Solo's Leash Mode

[Tamj]

I tested out the newly released leash mode and compared it with Follow with Free Look. It works amazingly well at least for a start. It kept me in frame.

The catch is the subject has to be fast moving otherwise it will have a hard time tracking you. For example, walking around will not keep you in frame as well as running away from it or driving. At least that is what I noticed during my tests. It could very well be heavily dependent on how accurate my GPS is so your result may be better.

Another thing I noticed is that in leash mode, the only thing you have control over is altitude and gimbal camera angle (if I remember correctly). That's it. You cannot add minor yaw, pitch, or roll corrections at all. I find the only way to prevent it from crashing into a nearby light pole or tree while flying low is to hit pause, adjust, and try again.

Perhaps this is something that should be improved on? Any thoughts?

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Being able to manually control pitch and roll in leash mode would effectively defeat it's purpose. It can't follow a path if you keep moving it.

 

[Tamj]

Being able to manually control pitch and roll in leash mode would effectively defeat it's purpose. It can't follow a path if you keep moving it.

That is a good point but let's admit it.. It's not perfect. It could still benefit from having the ability to have some control, even if it's only a few feet, when framing a shot with leash mode.

Imagine the scenario where you use leash mode to follow an unpredictable path of a subject. You notice the Solo start to drift off by a little bit and would like to re-adjust the yaw by a few degrees (for example). Your only option is to fully stop by switching to loiter (pause) or to another abrupt mode.

From a cinematic point of view, you're putting too much trust into the drone with no say rather than working together with it. You could use Follow to correct this but then you lose the ability to have Solo automatically handle the camera framing and now have to fully control the camera and adjust the drone as needed.

In other words, Leash Mode has the potential to be the opposite of Follow Mode with Free Look. You let Solo handle the camera because it does it very well, but you focus on minor adjustments to the drone itself. This results in the intended cooperative relationship that falls in line with the philosophy of the Solo where you have a second virtual co-pilot that works with you.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Right, but to what end. At what point does the solo go back to following the GPS course? If you move it, then what? does it go back to course after some random time? Does it give up and just take only manual commands? Does it keep looking where you point it or eventually go back to aiming at the subject?

 

[pyrate]

I will say this about follow, it is much more accurate than it was. It was almost unusable for me up until this release

 

[Tamj]

Right, but to what end. At what point does the solo go back to following the GPS course? If you move it, then what? does it go back to course after some random time? Does it give up and just take only manual commands? Does it keep looking where you point it or eventually go back to aiming at the subject?

Easier than that. You'd only be "shifting" the coordinates so to speak. So say Solo drifts across the X plane, you adjust the X plane without touching Y or Z it'll still follow the path you took plus the delta change to each plane. It's similar or exactly what Follow Free Look does when you adjust it, it begins following you on that newly adjusted path.

So for those that don't have a barometer in their device, they can still adjust altitude for example. I tried testing it with an LG V10 but it appears that it does not seem to take altitude into account.. not even the phone's altitude to account for altitude changes.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

You can still adjust the altitude manually when in leash mode. I believe you have to use the camera pitch paddle to move the altitude up and down. Or I could be thinking of a different mode.