skier, you have to be careful not to "wag the tail" into the woods on either side of the slope. In other words, as the skier turns the drone will swing out to the side (where the trees are!) as it tries to stay behind. If you do this, set your leash length accordingly and tell the skier to stay in the middle of the slope (which kind of defeats the purpose if you want to catch them arcing big wide GS turns).

The best is to set a cable cam shot up and manually control its speed. Alternatively, you can set two (or more) waypoints up in tower along the length of the slope, and then edit the params so the camera isn't locked to the path, but can be adjusted by the user as the mission plays. That's a lot more involved and the results aren't any better than doing a quick cable cam shot, unless you really plan it out in Tower ahead of time (and give yourself some time to practice).

that sounds feasible and is pretty much the answer that i needed to one of my previous posts, thanks Erik! really curious to see footage - do you have any video that you can share (perhaps with a private message if you dont feel like making it public?) thanks so much!
Jens
 
Cable cam multi setpoints along the slope with adjusted heights, and then speed adjustments from followme mode, that would have been awesome. 3DR, this should'nt be to hard to implement :)
 
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that sounds feasible and is pretty much the answer that i needed to one of my previous posts, thanks Erik! really curious to see footage - do you have any video that you can share (perhaps with a private message if you dont feel like making it public?) thanks so much!
Jens
Yeah. I can post an example of that. For I'd have to set something up for cable cam because it's new for this winter. I only have a couple hastily set up shots of my kids sledding. Which isn't long enough. But I'll try to set up some kind of example. Might be able to get my kid skiing.
 
You were typing what I was thinking, or the other way around, ha ha.

Coming from a Pixhawk, I know exactly what you mean. Phone with telemetry in skiers pocket, send him down the mountain and you adjusting altitude. Done. However, I was quite disappointed when I found out, that the Solo's controller needs to be in range of that second phone... (assuming you have phone number one to see what's going on).

To me this is a big fail. How can they not think about that!? Not everyone sits on an ATV, like Collin does, dragging a backpack around, ha ha.

Another thing to consider is, that when you put your controller in a backpack, how are you supposed to "keep in control" of your aircraft???

Thanks. Pretty cool info about the skiing.

Guys- the answer to this issue of controller-tablet-Solo location & distance is bridging the connection between Solo & Controller with a cellular modem connection that is failed over to once you exceed WiFi range. While I'm still developing this capability (topic for another discussion), I sprung for the ITELITE DBS drone antenna for Solo (ITELITE.com) and have tested the range out to over 1600' from controller to Solo. The ITELITE DBS looks like a small cell antenna that mounts to the controller and replaces the dinky dipole antennas. Effectively, "range" is now a matter of battery capacity since it takes a number of minutes for Solo to come back to me from 1600+ feet away. (22mph is "cruise" speed)
 

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