NEO - Active Track

Chrislaf · Oct 22, 2024

A short video from a walk yesterday and bike ride today. YouTube does not show the quality - it was much sharper.

I am very impressed with the Active Track on the NEO. It had no problems following me along trails going up and down hills and around corners.

Chris

okw · Oct 23, 2024

Very nice. It did a great job tracking you.

Have you tried it in front of you yet?

Chrislaf · Oct 23, 2024

okw said:
Very nice. It did a great job tracking you.

Have you tried it in front of you yet?

Yes, I am very impressed with the NEOs tracking. I would not try this with my Mini 3 Pro. There was one point not shown in the video where the NEO went off to the side while tracking me on my bike and got hung up in a tree branch with leaves on it. Not sure why it did this - I was loosing satellites periodically but this hasn't caused any problems in the past. What I am thinking is that at that point there was satellite loss and the VPS was confused and that is why it drifted. Regardless, because the props are completely enclosed it remained airborne and I just lowered it a bit and continued.

I was considering taking the prop guards off but that minor incident convinced me to keep them on. If they would have been off the props would have been mulching the leaves and likely the NEO would have crashed.

I haven't tried tracking from the front yet but will soon. I have used the phone to track from the back but most of the time I use my RC-N3 and active track which only allows from the back.

Chris

Droning on and on... · Oct 24, 2024

I'm really impressed with the follow-mode tracking. It acts a bit different from Active Track in older models, I think that's where the AI comes in... I suspect some limited mapping and path following, as it seems to remember the path you take and follow it, rather than just trying to keep you in frame, cutting across diagonally when you turn like AT does.

Direction Track needs a lot of work, and may be a bit too much for the Neo to chew. In that mode it has to predict your path, and it's not very good at it.

Chrislaf · Oct 24, 2024

Droning on and on... said:
I'm really impressed with the follow-mode tracking. It acts a bit different from Active Track in older models, I think that's where the AI comes in... I suspect some limited mapping and path following, as it seems to remember the path you take and follow it, rather than just trying to keep you in frame, cutting across diagonally when you turn like AT does.

Direction Track needs a lot of work, and may be a bit too much for the Neo to chew. In that mode it has to predict your path, and it's not very good at it.

Yah, the Active Track using the controller behaves much like the Follow-mode with the phone but you have more control over the height.

I haven't tried Direction Track yet. Tracking me from the front while walking will likely be fine because I can adjust as needed but on a bike in the environment I filmed in, I don't think it would work because both the drone and I are moving too fast. In a wide open space where some of the influencers did their filming, it would work much better because if NEO drifts to the side then there is nothing to hit.

Chris

JohnRC · Oct 24, 2024

Chrislaf said:
Yah, the Active Track using the controller behaves much like the Follow-mode with the phone but you have more control over the height.

I haven't tried Direction Track yet. Tracking me from the front while walking will likely be fine because I can adjust as needed but on a bike in the environment I filmed in, I don't think it would work because both the drone and I are moving too fast. In a wide open space where some of the influencers did their filming, it would work much better because if NEO drifts to the side then there is nothing to hit.

Chris

Hi Chris.
Where was this taken in Ontario? I am originally from just north of Toronto then a few years in Thunder Bay before heading to BC.

Chrislaf · Oct 24, 2024

JohnRC said:
Hi Chris.
Where was this taken in Ontario? I am originally from just north of Toronto then a few years in Thunder Bay before heading to BC.

The walking portion was filmed in Barrie on the trail down to Wilkin's Beach. The bike portion was done just outside Barrie on a snowmobile trail in Simcoe County Forests.

Chris

okw · Oct 25, 2024

While I appreciate the "test", and I have no idea if it would change the performance of the Neo, it would be more realistic if you walked at a consistent pace in a somewhat straight path for at least 30 seconds or so. Starting and stopping, backing up, turning around and waking the other direction, etc., every few seconds are not a fair tracking test from a 3-o'clock position. Nobody wanting a video of themselves from that angle would walk like that.

Chrislaf · Oct 30, 2024

Today I tried direction track from the front using my phone. It was able to track me up and down a hill and along a tree-lined trail with some overhanging branches. For the most part it tracked ok but would often swing from side to side without warning. I was usually able to counteract the movement by moving slightly in the opposite direction but at times I thought the NEO was going to crash into the trees or branches. Direction track seems more suited to tracking in wide open spaces with no obstacles on the sides.

When I switched to Follow mode, the NEO behaved in much the same way as it does when using Active Track on a controller.

I likely won't be using Direction track too often in the environments I usually fly the NEO in.

Chris

GFields · Oct 31, 2024

Chrislaf said:
A short video from a walk yesterday and bike ride today. YouTube does not show the quality - it was much sharper.

I am very impressed with the Active Track on the NEO. It had no problems following me along trails going up and down hills and around corners.

Chris

Very nice! Why was the video only 480p? Just curious

Chrislaf · Oct 31, 2024

GFields said:
Very nice! Why was the video only 480p? Just curious

The original video posted to YouTube was 1080p so I am not sure why it might be showing up as 480p. I do not post very much stuff on YouTube - only stuff I want to share on the forums.

The original video was processed in iMovie and exported for the YouTube and Facebook setting. I usually use Final Cut Pro for my videos but in this case I wanted to quickly put a few clips together to illustrate the Active Track. I'm not sure what the resolution limit is on YouTube and whether they change it once it's posted.

If it is not showing up clearly then let me know and I'll re-post it at a higher resolution.

Chris

GFields · Oct 31, 2024

Chrislaf said:
If it is not showing up clearly then let me know and I'll re-post it at a higher resolution.

I don't think that's necessary. I was just curious. I upload every video in 4k, and YT will eventually convert it to 4k; it just takes awhile for that to process. However, it can still be viewed at a lower resolution during that process.

Chrislaf · Oct 31, 2024

GFields said:
I don't think that's necessary. I was just curious. I upload every video in 4k, and YT will eventually convert it to 4k; it just takes awhile for that to process. However, it can still be viewed at a lower resolution during that process.

I probably should have just left it as 4K but didn't think YouTube would like that.

Chris