This scenario (in the woods) is exactly why I want great tracking/obstacle avoidance in a drone. It doesn't seem to be there YET, but it did remarkably well in my opinion.
@@YorktownUSA I'm looking forward to implementing this drone into our inspection process for bridges. The ability to go under a bridge/3d model the entire bridge autonimously, is going to save a significant amt of time and money for clients and myself. No need for snooper trucks/etc, complete the work in a day versus a week and have a accurate record of the bridge in a model, versus pictures in folders referenced to a pdf with pts.
Billy, what is remarkable to me is that even when the blue bird ‘lost’ you, it usually took care of itself! So impressed with this device! It’s as if it could find its way out of a tumbleweed. Supremely interesting video. Thanks so much.
Thanks Billy for another real world test. I.M.O., that trail wasn't all that much restricted. It was fairly open where you were riding with the exception of some bare branches. Unbelievable that it lost you three times in the terain you were in and with you in great sight. I'm a snowmobiler in Michigan which has decent trails but, I would not trust this drone to follow me after seeing your test. Simply said, I wouldn't be able to trust having my back against it. Each time it lost you, it climbed to a highr altitude without you in sight. I'm really surprised it didn't crash the first time while mysteriously climbing. Plus, you had an open floor which was set to the closest/lowest proximity of you. With all your tests, Skydio has a long, long way to go. This drone needs a totally different RC and a ton of software/firmware changes. I'm in batch 2 and barely hanging in......... If I was to get an email today, I would cancel and wait for a possible Skydio 3. I sincerely appreciate all your testing and sharing with us potential purchaser's. In the long run, you may save me approx. $1,500.00. Right now, my MA is looking pretty damn good. As always, Thank You for your true, real world reviews! 👍😊
I think the drone is operating fine. The problem may be you and not understanding what interferes with gps signals. I relate to my experience with gps tracking on marine chart plotters. In my experience, your body (probably the liquid makeup) blocks gps. On a boat if you cover the gps antenna puck with your hands the plotter will lose lock. In the case of the skydio I think the beacon position is transmitted to the drone in terms of gps coordinates. The errors I seen on your phone seem to indicate the drone is losing the gps lock. I suspect the beacon is what is actually losing lock. You might experiment with how you hold the beacon. Maybe attach it to your clothing on the outside or your backpack. Essentially try to let the beacon have a good view upward. My two cents anyways Jim
Good point! Thank you for sharing your experience about the gps antenna puck when you cover it with your hands. I agree. Maybe velcro the beacon to the helmet. :D It's still handy if you want to change the settings.
I’m a mountain biker and skier. I have been experimenting with the Skydio 2 for a couple weeks. The Skydio will not be able to follow you during either sport through trees with any appreciable speed. As you demonstrated it will lose sight and then GPS will not really allow to ‘catch back up’.
I really liked having the smaller screen to look at, was fun to read telemetry as I was watching. Great video and it’s awesome your not trash talking it because of the crash. You really tested it hard in areas that Skydio don’t recommend us flying in. No drone is perfect but this little guy did a amazing job, it’s only going to get better and better as they send out updates to tweak it.
I kinda feel it didn't have to lose you not even once. So I'm disappointed about that. It had you clearly in screen every time but didn't expect you to change direction. The other thing I don't like is how it behaves when it loses you. Almost looks like it's panicking. Hopefully both of these things should be improvable by software updates.
Great video. Although there are still a lot to be improved, Skydio 2 is still the best tracking drone so far. I hope Skydio to sell this product worldwide soon.
It looks to me like these results were due to the device having to balance the two information sources available to it and decide in the case of disparity, which one to consider the "source of truth". When the visual confidence dipped the GPS became the "stronger" signal, but at the time the location fix was not accurate due to the tree cover, however the drone didn't know that and swung to align to its new "position". The GPS accuracy was probably fluctuating between accurate and less so all throughout, but it only caused an issue when the visual confidence had a blip. If something along these lines was the case, then it can be addressed by refining the software algorithms. Things like tweaking how it reacts to loss of visual tracking, and what it will do when a position update suddenly tells it that it's in fact 50 metres from where it thinks it should be. This stuff is insanely complex, but it doesn't require new hardware to get better. People should not be cancelling orders based on this sort of result, unless they ordered thinking it could do this, in which case they had an unrealistic expectation on the capabilities of such a device and it's probably for the best. I think Billy made it quite clear several times that this kind of scenario is way beyond what the drone is rated for, and is simply shown as a demonstration as to why this is the case.
