Back up on the Mountain with the Skydio 2 and my 195cm Lib Tech Snowboard. This being my second day on the mountain with the Skydio, I pressed the Skydio harder by boarding faster, and descending on trails that were a bit narrower with more trees. The Skydio 2 seemed to retreat to higher altitudes when tracking me at speeds that pushed its limits. The Skydio lost me even with the beacon on my second run. Instead of hiking for it, I just got back on the lift and descended the same trail, and found the Skydio hovering. I was going to set the home point to the parking lot this time, but I forgot to bring my phone with me, and had to use the Beacon exclusively.
Wyoming Snowboarding with the Skydio 2, Pushing the max speed of the Skydio 2
- Thread starter Chuggie Cuda
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Back up on the Mountain with the Skydio 2 and my 195cm Lib Tech Snowboard. This being my second day on the mountain with the Skydio, I pressed the Skydio harder by boarding faster, and descending on trails that were a bit narrower with more trees. The Skydio 2 seemed to retreat to higher altitudes when tracking me at speeds that pushed its limits. The Skydio lost me even with the beacon on my second run. Instead of hiking for it, I just got back on the lift and descended the same trail, and found the Skydio hovering. I was going to set the home point to the parking lot this time, but I forgot to bring my phone with me, and had to use the Beacon exclusively.
That's a bummer to hear it lost you with the beacon. Have you reached out to Skydio to see if they know of these issues already and if they have a fix pending?
I uploaded the logs to from the Skydio 2 to Skydio INC. I think it lost radio signal between the Skydio 2 and the beacon when I briefly went behind the last tree at the end of this video.
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To me it appears the the drone was visually tracking you at that moment and the tree interrupted the visual lock. The difference between the two (visual vs GPS) isn't immediately obvious but as soon as it gets a certain distance away it switches over to GPS tracking automatically, I think you can determine the tracking type on the App screen. A tree wouldn't have effected the GPS tracking but you wouldn't have as tight of a shot. If there's any speed involved I try to put it out far enough to force the GPS tracking, I've found that it has far less tracking issues when compared to visual. Next time it looses you try pushing
the blue button, it will usually cause the drone to elevate some and require.
the blue button, it will usually cause the drone to elevate some and require.
Hi, when I launched the Skydio2 I only had my beacon, no phone, and it took a while for the GPS in the Beacon to sync up with the GPS in the Skydio. However, before I started down I did get the message that the Skydio and Beacon were synced. I am wondering if the tree between me and the Skydio was enough to cause a break in the radio sync between the Beacon and the Quadcopter.
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I've flown with large rock outcroppings between me and the drone and it still tracked me, it was using GPS. I've also had it loose me after a bush passing between me and the drone, not all the time but I'm usually riding with someone else, in that situation it often locks onto the other person, it was using visual tracking. That tells me visual lock is dependent on not loosing sight of the subject and GPS isn't limited by that. I've examples of both situations.
In this video @ 0:50 the tracked subject goes out of view and the drone switches over to tracking the second person when it looses visual track.
In this video @ 7:13 you can see the drone track the subject despite a wall being in the way and totally loosing the subject in the cameras. It's positioned out further and it's using GPS tracking.
skydioconvert
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Nice experiments...
Were both a beacon and a phone always being used in these rides?
With riders repeatedly coming into and out of view how do you tell which rider is actually being tracked at any given point?
Were both a beacon and a phone always being used in these rides?
With riders repeatedly coming into and out of view how do you tell which rider is actually being tracked at any given point?
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I always have the app running but the screen is closed and it's in my pocket. Sometimes you don't realize it's tracking someone else until it heads off with the other person. Mostly it doesn't matter, I'm happy to get others in the video. Times will come up though where there's no question it's locked on to another person. Now I try to force it over to GPS tracking, it tracks more reliably. On a ski slope with others I could see where visual tracking could be a nightmare, in my case we are all riding together, if it locks onto someone you don't know that might be a big problem.
skydioconvert
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What's the best way to force it to GPS tracking.... move the S2 in close if there are a lot of obstacles?
skydioconvert
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Just finished RE_reviewing how you can tell whether the S2 is tracking you visually or via GPS.
Too bad you need to be able to read that "tiny" icon on the beacon to determine the tracking status.
Just finding the "Increase Range" button while riding the bike over some bad terrain can't be all that easy.
Too bad you need to be able to read that "tiny" icon on the beacon to determine the tracking status.
Just finding the "Increase Range" button while riding the bike over some bad terrain can't be all that easy.
Does anyone know what will happen if it visually locks on to someone else but you have the beacon? I would hope it eventually realizes its not tracking the right subject. I plan on skiing with this in 2 weeks so I hope it won't lock on to some rando and follow them
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I've had that happen, it went a long ways away, completely out of sight from me. At the time I didn't have the process figured out to make it stop and come right back, now I do, it's easy.
When you realize its following someone else hit the blue button on the beacon. That sends a signal from the beacon and seems to wake it up from tracking someone else. You have to look at the beacon and make sure you didn't just change modes when you pressed the button. I've come to a stop by that time and wait for it to come back then start off again.
The first time it happened and I didn't know to call it back it flew a long way off still tracking the other person. I was sure it was gone, this was in the middle of canyon country in southern Utah. What surprised me was eventually it decided it was too far away from the beacon, by that time I was showing a lost signal and trying to figure out how I was going to pay for it's replacement. Surprisingly it flew straight up, pretty high because I have it on video. Eventually it got high enough it required the beacon's signal and flew back. Reminded me of a dog that just chased the mailman down the street. The distance was far, probably a mile, not that I trust it to have that kind of range or want to test that feature again, I'm just surprised I still have the drone.
When you realize its following someone else hit the blue button on the beacon. That sends a signal from the beacon and seems to wake it up from tracking someone else. You have to look at the beacon and make sure you didn't just change modes when you pressed the button. I've come to a stop by that time and wait for it to come back then start off again.
The first time it happened and I didn't know to call it back it flew a long way off still tracking the other person. I was sure it was gone, this was in the middle of canyon country in southern Utah. What surprised me was eventually it decided it was too far away from the beacon, by that time I was showing a lost signal and trying to figure out how I was going to pay for it's replacement. Surprisingly it flew straight up, pretty high because I have it on video. Eventually it got high enough it required the beacon's signal and flew back. Reminded me of a dog that just chased the mailman down the street. The distance was far, probably a mile, not that I trust it to have that kind of range or want to test that feature again, I'm just surprised I still have the drone.
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Good to know thanks! I was thinking about setting the home point to the bottom of a run where I plan to end up just in case it loses me. I haven't tried it yet but sounds like it'll work
Is that a Doughboy Shredder? It's been a long time since I have kept up on boards, but I stick with a good one when I find it.
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