Well, I finally managed to drown my iPhone and with it what I was planning to post today (it survived two years of rolling though so I still maintain that’s a pretty darn good waterproof rating).
So here’s a clip from this last summer instead showing how Liz and I self film kayaking with the Skydio2 drone.
I launch from land and then pilot the drone from my phone on the front deck while I paddle where I can see what the drone sees and easily change all the video settings and camera angles.
The Skydio definitely has its pros and cons but so far it’s the only drone that I know of that I can use to self film kayaking in this way. It doesn’t like certain angles or certain types of motion but I am finding that if I can give it a horizon line and a human head to look at the visual-based tracking system works pretty well.
Personally I wish there was an optional alternate tracking system with no obstacle avoidance that is purely signal-based for smoother footage over water. At the very least making the Beacon controller waterproof, putting a wrist strap on it, and adding a return to home button, would massively increase the functionality for this type of shooting! Right now if I’m running out of time I simply fly the drone out of range until it loses signal and then it will return to the launch point on its own.
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