Jetlag2222 AR.Drone Object Tracking Update

[Nibbooable]

Dude you really need 2.4Ghz rc update to your drone :)

[RunnerLasting12]

Check out the new ar.drone 2.0 it has a hd camera its more stable and it's cooler and there's much more to it than that...

[jetlag2222]

@RunnerLasting12 - Yes I know about the drone 2.0 and will probably be getting one. It is not available yet, and it didn't exist when this video was made.

[traxxaspowers]

it can fly wit a gopro??

[jetlag2222]

@traxxaspowers - Yes it can carry a gopro, although it struggles a bit to lift that much weight. Of more concern is the fact that the gopro throws it's weight balance off and it has a harder time staying level and flying straight. So while it can carry the gopro and I have several videos of the gopro on it, it does struggle to work correctly with that camera onboard.

[YTschim]

Hi Jetlag. I always love the way you arrange your setups with multi cams to show the objects from various angles! Funny that I also played with the drone today: I found that they now also have an windows based app to steer the drone by joystick or gamepad. Go visit my RCSchim blogspot channel to see the article. This might be nice for people dont owning smartphones!

[jetlag2222]

@YTschim - Hey dude, that's awesome!! I have been trying to find an app that will run on my laptop to control the drone for months. I have tried 3 or 4 different ones but none of them worked very well at all. I read your blog and followed the link. This app looks much more professional and more likely to work correctly. I will definitely give it a try as soon as I get a chance. Thanks for the link buddy!

[BashMonkeyRC]

my only downside with it is its restricted to being used by only an iphone or droid. lol some of us prefer to put our money just to RCs rather than buy a smartphone just to fly one kit. I would say that is their Achilles heel. They could've just made a custom controller w/ a viewing screen for it. After all, most cell phones & Wi-fi systems use about the same 2.4ghz frequency that our RC transmitters do!

[jpoplin1]

we need a good nitro vid

[jetlag2222]

@jpoplin1 - done. go watch it. :)

[tylrpnk99]

fantastic

[jetlag2222]

@tylrpnk99 - Thank you!

[similian0]

lol i didnt know you could buy stuff like that as a toy! that was brilliant!

[jetlag2222]

@similian0 - Yeah it's pretty crazy that anyone can get their hands on this technology. It's a great device to test out ideas with and just a lot of fun to see what it can do.

[similian0]

@jetlag2222 definatley thanks keep it up!

[powerking230]

wow cool :D

[jetlag2222]

@powerking230 - Thanks dude!

[youtwoba]

Wow you answered allot of questions since I am seriously considering one of those.Or, Do you think I should go with a gaui or similar quad? Although those do not have the computing capabilities. I don't think I have any extreme needs for videoing but still would at least like to tote around a go pro or something. How does the parrot handle the gopro. I think you put one on yours didn't you?

Thanks Tom

[jetlag2222]

@youtwoba - The AR.Drone can barely lift the gopro... and it flies much more unstable with it. so if you want to carry a gopro a lot, and don't really care about the onboard computer, then I would go with a different - more pro level drone. Possibly the gaui. I hear it's quite good, although I haven't tested it myself yet.

[youtwoba]

@jetlag2222 Thanks I guess I will skip the AR!

[TheAriel256]

you can still use it for crawling, don't you?

[BrotherBloat]

that's wicked cool! :)

[jetlag2222]

@BrotherBloat - Thanks man!

[TheRcCinema]

This is a great video, thanks man.

[jetlag2222]

@TheRcCinema Thank you! Thanks for watching and for the comment!

[95666]

All said still VERY cool Jim!

[jetlag2222]

@95666 Thanks dude! Yes it's still very cool and I have a lot of fun with it.

[jmloudon97]

do you know where i could get a nice quadcopter that you can just manually fly around

[jetlag2222]

@jmloudon97 - There are many available, do a google on Gaui quadcopter. :)

[vxlpower]

another super cool rc vid.

greets from Austria

[jetlag2222]

@vxlpower - Thanks man! Hello to all the fans in Austria!!

[vxlpower]

@jetlag2222

Hey again. isnt it a android phone ?

but isnt der only a beta app out at this time?

grettings

[jetlag2222]

@vxlpower - You're a few months behind. :) There are quite a few developers writing apps for android now. The one I use is called AR.Pro and is as good as any app out there that I have seen, iphone or android.

[MrGmadden]

you can use it to track most rock crawlers! They go that slow. Ha! Yet another wonderful video. This one makes me really wish we were not the wind energy capitol of the world. Afraid the drone would only fly in the truck bay. Keep up the great work Jetlag!

[jetlag2222]

@MrGmadden - Thanks for the comps man! Yes, that was my original plan and why I used the Wraith as the target. However, the drone targeting currently does more color recognition than image recognition, so outside it kept targeting rocks with a bit of red in them, or dead tree branches that were kind of red, or just a piece of dirt with a red tint. Then it would hover over that spot and track it single-mindedly while the truck rolled away far out of video range. lol.

[altoid2k4]

4:39 technically you're controlling it with the axial lol nice vid

[jetlag2222]

@altoid2k4 - I guess that would make it remote remote control. lol. a whole new world to explore for all us rc maniacs. :)

[PcandTech]

i didn´t knew this feature thanks

[jetlag2222]

@PcandTech - You have to use an app called AR.PRO which is only for android phones in order to get this object tracking capability. It's available on the android market.

