crowded environments

[onlysublime]

have any of you tried to use this drone in crowded environments?

So I've had really good experiences with my Skydio 2 drone in typical drone environments (nature-type outdoors in sparse areas where it's very easy to track a single person).

But recently, I participated in a street parade that was densely crowded. Our group had 2 convertibles and my idea was that it would track me (or my group) as we moved in this parade. I was going to have it track me via phone + beacon. At first I tried beacon only but the drone kept switching to random people because of the density of people. I then switch it to phone + beacon but still had the issue of the drone tracking random people.

I'm guessing that the drone just can't handle tracking a specific person in a semi-dense environment where there are multitudes of people, spaced maybe 5-10 feet between people.

here's some of the footage from the drone before the parade started. through a lot of clever editing (so I could hide that it wasn't really tracking properly), it looks okay. I cut out the footage where it was clearly looking at the wrong things.

 

[Saladshooter]

Its too difficult to use Skydio 2 in an urban environment and especially a parade. First off, it would be nearly impossible to keep this flight legal as operations over people and vehicles are not allowed in the USA currently. The Skydio 2 does too much autonomously for it to avoid flying over part of the crowd.

Next as you found out there are too many moving targets for the Skydio 2 to lock onto so it will try to change who its following and lose the intended target constantly.

Finally, the Skydio 2 loves to dance in the sky when tracking so you would always have random motion in your filming that looks pretty good when filming sports activities but would be pretty annoying when trying to film a slow moving event like this. A newer DJI drone like the Air 2S would probably keep a locked subject more centered with less odd movement but would ultimately fail to track in a crowd just the same.

I love the pageantry displayed in your video. I can't image how much time goes into the traditional costuming and preparation for this celebration.

 

[Ridefreak]

I don't like using it if the more then 3 possible subjects around. I've had it break off and follow others quite a few times. Nice job on the Parade.

 

[onlysublime]

Finally, the Skydio 2 loves to dance in the sky when tracking so you would always have random motion in your filming that looks pretty good when filming sports activities but would be pretty annoying when trying to film a slow moving event like this. A newer DJI drone like the Air 2S would probably keep a locked subject more centered with less odd movement but would ultimately fail to track in a crowd just the same.

I like the random motion as long as it's smooth. Yes, sometimes it can be jarring. My original intention was to have the drone on one side and then drift it to the other side, eventually having it rotate around and cover all sides.

But thanks for your insights!

 

[onlysublime]

I don't like using it if the more then 3 possible subjects around. I've had it break off and follow others quite a few times. Nice job on the Parade.

ty!