Hi all,
I've been thinking of getting my phantom 4 to follow my BMW Z4 with the roof down. Someone else driving the car of course and perhaps no more than 30mph.

Are there any issues with interference from the engine management computer or other electronics in the vehicle?
Has anyone done this?

The idea would be to do this over the Mendip hills or Exmoor not along the M5 or other busy area and I am aware of the proximity of the Mendips to Bristol airport so thinking of no more than say 40 or 50 feet above ground.
Any advice gratefully recieved.

Thanks in advance
Tony

no nice idea , interferences produced by car chasis can do crash your aircraft

Putting aside any safety issues etc.
There are actually plenty videos online of Follow Me using DJI gear and cars ...

Of course its possible ... with roof down - there should be good clear air from RC to AC. If the RC is powered up at a reasonable few metres from the car - then as long as no other disturbances around - it should initialise ok.

If you hadn't mentioned a Beamer ... I would have assumed one anyway ... sorry but I live in a country that is the trash-can of German Car auctions and we have loads of them ... so many in fact that the Beamer Club of Latvia holds 'Drives' to show public that they are not 'crazy' !!

Nigel

If trying it on public roads then there is a lot that can go wrong, including loosing sight of the aircraft and hitting unexpected trees or power lines if it overshoots on corners.  If using Active Track it wont do 30mph and you should expect it to loose lock on your car occasionally, will make it very difficult if there is other traffic on the road.  Much better on a private road or beach.

Try doing it from the roadside first, pick up the car or lock onto it as it approaches and follow it as it passes, then after a few 100m call the aircraft back.  That will be much safer and after doing it a few times you will understand the problems and probably have better video than if you had done it from in the car.

Probably the best video would be from using Course Lock mode since then you can manually keep the camera on the car, rotating the camera as the car passes and simultaneously flying a straight path alongside the road, adjusting height as desired.

There is a sales video of Phantom following a car along a beach road .. the Phantom was out over the water while the car with 'pilot' was in passenger seat. The road was literally only feet from waters edge and sheer cliff behind ... if I find it - I will link to it.

Nigel

Just found this one which may make you think carefully !!



Of course the guy didn't think about the bend and the P3 would take direct route to follow instead of making same bend !!

Nigel

I didn't have a problem as I flew from my 270Z.

solentlife Posted at 2018-1-14 09:08
There is a sales video of Phantom following a car along a beach road .. the Phantom was out over the water while the car with 'pilot' was in passenger seat. The road was literally only feet from waters edge and sheer cliff behind ... if I find it - I will link to it.

Nigel

On the edge of Exmoor there is this beach road, might be ideal since it is effectively a car park and wont have much traffic at this time of year and what traffic there is wont mind 10-20mph with a lot of stopping.

'https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.1615674,-4.2264966,413a,35y,102h,66.55t/data=!3m1!1e3'

(That is supposed to be a Google 3D drone view, hope it works?)
(No, doesn't work!  Cut and paste the address for the 3D view.)

"MJLSTUDIOS" ... very nice and smooth ..... pity about the prop guards just showing a couple of times ...

Nigel

Thanks guys, Some nice ideas to try rather than just a follow me. This will be my first serious video so bear with me, it could take some time.