This aspect ratio is amazing, especially for mobile iOS viewing. I don’t usually comment on your videos, but I watch every single one. Keep em’ coming Billy! 👍🏼
A woman went to a pet shop & immediately spotted a large, beautiful parrot. There was a sign on the cage that said $10.00, which seemed awfully cheap. "Why so little," she asked the pet store owner. I should tell you first that this bird used to live in a house of Prostitution and sometimes it says some pretty vulgar stuff The woman thought about this, but decided she had to have the bird anyway. The bird looked around the room, then at her, and said, "New house, new madam." The woman was a bit shocked at the implication but then found it kind of amusing. When her 2 teenage daughters returned from school, the bird saw them enter and said, "New house, new madam, new girls." The girls and the woman were a bit offended but then began to laugh about the situation considering how and where the parrot had been raised. Moments later, the woman's husband came home from work. The bird looked at him and said, "Hi, Bob!"
Billy, great job on the video! Great having the Recording Graphic but even looking at it when the drone failed I couldn’t see why! Would be great to have Skydio see you’re vid and give us an idea what’s going on. Or they need to see you’re vid and use it to improve the software. Thanks for not dissing the drone because it failed! Too many folks here on TH-cam whining about this drone and cancelling their orders. Especially those who own every drone made then cancel their Skydio order. It’s software folks.... it’s gonna get better. How many cancelled their order because of no telemetry? And the first software upgrade gave us telemetry. Boo haha. Software takes time and with a complex drone like this one it’s not ez. Thanks for the great work.
That was a torture test. Mainly because of all the ghost branches....I'm amazed it was able to see them and avoid them. It would be interesting to ride this same path in the summer when there is foliage on most of those branches. I'm guessing it would fare even better with leaves on those branches. BTW, I liked seeing screen display.
Cool video, I have been thinking of picking one of these up for my RC car channel that I have. With the beacon, do you think this drone would be able to follow an RC Car? Most of the cars I have are pretty fast. But even if it didn't track 100%, can I send the drone up, then start driving my cars to get at least a few good shots? I have multiple cams on my shoots anyway that I edit later. Would love to hear your thoughts.
im constantly surprised how it doesnt break after crashing on so many videos. maybe because it usually isnt very high and falls thru branches but still pretty impressive. good video and i like the extra info on the right side of the screen.
It looks to me like when it "loses" you, that you're maybe accidentally hitting the gimbal controls. Which moves the camera off of you and in one case, the exact opposite direction. The technology in this drone is AMAZING! The Skydio 3 will be a masterpiece no doubt. And I'm sure future firmware updates will make the Skydio 2 work even better. Either way, great video bro.
Compared to Mavic series (even the new ones), the Skydio 2 tracking is amazing. The Mavic won't enter close-spaced areas. You'd think the programmers would be able to set up a more seamless algorithm at this point between visual rasterization of the camera and the other on board sensors. When you look at how FINE the branches are, the Skydio 2 is doing an amazing job differentiating between foreground and background. The Mavic Pro would spend most of its time on the ground ... this is a major step in the right direction IMHO. You'd also think that the beacon GPS coordinates would be "read in" by the drone for the horizontal path to follow (that is simple) with the drone parsing the other data along the already predetermined alignment.
i imagine the algorithm did not find a forward pocket and so it looks for alternative pockets to go thru. the drone went to a side pocket and in a area like that (lots of thin branches) with obtructive signals, it seems easy for the drone's algorithm to say just keep searching for the net clear pocket
If you pay attention to the phone record i think she did that because of weak gps connection. So the drone didnt know where the beacon was so she tried to search randomly for the motion track object instead. I think she would perform better with better gps signal. But anyway still impressive.
Awesome tracking test, but I am wondering about the strange artifacts that seem to be focused in on the leaves and tree trunks as the drone flies by. My Mavic Pro initially had this problem and it was related to noise reduction in the drones camera. The fix if I remember correctly was to bump up the sharpness setting one click. I did that and the artifacts completely went away and everything was crisp and sharp. I wonder if this drone has a similar issue. Great video. Thanks for posting.
Still impressed, seems like it went into panic mode with so much obstacles around it, not taking up for it but it still did some amazing things that other drones would have been f'kdup on
I don't suppose you are making it any easier for the beacon to get a good gps lock by putting it in your pocket , it will already be struggling under the tree canopy , maybe worn on your arm on some kind of strap would help.
from the beginning ....beacon GPS insufficient .....it looks cloudy and everything the same color and low light....did you even check uav forecast app to see sats locked ........if you gonna do a test like that do it in the bright sunshine and summer time.....i dont know how many times i have said this......but its a good test
Billy - As always, GREAT information here. I currently have a a Mavic Pro Platinum. And as you know it has a built in electronic compass. Since the battery on the Skydio connects via a magnet, does that mean it doesn't use an internal compass? Because I would think the magnetic connection would throw off any local electronic sensors...
