HOWDY! Newby with a question about non-cinema-quality drones...

[Medium Jock]

First of all, cool community!

Second of all, I am an utter noob and not highly tech savvy, either.

Third of all, at the risk of being revealed as an utter buffoon, I'm working on an odd little project and am looking for a drone that can do a really good job of following me on a bicycle. But, I don't need it to take amazing, high-quality video of me doing it; low-res is fine. I'd rather have less up-front cost and/or extended flight time - say, 90 minutes or so.

Ideally, it would be able to follow at a constant, but user-adjustable, distance at an altitude of between 8 and 15 feet while taking decent-quality video from front and rear and avoiding any obstacles, like branches and tractors.

Is this possible? Where would I look?

And, THANKS!

 

[Cafguy]

Are you wanting to set it loose on your own and do all this? If so then its really not possible, and it's not legal either.
You need a good pilot and while the pilot can use such "features" as obstacle avoidance, it wouldnt do much good around trees and foliage. As for the Drone to use.... ANY DJI would fit your bill. I myself would do such things with a whoop like the avata 2 but any will do.
Obstacle avoidance cant see things like small branches and thats what usually gets your Drone..
While flying a Drone the person doing so must have sight of the drone at all times you must also know its orientation at all times and you cannot legally fly while distracted SO NO riding a bike and letting the Drone follow you! the follow feature on most Drones except the newest actually leave something to be desired when it comes to following..say a fast moving bike in a wooded area and it wont fly very far before loosing you and going to hover.
If you have a buddy to "spot" you and hold the controller. Then have fun.
AND
Welcome to the Forum from Bakersfield!!

 

[Meta4]

I'd rather have less up-front cost and/or extended flight time - say, 90 minutes or so.

You won't find any consumer drone that can fly for 90 minutes.
30 minutes or so would be a more realistic time to hope for.
Unless you are just riding a small circuit in the vicinity of your starting point, you'll also need a drone with a dynamic homepoint feature or manually reset the homepoint several times during the flight to prevent the drone flying all the way back to where it started when the battery level is getting close to what would be needed to fly that distance.

 

[GadgetGuy]

You won't find any consumer drone that can fly for 90 minutes.
30 minutes or so would be a more realistic time to hope for.
Unless you are just riding a small circuit in the vicinity of your starting point, you'll also need a drone with a dynamic homepoint feature or manually reset the homepoint several times during the flight to prevent the drone flying all the way back to where it started when the battery level is getting close to what would be needed to fly that distance.

To that point, currently, the only current DJI drone that I am aware of with true dynamic home point is the Mavic 4 Pro with the new RC Pro 2 controller. Three batteries would be required for 90 minutes, with two battery changes en route.

 

[AeroJ]

Yeah, if you need 90 minutes of recording I can't help thinking drones are not the way to go.
I have seen some great 'drone-looking' results people have got attaching an action cam (with in-cam stabilisation) to a selfie pole, and then mounting that on the rear of the bike frame so it follows from behind and above by a few feet.

Action cams do get into the 90 minutes of record range, and a camera on a pole will make the ride much more enjoyable because you won't be constantly trying to look over your shoulder to check if the drone has crashed, and won't have to be responsible for controlling it in flight, thereby avoiding associated legality issues !

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yeah, if you need 90 minutes of recording I can't help thinking drones are not the way to go.
I have seen some great 'drone-looking' results people have got attaching an action cam (with in-cam stabilisation) to a selfie pole, and then mounting that on the rear of the bike frame so it follows from behind and above by a few feet.

Action cams do get into the 90 minutes of record range, and a camera on a pole will make the ride much more enjoyable because you won't be constantly trying to look over your shoulder to check if the drone has crashed, and won't have to be responsible for controlling it in flight, thereby avoiding associated legality issues !

A couple of 360° cameras, one mounted in front and one in back on selfie sticks might also do the trick, with a continuous choice of front and rear views. Might have to swap batteries or recharge in the middle, though.

 

[AeroJ]

Might have to swap batteries or recharge in the middle, though.

Fortunately most 360 or action cams come with 3 battery pack options these days, so OP could easily cover his ride time even on big extended trips. My old Osmo Action 3 gets up to 2 hours on a single pack if I'm lucky.

 

[PINEBARON]

I realize I'm not quite answering your question but this is what I did on my mountain bike to help active track me while biking over suitable terrain; setup for a DJI RC2 controller and solid, does not move a bit, my RC2 Pro is too big and heavy to install there however carried it in my backpack with a bunch of drone batteries, useful to stop by to capture/record scenic views. For the tracking drone, I last used my Mavic 4 Pro although I also have an A3S. I may invest in a Mini Pro 5 next, lighter with lighter batteries.

 

[Cafguy]

If caught operating a drone while riding a bike you face an FAA fine of 100 thousand dollars and more.
I wouldnt do it!

 

[AeroJ]

If caught operating a drone while riding a bike you face an FAA fine of 100 thousand dollars and more.
I wouldnt do it!

I distantly recall watching a video that mentioned an exception to the VLOS rule when doing active track and riding a bike ? Or did I dream that ?

 

[Cafguy]

Not sure about an exception maybe a 107 operator with a waiver.....but heres the tally I get for doing it as a recreational pilot :
Flying BVLOS.......$32,666
Reckless or careless operation of a drone..........$ 32,000
Operating an aircraft while distracted or operating a drone from a moving vehicle........$ 30,000.
and then there are any other fines, and attorney fees.