Crashed Drone today.

[MavPro72]

So today was the first time i tried Active Track on my Mavic Pro 2. In an empty carpark, i thought safest place to try it. I had it follow my car, where i was going maybe 10mph. The drone was probably 20ft above the car following. It was doing ok in a straight line, however the first time i went around the corner, i decided to hit a tree and spin out of control. I guess the collision detection isn't all that great. I'm very lucky, the drone seems to be ok for the most part. I had to replace a couple of props, and the sensors / lights at the back feet were all scuffed up and hanging from their wires. But i managed to push them back in. The gimbal looks like it took a scuffing but that all seems to be working. I took her for a test flight and everything seems to be working ok.. I don't think i'll ever try active tracking again. What's the deal with Active Tracking. Should it not have detected the tree branches and avoided them on its own ?

 

[Lionfish]

Hey sorry to hear your story.

I believe that collision avoidance isn’t a perfect system to rely on , collisions with tree branches are very common as are overhead cables etc.

It’s a great tool but you can’t expect it to work 100% .

 

[lannes]

The branches of a tree are often too thin for the OA to detect them, it's a technology limitation at the moment.
It works well with larger fuller obstacles e.g. trees with dense foilage

 

[TreeHugger]

So today was the first time i tried Active Track on my Mavic Pro 2. In an empty carpark, i thought safest place to try it. I had it follow my car, where i was going maybe 10mph. The drone was probably 20ft above the car following. It was doing ok in a straight line, however the first time i went around the corner, i decided to hit a tree and spin out of control. I guess the collision detection isn't all that great. I'm very lucky, the drone seems to be ok for the most part. I had to replace a couple of props, and the sensors / lights at the back feet were all scuffed up and hanging from their wires. But i managed to push them back in. The gimbal looks like it took a scuffing but that all seems to be working. I took her for a test flight and everything seems to be working ok.. I don't think i'll ever try active tracking again. What's the deal with Active Tracking. Should it not have detected the tree branches and avoided them on its own ?

Quite brave of you, sir! Driving / Flying @ the same time?
- Yes - I've considered it...

 

[offtheback]

So today was the first time i tried Active Track on my Mavic Pro 2. In an empty carpark, i thought safest place to try it. I had it follow my car, where i was going maybe 10mph. The drone was probably 20ft above the car following. It was doing ok in a straight line, however the first time i went around the corner, i decided to hit a tree and spin out of control. I guess the collision detection isn't all that great. I'm very lucky, the drone seems to be ok for the most part. I had to replace a couple of props, and the sensors / lights at the back feet were all scuffed up and hanging from their wires. But i managed to push them back in. The gimbal looks like it took a scuffing but that all seems to be working. I took her for a test flight and everything seems to be working ok.. I don't think i'll ever try active tracking again. What's the deal with Active Tracking. Should it not have detected the tree branches and avoided them on its own ?

Better than crashing your car into a tree.So you got that going for you,which is nice.

 

[MavPro72]

Quite brave of you, sir! Driving / Flying @ the same time?
- Yes - I've considered it...

Yes it was in a completely empty Church carpark. No other cars or people and the worst part, hardly any trees. It was as safe as you could get... and i was literally crawling at 10mph. Being the lanes were wide and everything so flat, i could comfortably watch the app & drive at the same time. I was watching the drone following. When i saw it going crazy in the tree from the comfort of my car, part of me felt sick Like a dream you're glad you wake up from... I'm still a little gutted. The drone has taken some damage.

 

[passedpawn]

Yes it was in a completely empty Church carpark. No other cars or people and the worst part, hardly any trees. It was as safe as you could get... and i was literally crawling at 10mph. Being the lanes were wide and everything so flat, i could comfortably watch the app & drive at the same time. I was watching the drone following. When i saw it going crazy in the tree from the comfort of my car, part of me felt sick Like a dream you're glad you wake up from... I'm still a little gutted. The drone has taken some damage.

I've played with it. Seems very good in my opinion. Didn't occur to me (honestly) to make it follow my car.

Here's my first trial with it, which went well! I told it to follow me, threw the controller in the bike basket. No worries!

 

[boblui]

The M2 is rather old. If you want the latest active tracking + obstcale avoidance technology, get an Air 2.

 

[TreeHugger]

Oh thanks, @passedpawn - now I have to buy a bike...
Seriously, that is cool. I've not tried this feature.

 

[JAW]

Here's my first trial with it, which went well! I told it to follow me, threw the controller in the bike basket. No worries!

Nice video but I have to say lady luck was with you.....many low lying tree branches that the flight path avoided but may not have had the path varied by just a couple feet.

 

[jonthecourier]

Hi. A very nice video, but even better properties wow, but if you ride that bike again make sure you put the seat up as you will suffer from knee problems sooner or later.

 

[PistonPete]

Here's my first trial with it, which went well! I told it to follow me, threw the controller in the bike basket. No worries!

Did the lady at the end feel concerned that you were being followed by the CIA/MI5/FBI/MFI/B&Q/M&S (Other abbreviations are available) ??

 

[passedpawn]

Nice video but I have to say lady luck was with you.....many low lying tree branches that the flight path avoided but may not have had the path varied by just a couple feet.

Here's another video demonstrating Active Track. The drone attempts to navigate around obstacles, sliding to the side and changing elevation autonomously. But it does occasionally get stuck - several times I had to use the remote to nudge it around one of those branches. The important thing to note from this video, besides my need for more exercise, is that it never actually hit anything. I'm sure if I pressed it enough, it would clip some of that hanging spanish moss and go down though.

Anyway, not meant to be Hollywood quality, just a demo of the feature.

[edit] BTW, it's a Mavic 2P

 

[passedpawn]

Hi. A very nice video, but even better properties wow, but if you ride that bike again make sure you put the seat up as you will suffer from knee problems sooner or later.

That bike is only for the neighborhood. I've got a sweet hybrid for short rides and sweeter bike for long distance road roads, both with the proper seat height

 

[scoble08]

The M2 is rather old. If you want the latest active tracking + obstcale avoidance technology, get an Air 2.

Latest active track and OA tech would probably be a Skydio 2.

 

[MavPro72]

AND ! that was my problem... I've watched video's as above, which gave me a false sense of confidence. Here was my crash, in an empty carpark, with very little in the way of trees.

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Please excuse the poor attempt at blurring out my lic plate. First time using Premiere to object track and i struggled getting it right.

 

[Drbobk]

It seemed like the drone wanted to catch up to the car, but would get too close and then have to wait for the car to put some distance between them, and then it would almost overrun the car again. It was a lot less smooth than I would have expected.

 

[Masbrew]

The M2 is rather old. If you want the latest active tracking + obstcale avoidance technology, get an Air 2.

Or the Skydio2. Thing is amazing!

 

[MaxE1955!]

I've played with it. Seems very good in my opinion. Didn't occur to me (honestly) to make it follow my car.

Here's my first trial with it, which went well! I told it to follow me, threw the controller in the bike basket. No worries!

I’d say that it performed beautifully! I’ve never used tracking but if you can get those kind of result I just might have to try it out. It avoided all the branches with foliage easily! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Skull Studios]

Stick with your 1” sensor buddy yes there are smaller budget drones out there but there’s a reason it’s still a high seller for DJI