Some of Peter's Mill Run shot on Skydio R1 in 2017 Land Cruiser!

[atsparkinson]

Alright Mud... so I finally got around to cobbling together some shots from my trip to Peter's Mill Run in NoVA a month ago using the Autonomous Skydio R1 Drone (This thing is incredible). Full disclosure... when I took the trip i didnt really have a video in mind so there is no logical opening or ending (think like brief summary or discussion maybe). I plan on doing a bunch more of these as trips come up (I have one where we are heading to the Finger Lakes for a week or so, and i will try and make that video a little more interesting). So if you have input please comment below:

1. What interesting shots have you seen in other overlanding videos that would tell a better story or summary of the trip?

2. I plan on leaving the Cruiser bone stock (except I recently changed the roof rack so I could mount an awning with it). Every time I have been off road i always get the same "That is a lot of money to bring into the woods", but i didnt buy this thing to cruise the streets... there are better luxury vehicles for that!

3. I plan on doing a gear run down perhaps at the beginning ... which i think most people enjoy. Any tips on how those are shot would be great.

4. Finally I am doing this for fun to document some of the trips that we plan and document the lessons learned from them. Any cool trip ideas (weekend warriors would be the most doable) would be very helpful!

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Very cool. I can totally see the potential of that drone.

 

[bloc]

I don’t know much about coding but am assuming the stuff involved to make this possible would melt my brain.

Interesting to see how when the cruiser jerks over bumps that the drone moves in and out, presumably trying to keep the distance the same.. I guess it is using the size of the object as an indicator of proximity?

Either way, yeah, very cool. And a lot of potential for off-roading.

 

[razzyrazz]

Is it just a flat dirt road?

 

[ElRob]

The obstacle avoidance is very impressive. You are brave putting it through those trees. Although this opens up potential for filming. (at least for amateurs).

 

[atsparkinson]

Is it just a flat dirt road?

Most of the drone footage is from the first bit of the trail, which was not terrible but not always "Flat". My stock rock sliders took a bit of a hit. The most exciting parts of the trail come closer to the end and includes some very thigh areas and some larger rocks... Had I done the drive before I would have focused more on that. Through the whole trail I was never worried I wasnt going to make it through but some areas were tight and i have some pinstripping as a result. Overall it was a really fun drive and low to medium risk of doing any serious damage to the vehicle (although my front skid plate ate a huge rock).

 

[atsparkinson]

The obstacle avoidance is very impressive. You are brave putting it through those trees. Although this opens up potential for filming. (at least for amateurs).

The thing about the Skydio is that the flight is completely hands off so you can focus on whatever it is you are doing. So you don't need anyone dedicated to flying or filming. I simply select the truck and the angle and the drone does the rest. I passed several vehicles while driving and it always stayed on me. The thing is impossible to crash!! It doesn't need GPS either, it flies using computer vision (over 13 cameras!!).

 

[ckkone]

Looks jerky and not smooth to me, kind of hard to watch actually.

 

[AnthonyLC]

The Skydio drone looks like a total game changer! Would like to see a review. Subbed to your YouTube

 

[atsparkinson]

Looks jerky and not smooth to me, kind of hard to watch actually.

I can do a better job editing next time. There is stabilization software in the drone that I likely ignored lol. Thanks for the tip though

 

[hedd]

Cool video, impressive how well the drone avoids tree branches on its own.

I haven't taken the LC to Peter's mill but have been through on several bikes. It's really fun at high speed on a Husqvarna!

 

[wingshooter8800]

That was totally cool. I want one. PS love the blue LC, hard to find!

 

[atsparkinson]

I think before my trip in august when i do the gear run down ill go over some of the cool stuff about the drone. Apparently the company is releasing its R2 in the fall!!