Vertical Studio - Looking for Beta Testers

[Neil Mathew]

Rails looks ideal. There is one issue I have with any set up like this though, and that is the difference between where the drone is and where it thinks it is. GPS seems to be out by up to 2m on any given day and that has been almost fatal on several occasions.
What I would like is to be able to draw a rail/waypoint route etc, whether it be with your app or Litchi (DJI is less of a problem with its insistence that you prefly the route) and adjust the entire route (maybe marquee select and drag) to allow for the GPS error. (Or for the app to adjust it for me)

For example, I had to fly down a tree-lined drive recently. The route was drawn as I wanted it flown but the GPS was out by about 1 metre. Not only did I shave a tree, the video looked amateurish.

I would like to draw a spot on the map and tell the drone to go there. Then once it's where it's been told to go, I could tell it where it actually is and adjustments could be made. So in my example I could tell it to go to the middle of the drive; it would actually go about 1m to one side and I could then point on the map where it really is. It would then adjust the route accordingly. That's my dream.
Or I could just fly high like everyone else, but I'd be looking for another job.

(eta did I just confuse everybody with that 'explanation'?)

That makes sense John! GPs inaccuracies do cause issues but the trouble with letting you tell the drone where it is, is that it could be fatal if you pick a wrong spot. But we can add some validation checks to make sure you're within a certain range. Another way to do it is to just be able to displace the path and shift it around the map, since you'll only need to make relative changes. Do you like the DJI "waypoint recording" system ? That could be a potentially useful concept here.

 

[Neil Mathew]

Had a play with Rails, not the most exciting video(s) but seemed to do a good job. 1st one set it fairly straight and just adjusted the height mid flight (to go over a tree). 2nd one set a partial orbit then turn quite sharply.

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Beautiful! We're now working on making the flight control more smooth and increasing the speed

 

[Neil Mathew]

Neil, I couldn't set the speed above 6.6ft/sec, pretty sure the 2 videos above were at this speed, is there a reason for this? Can get it faster in Orbit mode but not in Rails.

We actually kept the speed low as a safety check, since this was a first time release. Since we're not doing waypoints we have to smoothly control flight along a "spline" path. The faster the drone the harder it is to control the drone perfectly along a path - and so we're now working on better and faster controllers to make sure you can get fast, yet smooth and predictable motions.

 

[John Decker]

That makes sense John! GPs inaccuracies do cause issues but the trouble with letting you tell the drone where it is, is that it could be fatal if you pick a wrong spot. But we can add some validation checks to make sure you're within a certain range. Another way to do it is to just be able to displace the path and shift it around the map, since you'll only need to make relative changes. Do you like the DJI "waypoint recording" system ? That could be a potentially useful concept here.

Can you clarify what you mean by "it could be fatal if you pick a wrong spot"? I'm not sure I get it.
Your other point about the DJI system of pre-flying waypoints: it has its good points but is impractical in many situations, if only because of battery restrictions.
A global offset (displacing the path) would work.

 

[Neil Mathew]

Can you clarify what you mean by "it could be fatal if you pick a wrong spot"? I'm not sure I get it.
Your other point about the DJI system of pre-flying waypoints: it has its good points but is impractical in many situations, if only because of battery restrictions.
A global offset (displacing the path) would work.

Basically what I mean is, if a user accidentally specifies a wrong point as the "true" GPS location for the drone, it may alter all the GPS estimates for all functions (including walls). So perhaps a displacement works best.

 

[John Decker]

True. I'd argue that a displacement runs the same risk, but potential problems might be more obvious.
I once questioned a wine manufacturer as to why they suggested holding the screw cap whilst turning the bottle rather than vice versa. He said (and I suspect he was Australian) "when you're up to your knees in alligators it doesn't matter how you drain the swamp."

 

[AlexSP]

We actually kept the speed low as a safety check, since this was a first time release. Since we're not doing waypoints we have to smoothly control flight along a "spline" path. The faster the drone the harder it is to control the drone perfectly along a path - and so we're now working on better and faster controllers to make sure you can get fast, yet smooth and predictable motions.

Hi Neil, I really liked RAILS it´s pretty fast and accurate enough for me to setup quick "waypoint" mini-missions during sports filming (of which I´ve been doing a lot and more and more). Exactly what I´m looking for, in other words.

I´m not sure it´s possible but it would be great if we could control speed using the stick (FW, for instance) or any other easier/bigger/more accessible button or control, either on the screen or (preferably) the RC to slow down/speed up the AC.

I know it´s pretty much what RAILS or any other waypoint feature do, but I visualize as close-to-perfect something like the AC being locked on an easy-to-set and adjust "rail" (like, er... RAILS) and I can control yaw, speed, altitude and of course gimbal tilt. I´ve been having trouble with FOLLOW losing track of subjects even on pretty good light and contrast situations, so perhaps that could make up for lost tracking when filming action sports subjects.

 

[Baldo Mero]

Hi! I was wondering about what happened with the iOs Beta program. I read that previous active contributors would be invited to the new beta "in a few days" after sorting some issues with Apple, but at least I never received anything about it (i received one email for an interview on a different matter, so I guess that my data on the records is OK). Has this been postponed indefinitely? @Neil Mathew

 

[Neil Mathew]

Hi! I was wondering about what happened with the iOs Beta program. I read that previous active contributors would be invited to the new beta "in a few days" after sorting some issues with Apple, but at least I never received anything about it (i received one email for an interview on a different matter, so I guess that my data on the records is OK). Has this been postponed indefinitely? @Neil Mathew

Actually the iOS beta program is running! Sorry if I forgot to send you an update. Could you email me your email address to neil at vertical dot ai and I'll make sure you're added to the testflight login.

 

[kenjancef]

Actually the iOS beta program is running! Sorry if I forgot to send you an update. Could you email me your email address to neil at vertical dot ai and I'll make sure you're added to the testflight login.

Too late to sign up?

 

[kkettel]

IOS user here excited to beta if you can use one more.


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[KyleMaxxUAV]

Actually the iOS beta program is running! Sorry if I forgot to send you an update. Could you email me your email address to neil at vertical dot ai and I'll make sure you're added to the testflight login.

I also didn't get added back into the beta. I sent you an email today Neil !


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[mrdave543]

Would like to check out iOS beta as well...

 

[Bill Lott]

I'd like to be a part of the beta also




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[virus191]

Actually the iOS beta program is running! Sorry if I forgot to send you an update. Could you email me your email address to neil at vertical dot ai and I'll make sure you're added to the testflight login.

Neil, are You alive? I changed phone from iPhone 5s on 7 Plus and I get problem with activation of Vertical Studio. App says "Activation Error - Connect to the internet to activate Vertical Studio.