[RobscoRC]

Is this the "Drone Control" app or "Drone Master"? I can't seem to have this ability

[jetlag2222]

@RobscoRC - The app I am using is not available from Parrot, and is not available on iPhone.  It's called AR.PRO and it's available only for Android phones. It was created by a software developer by the name of shell shrader and is available for download on the android market - for a price. There may be similar apps for iPhone, but I don't own an iphone so I haven't looked. :)

[gaarasama0609]

its controlled by a phone not because its cool or something its because you can use the phone as a image teleprocessing unit and the onboard computer its not capable of prepossessing that much data that might be the case also the latency between the phone and the drone it self its limited that's why it cant send all the video to the phone to be processed

[jetlag2222]

@gaarasama0609 - actually according to a source at Parrot, the initial idea was about cost... They could easily have built a controller with video capability to go along with the drone when it was sold, but the cost would have been 2x higher. And since everyone already has smartphones, they just leveraged that to make the initial purchase price cheaper. Trust me, talk to any RC professional and they will agree that you don't control $5000 + planes and heli's with a smartphone. lol.

[jetlag2222]

@gaarasama0609 - An additional note in case I wasn't clear... this device uses the same channel for control signals and also for video streaming... this introduces VERY high latency for the control signals. A professional device would use a separate 2.4 Ghz channel for video and a separate 2.4Ghz channel for control. most transmitters on the market today have less than 10ms response time. The AR.Drone sometimes has greater than .5 sec response time for control signals.

[jmey107]

a cool idea for a video would to put a camera or use the one on there to film a bash or a helicopter using object tracking

[jetlag2222]

@jmey107 - I explain in the video why it's not good enough to film a bashing session - near the end of the vid. :)

And I have used it to track a heli. Go watch my 5000 subs video near the end of the video you will see it flying with a heli and tracking it.

[MXRac3r545]

Awesome, i Have a DX also :)

[jetlag2222]

@MXRac3r545 Thanks. Yes the droid is a great phone.

[mempey]

Very cool. That has to be one of if not THE most awesome intro I have ever seen. Great review of the upgrade. Covered all of the pro's and con's very well. Great demo and awesome video. Great job man.

[jetlag2222]

@mempey Thanks buddy! I was playing around with the effects in Sony Vegas, and trying for a kind of Terminator/X-files kind of feel for the intro. It came out pretty well. Yes the latest upgrade is a big improvement for object tracking, and even though it's still not quite good enough to video rc from the air, it's a lot of fun and pretty cool technology.

[CLODBUSTER113]

for 2nd gen soft and hard ware. this is AWESOME!!!!

[jetlag2222]

@CLODBUSTER113 - well it's more like 4th or 5th gen, lol. I just didn't bother doing a video on the in between versions because they weren't good enough. But yes, it's still very awesome capability in something so small and cheap. Thanks for the comment!

[MrDirtbiker250r]

how much do those things cost? there pretty cool

[jetlag2222]

@MrDirtbiker250r - I tell you in the video. watch the whole thing this time.  :))

[katkid134]

Hey Jetlag, Did you hear about the New mini savage flux xs coming out? Its supposed to be badass.

[Avalanche2015]

It would be nice for example, if you put a red track on a white heli. (Takes out the blue sky. White and red shouldn't be too hard on the quad-heli.) You could control the speed, ascend and descend relatively well. Of course, there is the in flight distance to worry about, and your heli control. Do you think it's possible?

[jetlag2222]

@Avalanche2015 - I've already tested this... Go watch the end of my 5000 subs video. :) There are several problems... 1. This is a DOWNfacing tracking system, so you'd have to be above the heli and you would be looking at the ground the whole time, so you'd have the same problem of recognition with the surface. 2. The front facing camera tracking can't keep up with a normal heli's speed. It's not good enough 3.outside you have wind to worry about. drone can't handle strong wind.

[kylea1985]

the technology is there, it just needs to be perfected. when they finally build a hobby grade version, it will probably take over the world lol

[jetlag2222]

@kylea1985 - skynet is here.... Just think.... If they are letting any regular consumer buy this technology already, what must the military and government have by now??  Trust me, they have better. Way better. :)

[ginger727272]

u should make it follow one of your helis

[jetlag2222]

@ginger727272 - I already have. Go watch my 5000 subs video again, it's at the end of the video. :))

[jmloudon97]

so is there just a way to fly it like a normal heli, or do you have to do the take off and landing button thing

[jetlag2222]

@jmloudon97 - you don't really "fly" this quadcopter... The onboard computer handles all flying details like balance, orientation, height, etc. And no, there is no way to take manual control. the computer handles takeoff, and landing automatically. you provide input of where you want it to fly, and the computer does all the rest. That's why I could leave the controller laying on the ground with a video camera on it while I drove the truck around. The quadcopter flies itself.

[onecrazydimaggio]

pretty sweet dude..job well done

[jetlag2222]

@onecrazydimaggio - Thanks man!

[playermatti]

Nice LIKE ALWAYS

[jetlag2222]

@playermatti - Thank you!

[randyneighbour]

i agree with you. great video

[jetlag2222]

@randyneighbour - Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it!

[TopFuelProductions]

This is beyond awesome, very nice for someone who doesn't want to spend a ton of money building and programming their own quadcopter. Great vid, very informative. This will definitely be going on my christmas list as another toy to add to my R/C air arsenal. :)

[jetlag2222]

@TopFuelProductions - Thanks dude! Yes it's pretty cool technology, and even though it's not quite good enough yet to use as a serious video platform, it's still very very cool!

[djnelson47]

hey jetlag try to get the wrwith up to speed lets seee the drones speed

[kylea1985]

@djnelson47 guess you didnt pay attention. he said he couldnt go more than about 5mph or the drone would just fade off.

[jetlag2222]

@djnelson47 - lol it's a long video, he probably didn't see that part. :)

[rcdudes123]

I always forget how many cool things you have!

[jetlag2222]

@rcdudes123 - thanks dude!