Chasing discs with FPV drones

[Florian]

So this idea kept spinning for quite some time now and I think it was around August or September when I crossed paths with these two young guns from the center of Switzerland who are really passionate about FPV. I came up with the idea of them throwing their drones at my discs and making follow flight pictures. To my excitement, they were on and we just met a week ago to try and practice some follow flight shots in my vicinity. Here is the video:



Some considerations and points from my side:
- some misfired shots
- driving technique and consistency has surely room for improvement
- shots on a downwards slope for longer airtime

It seems quite challenging to slow the drone down while keeping the angle of the mounted camera on, as soon as it catches up with the disc in flight. The natural thing to to seems to yaw/roll around the disc, but this results in sometimes unwanted wild maneuvers.

Let us know what you think about! What would you want to see differently? Any fpv cracks out there struggling with the same, or have figured it out? What would you do?

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Pilots:
Pirmin, Cinematic FPV since 2015: https://www.instagram.com/swissdroneflights/
Julian, SDF Racing Pilot: https://www.instagram.com/rekt_fpv/

Video editing by Pirmin!

Have a project, want to learn more or get into FPV? (Switzerland)
https://www.swissdroneflights.ch

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On a personal note:
Huge shoutout and thanks to Pirmin and Julian for making this little dream of mine reality!

 

[txmxer]

I purchased a drone at the start of COVID. It crashed and self destructed, I haven't purchased another although I probably will at some point. Keeping a disc framed up like that is really tricky. Some cool shots in there.

 

[Florian]

Thanks! I also am just trying to get some maneuvers in with a tiny whoop, it's really making me appreciate the skills to develop..

 

[kenjiac]

Here is some similar footage i found pretty cool.

 

[hiflyer]

Nauseous with a headache. Too much commotion. Would prefer to not see the other drone in any of the shots.

Good work though.

The second vid was a little more on point. Less flapping around and a lot more disc flight. But it was too short.

 

[Nova P]

Nauseous with a headache. Too much commotion. Would prefer to not see the other drone in any of the shots.

Good work though.

The second vid was a little more on point. Less flapping around and a lot more disc flight. But it was too short.

Yeah, some 180-degree rule would be nice for the comfort of the audience. Not every follow shot needs to be a 270-degree pan.


Still, pretty neat!

 

[glassila]

Very, very cool.
As a player I would prefer to see more of the disc's natural flight with the drone maybe 20-50 feet from the disc. I would prefer full flights where the drone follows the disc or flies above the disc or flies alongside.
I get the feeling the drone operator is "showing off" what the drone can do so many of the clips get a little too crazy for me.
Still cool though!

 

[Florian]

Yeah, some 180-degree rule would be nice for the comfort of the audience. Not every follow shot needs to be a 270-degree pan.


Still, pretty neat!

Thanks for the feedback! Thats for sure a good point to take away!

 

[pmay5]

These are pretty cool. Definitely needs some skill.

One thing I've wondered on these, since you are probably using both hands (thumbs) to fly the drone, does the camera frame up the disc automatically, or are you using a third hand )) to focus the camera on the disc?

 

[Florian]

Very, very cool.
As a player I would prefer to see more of the disc's natural flight with the drone maybe 20-50 feet from the disc. I would prefer full flights where the drone follows the disc or flies above the disc or flies alongside.
I get the feeling the drone operator is "showing off" what the drone can do so many of the clips get a little too crazy for me.
Still cool though!

I think what you are picturing is where we really woulld like getting to! The current problem seems to be the camera angle of the GoPro mounted with a 30-45 degree angle so the camera view captures what is in front of the device when you tilt the drone forward to move in this direction. To slow down the drone the natural thing to do seems to tilt backwards and for the camera view to stay on the disc it comes natural for the pilots to roll and yaw around it. Thats were those maneuvers come from and we would really like to find new ways for the stop motion or may be there is another drone setup which would do the trick?

Thank you for the great reply. The acro moves is something distinct to fpv and kind of an expressive thing and I find it fitting for the clip, but thats certainly a matter of taste.

Cheers, Florian

 

[Florian]

These are pretty cool. Definitely needs some skill.

One thing I've wondered on these, since you are probably using both hands (thumbs) to fly the drone, does the camera frame up the disc automatically, or are you using a third hand )) to focus the camera on the disc?

Thanks! I'll forward the compliments.

It's all done by hand, the fpv drones are completely steered by hand and have no stabilisation or camera focus automization technology built in, like an Dji Mavic or the like. They are steered only with throttle/yaw and tilt/roll sticks on the remote.

 

[Florian]

Nauseous with a headache. Too much commotion. Would prefer to not see the other drone in any of the shots.

Good work though.

The second vid was a little more on point. Less flapping around and a lot more disc flight. But it was too short.

Thanks for the feedback. We would love to find a way to get a smoother follow flight while getting close to and staying behind the disc more easily!

 

[Nova P]

I wonder if a gimbal would assist with dampening camera pitching motions from the drone pitching forward and back for speed control.

/not a drone pilot

 

[Dingus]

Wow this is really cool! If this could be perfected I could see this making Disc Golf an incredibly fun sport to watch on TV. If you could have a drone tail a disc through the woods, watching the disc swerve in and out of trees, it would be intense! Probably a pipe dream but who knows, as the tech folks say, the tech could be here in the next 5 years.

 

[glassila]

If you could have a drone tail a disc through the woods, watching the disc swerve in and out of trees, it would be intense!

There's a really good reason the video takes place in a wide open area.

Trees + drones = broken drones.

 

[Dingus]

There's a really good reason the video takes place in a wide open area.

Trees + drones = broken drones.

If you are me the drone is as good as broken the minute I grab the controls.

 

[Florian]

I wonder if a gimbal would assist with dampening camera pitching motions from the drone pitching forward and back for speed control.

/not a drone pilot

Brilliant idea, gonna forward this immediately :thmbup:

 

[BillFleming]

The 'hard sell' on drone flight follows is - how much does the down thrust from the drones propellers affect the flight? The drone operator would have to ensure that no part of the flight affects the disc.

 

[Florian]

The 'hard sell' on drone flight follows is - how much does the down thrust from the drones propellers affect the flight? The drone operator would have to ensure that no part of the flight affects the disc.

Well, our clip is just for entertaining purposes. If there was a disc hurt in the making of the video, it did not affect the players score or mood
For fpv flying to be introduced in tournaments I don't know if it is a thing because of the noise, the danger and of course - as you are pointing out - possible unwanted interactions between the drone and the disc. And yes I think there are some examples in our video where there is interaction.