I also think the SD2 did very well in that tree infested environment, but you mentioned that if someone else wants to do the same, don't bring this drone. What other drone would you recommend? Maybe you should wait until SD10 arrives with optional saw blades for props and then it won't have any trouble cutting through the forest and tracking you and then you'd better be running for your life in that case!
I know this is a really late post, but it was interesting when it started losing you, it went vertical, I am guessing to get a better gps fix. Even though the leaves may not be plentiful, you have enough tree cover to disrupt satellite fixes. It did the same thing the second time. I’m glad you have the phone screen inset on the right because we have better insight into what is happening. Once in a while it reports the beacon doesn’t have a good gps fix... so if the beacon doesn’t then the drone will have trouble as well. This is still very impressive.
Ever consider putting the beacon in your pocket you may be unintentionally pushing buttons on the beacon and giving the drone confusing inputs? Always seemed to happen when your right leg was on the up stroke on the peddle.
@@billykyle so, when your pant pocket is at its tightest on your upper thigh you don't think it is tight enough to depress any of the buttons and possibly block the speaker hole so you don't hear a beep? Cue Morpheus meme. It just seems a little coincidental that every time it went nuts was when your right leg was bent. I would think it might be worth redoing the test in a way the beacon isn't being jostled around in your pants pocket. Regardless of the beacon though, you also put your phone in your coat pocket with an active touch screen still active. I know that because of the screen recording. You may have done the equivalent of a butt dial. To test this fairly you either need to turn off your screen, or get a handlebar mount for both the beacon and phone.
wow. This turned out extremely bad. I wouldn't be taking my skydio into this type of environment. thanks for doing this test for us so we know what it CAN'T do. BUT I'm still going to keep my preorder.
Good job Billy, you are right, it had to be done and you did it. I think, however, not having purchased any Mavic 2 I am still waiting for the Mavic 3.
Good one. Its obvious that this drone has it's shortcomings, but impressive autonomy wise nevertheless. Torture test alright it was. Skydio has more work to do. It lost you around 3 times.
I was considering one... but now.. Im not so sure. It lost alot off signals with a beacon there and fly somewhere else 180 degrees away. What if I was snowboarding down a steep hill. I could never get back up. I first have to get down, take some elevator up again.. and.. hope it's still somewhere there, without being somewhere else 180 degree doing some Obstacle Avoidance and kill me at a unknown path where it kills the user. And that's some down side.. If you want to sell it, sure ;)
Hi Billy, I understand that your Beacon loose the gps signal, because the cloudy weather and the heavy vegetation around you. Then the beacon cańt send it’s location to the drone and the drone begin to move around searching visually if can find you, for sure is part of the AI protocol when loose the gps data of the beacon. Make sense. The app say something like this in a moment. Weak beacon gps contact following only in visual mode.
My gripe is that the Drone quick to move away when it loss GPS signal, I think it should just stop right there when it loses the signal or maybe do a 360 rotation in hope of locating the subject, but not flying off somewhere else, never the less it did a fantastic job, video quality need tweaking.
It's useful that flyers like Billy are testing the Skydio to see it's current limits, strengths and weaknesses. Keep in mind that this is a rapidly evolving tech product from a relatively new company that is more a Silicon Valley software startup than a drone company per se, so we are going to see software updates that I imagine will markedly change and improve the behavior. So these videos by guinea pigs - us customers - help not only future users like me (I placed a reserve order) but Skydio (hopefully they are watching!).
Hi Billy, Happy Holidays, looks like its losing GPS. Are there hills nearby? or maybe its the density of forest? None the less, it still an awesome drone for capturing b-roll footage in a high-density obstacle environment. In a less density environment the Skydio 2 is flawless from what I see. I am in batch 3 order so it will be a while before I get mine. I need to consider if the pending Remote Pilot ID proposal due to be published on 12/31 will affect my decision as I tend to hold on to my drones longer than 3 years (like my favorite drone the P4P). DJI Mavic Mini was all part of the plan to be under the weight limit as they have close communication with FAA and other aviation authorities around the world. As you know, you actually did a video on it about the Go4 App option to enable Remote ID, if that will meet the new pending requirements on newer DJI drones out today or make them obsolete for "Standard Remote Pilot ID"? What about the Skydio 2? does it have Remote ID technology? One good thing that should come out of Standard Remote Pilot ID is it will eliminate the Line of Sight requirement. Of course, the huge government oversight is to accommodate big business like UPS and Amazon for parcel delivery service. Thanks for sharing your experience
I think the reason the drone stopped following both times was... The blue circles on the trees. If you'll notice, both times the drone lost the subject was when he went behind a tree with a blue dot. Second time, went past a tree with a blue dot. Was also wearing a blue jacket. Just my opinion.
