Has anyone used the follow Me mode in a car

[blomdido]

I am off to the Isle of Wight next weekend. I was considering using the follow Me mode, with drone around 140 ft up, whilst driving along a small length of the Southern coast line towards the needles.
There are a few secluded stretches of road following the coast line. My only reservation is whether or not I am able to offset drone, so it is not above the road. Maybe I could use waypoints on Litchi app to do this, and try to match speed of driving to speed of drone. My partner will be holding remote, whilst I drive.
Has anyone tried this, any advice ?

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

I am off to the Isle of Wight next weekend. I was considering using the follow Me mode, with drone around 140 ft up, whilst driving along a small length of the Southern coast line towards the needles.
There are a few secluded stretches of road following the coast line. My only reservation is whether or not I am able to offset drone, so it is not above the road. Maybe I could use waypoints on Litchi app to do this, and try to match speed of driving to speed of drone. My partner will be holding remote, whilst I drive.
Has anyone tried this, any advice ?

I have not done it but have seen videos of people doing it. The controller will not work if it is in a closed car. On open window with the controller aimed at the drone should work fine.
I am sure you will get many opinions.
I used follow me on my bicycle on a scenic route with the controller strapped to my backpack and it was amazing
Good luck!

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

It works (Controller on seat next to me)

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

It works (Controller on seat next to me)

That's pretty cool. No lost connection?

 

[blomdido]

It works (Controller on seat next to me)

Cool test run, did a good job. Except flying over a built up area. We can’t do that in the UK, have to be at least 50 metres away from buildings. Hence I will be doing this on a remote road along the coast. No buildings around.
I see You used the Litchi app, is this the one where You draw a box around the object to follow ? I reckon the DJI GO app may be safer as it is following the remote control. I’m going to do a test run on a remote road near Me . But I’d like to offset drone slightly from road, in case of the unthinkable, something happens and it falls ours of the sky. I do have Litchi app too.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[blomdido]

I have not done it but have seen videos of people doing it. The controller will not work if it is in a closed car. On open window with the controller aimed at the drone should work fine.
I am sure you will get many opinions.
I used follow me on my bicycle on a scenic route with the controller strapped to my backpack and it was amazing
Good luck!

Thanks for Your reply. I will have My Girlfriend in passenger seat. I’ll get Her to hold remote out the window. Hang on, I have a sunroof. [emoji106]
Do You know of a way of having drone slightly offset from the road running along parallel to it ?

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

No lost connection as far as the control and video feed. The only spot it had issue with was when it started to drift off (around the 1:20 mark). I was going faster than it and just pulled into a driveway till it found me again. The flight was done before I modded the controller with amplifiers and external antennas. I'm sure it wouldn't have that problem now. As far as the height flown, 200ft up was quite safe (60 meters). I had set it to 150ft lateral distance for the offset. The device used was a Samsung Galaxy S5 that has a barometer in it. If your device does not have a barometer the Phantom wont rise and fall with changing terrain.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

Thanks for Your reply. I will have My Girlfriend in passenger seat. I’ll get Her to hold remote out the window. Hang on, I have a sunroof. [emoji106]
Do You know of a way of having drone slightly offset from the road running along parallel to it ?

If you set the DISTANCE at least 50-100ft away and set the little compass icon for the direction, you can have it fly along from the side.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

This type of flight can be fairly dangerous both for you and your little flying friend. Remember, YOU driving (Or whoever is) is the priority! Your mental focus on the Phantom takes the backseat. Power lines, trees and any other tall objects won't be in your mind typically as you come upon them. So keep in mind the area you do this in.

 

[foconnell1]

I have done this with much success. I have roof mounted omnis that help.

 

[Roamer105]

I am off to the Isle of Wight next weekend. I was considering using the follow Me mode, with drone around 140 ft up, whilst driving along a small length of the Southern coast line towards the needles.
There are a few secluded stretches of road following the coast line. My only reservation is whether or not I am able to offset drone, so it is not above the road. Maybe I could use waypoints on Litchi app to do this, and try to match speed of driving to speed of drone. My partner will be holding remote, whilst I drive.
Has anyone tried this, any advice ?

Consider using (Hangar) Autopilot for that letting the drone focus on the smart phone/controller (in car while driving). You can set the altitude which it will maintain relative to the car (even if the car goes up or down a hill. You can set other parameters such as distance to the car and angles of view (either in front, sides or behind or at an absolute angle. You can also have it orbit the car while following it etc. Very powerful and very precise as it uses GPS coordinates to focus and follow not "image recognition" which is notoriously unreliable.

If you don't drive yourself you can change many of these parameters and behaviors while driving and get some really cool cinematic video.

 

[blomdido]

Yes. I’ve done it, as a test, on a small scale. You can offset drone from road. It worked a treat when I tried. I visit the island each year, and Wang to try this Myself. Please post on map, where You’re thinking of trying. Also You might like a Video I did on Youtube. I’ll follow with a link

 

[blomdido]

 

[Chrislaf]

Consider using (Hangar) Autopilot for that letting the drone focus on the smart phone/controller (in car while driving). You can set the altitude which it will maintain relative to the car (even if the car goes up or down a hill. You can set other parameters such as distance to the car and angles of view (either in front, sides or behind or at an absolute angle. You can also have it orbit the car while following it etc. Very powerful and very precise as it uses GPS coordinates to focus and follow not "image recognition" which is notoriously unreliable.

If you don't drive yourself you can change many of these parameters and behaviors while driving and get some really cool cinematic video.

I second the recommendation for AutoPilot. I have used it to track myself out snowmobiling on lake ice.

Out of all the tracking software I have used - DJI GO, and Litchi on my P3S and DJI GO4 on my Spark, AutoPilot is by far the best and most reliable. BUT AutoPilot is iOS only, is no longer being supported or developed, and cost money to purchase so I would not recommend investing in/using it unless you already have it.

Chris