Active Track / Obstacle Avoidance Torture Test

passedpawn · Aug 4, 2019

I'm a super-noob. Just got my first drone this week (M2P) and figuring out how to fly it, and some of the features. Today I tested active track through a nearby trail, and while bicycling around my neighborhood. I'm very impressed with the ability of the M2P to track me and avoid street sign etc.

One thing I did notice in the video (and while riding my bike) is that the drone would surge forward then fall back, repeat. It didn't really seem to gauge my speed properly. You can see it starting at about 1:00 in the bike video.

Probably not the first person to post these types of vids. I'm a noob!

Thomas B · Aug 4, 2019

Nice job!

RayOZ · Aug 4, 2019

Good effort. Thumbswayup

Glad to know it works. Still not game enough to try with my own M2P.

Marty Markoe · Aug 5, 2019

passedpawn said:
bike) is that the drone would surge forward then fall back, repeat. It didn't really seem to gauge my speed properly. You can see it starting at about 1:00 in the bike video.

This occurs as the Drone encounters an obstacle and pauses a short while to figure out how to avoid it either going up or down or around. In other words, this is normal.

passedpawn · Aug 5, 2019

Marty Markoe said:
This occurs as the Drone encounters an obstacle and pauses a short while to figure out how to avoid it either going up or down or around. In other words, this is normal.

I guess I had it tracking too closely then. I think somewhere around 15 feet is where the obstacle avoidance kicks in, and that was about the distance it was from me.

FASTFJR · Aug 5, 2019

Does the active track work in front of a person flying backwards? My buddy wants me to get some video of him surfing

passedpawn · Aug 5, 2019

FASTFJR said:
Does the active track work in front of a person flying backwards? My buddy wants me to get some video of him surfing

I've tested from the side ("Profile mode"). That worked really well. And, in the videos above, I tested from behind ("Trace mode").

I did at one point during Trace mode I stopped, turned around, and moved towards the drone. Indeed, it started moving backwards. I suspect that it would keep going backwards until I turned, at which time it would probably go to the side or behind me again. I need to test.

passedpawn · Aug 5, 2019

BTW, in the first video (through woods) I "helped" the drone during the flight a few times by tapping down on the altitude. I don't know if I needed to, but I was a little concerned with low-hanging branches. The only time it got stuck was at 3:00. I had to cancel active track, manually move it through the obstruction, then reactivate active track.

Jim Flannery K0UNX · Aug 5, 2019

My experience with Active Track is identical to yours. It is VERY IMPRESSIVE, but you are correct that it has trouble judging your speed, so it tends to SURGE and PAUSE. The speed seems to be determined by gauging the "size of the target." When I had it track me through forest, I learned that the very best VIDEO (most PLEASING) is when it was nearing and avoiding obstacles. With that in mind, I've been doing much more "close to the ground" work than I used to. Trying to fly THROUGH and NEAR objects, rather than just "from above the world. An EXCELLENT test and presentation! Kudos, my friend.

cameraman52 · Aug 5, 2019

passedpawn said:
I'm a super-noob. Just got my first drone this week (M2P) and figuring out how to fly it, and some of the features. Today I tested active track through a nearby trail, and while bicycling around my neighborhood. I'm very impressed with the ability of the M2P to track me and avoid street sign etc.

One thing I did notice in the video (and while riding my bike) is that the drone would surge forward then fall back, repeat. It didn't really seem to gauge my speed properly. You can see it starting at about 1:00 in the bike video.

Probably not the first person to post these types of vids. I'm a noob!

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Do you enabled APAS?

passedpawn · Aug 5, 2019

cameraman52 said:
Do you enabled APAS?

Sadly I'm not sure what that is (yet). It's one of the many buttons / features I haven't gotten to. I see the icon but didn't know what happened when I clicked it. I think it turned blue one time, and I also have seen some "not available" message when I clicked it and it was on the ground. Help?

RayOZ · Aug 5, 2019

If your own speed changes, it can cause it to oscillate further. You speed up, it’ll try to speed up, but then you slow down, it then tries to slow down, and so on.

cameraman52 · Aug 5, 2019

passedpawn said:
Sadly I'm not sure what that is (yet). It's one of the many buttons / features I haven't gotten to. I see the icon but didn't know what happened when I clicked it. I think it turned blue one time, and I also have seen some "not available" message when I clicked it and it was on the ground. Help?

paulatkin73 · Aug 5, 2019

passedpawn said:
I'm a super-noob. Just got my first drone this week (M2P) and figuring out how to fly it, and some of the features. Today I tested active track through a nearby trail, and while bicycling around my neighborhood. I'm very impressed with the ability of the M2P to track me and avoid street sign etc.
One thing I did notice in the video (and while riding my bike) is that the drone would surge forward then fall back, repeat. It didn't really seem to gauge my speed properly. You can see it starting at about 1:00 in the bike video.

so, be aware that side sensors are not as good as front/rear sensors and they most likely will not see small leafless branches properly, if you start flying sideways. overall, do not expect object avoidance to be 100% reliable, especially around moving branches/trees or thin wires. in ideal conditions it all works as you saw it, but, in less than ideal conditions - it may fail.
and the one thing mavics are not designed for at all - they are not designed to survive crashes well. so, flying in full auto mode through the forest is impressive, until it works as expected, but, it may fail and then it will be quite an expensive fix process.

Ralph thompson · Aug 5, 2019

I have noticed the surge but I was trying Active Track yesterday out in the country away from obstacles, people & places. My theory is that it must do some heavy calculations when it tracks in an orbit around a subject for which it only has one perspective view. So my thoughts are that the computer may choke on the calculations and miss a few iterations to catch up. U can see this in my video.

Greg Webb · Aug 5, 2019

Wouldn't complain a bit. Good job neighbor!

GFields · Aug 5, 2019

I'm mailing you two citations for "failing to stop" at stop signs

Good videos

paul050079 · Aug 5, 2019

APAS. Automatic Positioning Avoidance System. All sensors ON

Mossiback · Aug 5, 2019

You may have noticed that it will cut corners when tracking. You can see it in your video. While tracking it can side slip into something that is not seen by the sensors. YouTube is full of crash videos demonstrating this.

I would fly it for a while before messing with active track and trees. That way you would get some enjoyment from it before it crashed.

passedpawn · Aug 5, 2019

Ralph thompson said:
I have noticed the surge but I was trying Active Track yesterday out in the country away from obstacles, people & places. My theory is that it must do some heavy calculations when it tracks in an orbit around a subject for which it only has one perspective view. So my thoughts are that the computer may choke on the calculations and miss a few iterations to catch up. U can see this in my video.

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