When following you like this, is it visually tracking as well as using GPS? If so... since the woods were not very bright, I wonder if wearing lighter, bright colored clothes would have helped it keep you in sight? Just a thought.
This was a great test. It did even better considering Skydio clearly states not to fly it near branches, power lines and other "thin" objects. I am impressed to say the least!
Here I suspect the dense trees do confound the GPS, impairing the ability to track the beacon. Something similar might happen if tracking the beacon through a narrow canyon or a street bounded by tall buildings, which would reduce the satellite connections to ones directly above, thus reducing the breadth of angles to pinpoint the beacon. It might help if a Skydio 3 used the visual obstacle avoidance cameras as a supplement to GPS for the sake of tracking in such environments.
I tried taking mine into some trees and ended up with some broken props as well (thankfully falling in the snow bank didn't appear to cause any issues). My battery didn't pop off though. I foolishly thought it could follow in front of me since the trail I was on is really cut through the trees and almost forms a tunnel. I'd like to retry it with follow behind but am worried about two things now: 1. Breaking more props and 2. I encountered other people on my test ride. I was nervous it would fly toward someone or even just freak them out so I went out of my way to get away from others as much as possible (before I even got to the trees). One thing I didnt figure out was how to switch to manual pilot mode to drive it out of the trees once it went in. I'll have to play with switching back and forth a bit before my next flight. Thanks for posting your experinces.
Billy, definitely something *glitchy* in the firmware. At 7:06 you see it has you locked in and being tracked..but by 7:08 you make a LEFT turn and the Skydio 2 goes RIGHT. If it's following you the way it should, and your close, it should follow you around those corners but it doesn't...it goes off to the side as mentioned in your other video...hopefully Skydio fixes this as would be a huge improvement.
Ok, mine is still on order. Not completely discouraged. Lots of obstacles. Good test!! Curious.... Go down that same trail again, but put the drone just above the tree line where it’s tracking you from above ll the trees. Wouldn’t have all the trees to dodge, but Would it still keep signal and follow.
Around 7:17 it was really weird to see it doing random movements. Was it trying to find its own way out? Just trying to find an open area? Was it claustrophobic? Who knows. I'm very impressed how it (for the majority of the time) moved around the smaller branches. You should to the same with DJI products like the 2 Pro to see how it compares!
I think the beacon was losing signal and then the drone had to resort to visual tracking (not exactly sure where you had the beacon while riding). Once the drone lost visual it resorted back to gps which was weak on the beacon. If you mounted the beacon to the handle bars it may have better gps reception. One thing to try.
I doubt many UAV Pilots could navigate their way through those woods like that. There's nothing else like it for the consumer now, and it's only going to get better. Your torture test proves it's pretty remarkable tech, regardless the few times it did lose you and eventually crash. Wonder what DJI will bring out to compete with it in 2020, other than ADS-B.
was wondering why wouldn't Skydio 2 choose to take upward path upward above the tree level to follow and once caught up the subject and should lower itself downward?
Interesting, definitely seemed like an issue with the GPS. The Skydio could clearly still see you, yet it seemed to suddenly believe you were somewhere else entirely. This isn't that surprising when GPS poor conditions can cause accuracy to drop to 30 feet or more before cutting out entirely. That also means the Skydio is *far* too reliant on GPS for tracking. Hopefully, they are better able to blend GPS tracking with visual tracking (what DJI uses) for better results in the future, because that's a fatal flaw for its intended purpose in my opinion. Still, I was totally floored by how well it was able to move around in those dense obstacles without hitting anything all on its own. That's some skynet alien tech stuff right there, i've never seen anything even remotely that good and i've flown a lot of high end drones. Extremely impressive.
Hey Billy. Didn’t you mentioned in a previous video that Skydio also sent some update for the drone as well? That’s probably what’s messing up the tracking even more. I’ve seen other videos where if it stops following you it’ll just stay in place, not to fly away to another direction.
This is going to sound a bit silly but try using Velcro to attach the beacon to the top of your helmet. Satellite signals are rather fragile in a way. Doesn't take much to block the signal. You're at a disadvantage being in the trees to begin with. Then add the fact the beacon is in your hand or your pocket. Try it. It may improve performance greatly.
