Tis the season for Snowboarding

[Bubbles!!!]

To all my northern hemisphere friends, is there anyway for the spark to change altitude as it is in active track? Or which DJI drone would be best for snowboarding hands free video capture? If any?
And also if none from DJI, is there any drone out there that can actually be used to track the very loved sports of snowboarding/skiing?

 

[Spark 317]

Selfie stick and a GoPro could work.

Seen a video of a snowboarder wearing a helmet with a skate board wheel attached on the top so it would spin 360* with a light weight rod and a GoPro attached to the other end of it.

The resulting video was neat as the camera spun around the person getting all angles.

Hands free too.

The whole rig would break away if you biffed it in the snow.

 

[webvan]

To all my northern hemisphere friends, is there anyway for the spark to change altitude as it is in active track? Or which DJI drone would be best for snowboarding hands free video capture? If any?
And also if none from DJI, is there any drone out there that can actually be used to track the very loved sports of snowboarding/skiing?

Nope, for reasons unexplained DJI do not want to use the barometer of the controller for altitude following. Parrot do that very well with the Bebop but it's a lot less portable and the picture quality, well...

 

[Sparkbart]

None

There is currently NO drone that can autonomously follow you the way you want down a ski slope. At least good enough to make it worthwhile. They will lose you if you go too fast or make a turn or cut that takes you out of its "view". Then you'll have to figure out how to control it to bring it back to you as it will hover in place till the battery runs low enough, then its going to go back up the hill (if it can adjust for altitude) and land at it RTH point. OR it will land before it gets to its home point... Good luck finding it in those cases...

Believe me when they come out with drone that can follow me snow riding, mountain biking, motorcycling, I'll be first in line to buy one (even if its Inspire 2 priced)...

To all my northern hemisphere friends, is there anyway for the spark to change altitude as it is in active track? Or which DJI drone would be best for snowboarding hands free video capture? If any?
And also if none from DJI, is there any drone out there that can actually be used to track the very loved sports of snowboarding/skiing?

 

[webvan]

Mavic "FollowMe" will not "lose" you as it uses your GPS position, unfortunately it does not descend. The Parrot Bebop uses a combination of GPS and framing so it won't lose you either and it will follow you down as per my previous post'

 

[Bubbles!!!]

Dang... I was hopeful lol, who knows, maybe the Mavic 2 or Spark 2 will be more sport oriented (I'm thinking Mavic since it already has cage accessories)
Thanks anyways
I've seen the GoPro with a bearing btw, I think there's more robust versions of that for sale (DIY is definitely cheaper though) maybe I'll try that for funsies.

 

[Sparkbart]

I'm pretty sure even with the Mavic 2 this won't be a reality, let alone the Spark at least in the next few years. IMO, the biggest hurdle is going to be processing speed. Next is the ability to recognize the subject (you) at any angle, whether from behind, above, side, crouched, etc. And really good collision avoidance that can detect objects not only in front of it, but on all sides and above. The processor is going to have to be able to digest all that info rapidly. Think trying to follow you as you snow ride through the trees...

I'm sure its possible today but the cost would be prohibitive and most likely not good enough yet. Its coming for sure, but IMO for it to be as good as you and I want its going to be at least 5 years. Believe me I'm hoping I'm wrong and we see it much sooner...

Yuneec's Typhoon H tried for something like this and it worked okay. Still had the same problems the DJI has with speed or lack of, but rather than having Collision Avoidance sensors all over the drone, they made it so the camera could rotate the camera 360 degrees. This allowed the CA sensors to always face in the direction the drone was flying while the camera stayed on the subject. I had one and just like the DJI drones, cool idea but only really good at walking speeds.

Dang... I was hopeful lol, who knows, maybe the Mavic 2 or Spark 2 will be more sport oriented (I'm thinking Mavic since it already has cage accessories)
Thanks anyways
I've seen the GoPro with a bearing btw, I think there's more robust versions of that for sale (DIY is definitely cheaper though) maybe I'll try that for funsies.

 

[His415]

What about the terrain follow mode on the mavic? I’ve also seen a video of some one using the “hacked” app for the spark and testing out terrain follow.

 

[Bubbles!!!]

Is terrain follow the one where it keeps the same altitude over the ground as it follows you according to a preset you decide in settings? Its been a while since its release... I've forgotten most if its features lol. And if it's a reputable person who hacked the app, I might want it for download just to experiment with (if it's available)

What about the terrain follow mode on the mavic? I’ve also seen a video of some one using the “hacked” app for the spark and testing out terrain follow.

 

[MAndrews]

What about using one of the other apps where you can pre program a route? Don't know if Autopilot etc do elevation changes though

 

[Buddy411]

Parrot do that very well with the Bebop but it's a lot less portable and the picture quality, well...

LOL. The Bebop 2 isn't any better. Fun to fly, but the real-time video feed is sooo bad. DJI rules the roost in this area...