Did you contact Skydio for this behavior? Would be interested to see what they say. I get that small branches can be a challenge, but it almost seems like it turns to the side out of nowhere at times. If I wouldn’t know better then I would think that Skynet hacked the Skydio. Also I thought the beacon will actually make the tracking more reliable and flawless, but it feels like it is first relying purely on the visual tracking and the. Once it loses the object tries to figure out where to go via the GPS from the beacon. Not very smooth footage in that case and I didn’t have the feeling it knew right away where the beacon was at and where to go. Great video and very helpful as not just some promo footage!
Great, great obstacle course you put this Baby through, Billy. I gotta have one!! Would u consider this as a main drone that you’d make a mini cinematic moment? I know it doesn’t have near the range the MP2 does, but the quality looks pretty darn good! I’d love to see you do one of your cinematic ventures, and BTW, I gotta fuss at ya a little bit...coming from years of working in the O.R., where is that helmet? :) Do not wanna see you get hurt! Not saying this in a smart a$$ way, it’s just something I had to say to keep you safe and those videos coming :) Keep ‘em coming !!!
Hey Billy, not sure why it lost you the 2cnd time. It was right behind you then it just turned around for no reason. Who knows, it's not perfect ,for sure. I wonder why the video was so pixelated, didn't see any on your last video. I don't think I would have the patience, and would stress-out over this drone, when it keeps looseing you or 'me".
You mentioned that your GPS signal was weak. In that situation, the GPS location coordinates also become much less accurate. The Skydio has to read it's own location, and gets your location from your beacon's GPS. A weak GPS signal can definitely cause your location to "jump" a decent distance, which could be what's causing the the Skydio to suddenly veer off to the side or turn around, thinking you are no longer ahead of it. It would be interesting to try to go farther away from it to see if it picks you up again. When your location is farther from the drone, it should still see you in generally the right direction even if the GPS coordinates are inaccurate.
Great job Bill.....we'll waiting next video from you, do you considered to test this drone flying realy close to powerline tower? I havent see other video doing this test
NICE - I got mine around Christmas and COLD!!!! here. I tried it a couple tiomes and worked well. HOWEVER - watching this all of the "get lost"" situations seemed like it lost GPS as you said about the first one. What puzzles me is when it loses GPS - it seems to RUSH OFF. Usually faster than when tracking you. It also climbs. That may be for safety. I just wondered why it sped up as it meadered aimlessly away from you. Why not just climb to 10 ft and hover. (easy firmware update). I hope you send data to Skydio on the issues. Anxious to try mine on a BOAT which will be a tricky situation. (how to land not being perfectly stable on a boat?) There is an idea for you to test. thanks
Five minutes into my first bike following, it got into a leafless tree just like yours did about 4 minutes in. I was really scared but it found a path back to me on its own. I figure if it could get in, it could get out. Do you happen to know if you had auto white balance on when you recorded this? It seems like the leaves change colors at a few points in the recording.
Great review I caught the booster board one as well good stuff, yes the extreme is best if you can work it there then anywhere else is cake. In this video it would lose you the moment you left frame for any reason it seemed to me. The first one was the sharp turn and the other two flipped around so quick it almost had to be a small branch.
It turned around because it got blocked every time. You can't see the think twigs in the way, but a propellar would get snagged. Those woods are a very big ask.
it is a crazy environment for the skydio 2 def think it will do better with more leaves....but wow the fact that it did not crash when it loses u and camera goes all wild style and starts to shoot off....is pretty impressive....well one crash lol but what out of 3 or 4 times? the shooting/veering off is a little alarming but it should get better in time....still hella impressed
Your body is cutting the beacon signal to the Sydio when you turn. if you put the beacon up higher and in line of sight of the drone I bet it would follow better.
In a low battery situation that drone could self land in some weird spots flying that far away from you. Nice drone Billy and thanks for the nice video but I'll pass on the Skydio how many times can you film yourself (not you personally)
Hi Billy, Happy New Year 2020, 1. so when using beacons, a GPS signal is still needed for tracking, I think the drone will always look for a beacon signal without having to rely on the GPS signal 2. Is there a starting/home point on the menu? if using active tracking does it look that home points update regularly? 3. So the battery magnet easily falls out when it is hit? Thanks Bro....SALAM UDARA
Hey Billy - Question: Could i use the Skydio to help me put up some antenna in the trees 🌲?? I’m a Ham radio op, K8UR. Could the drone lift a fishing line up thru the trees in the woods, avoiding branches? I have a release mechanism made for fishermen that can release and drop a sinker, pulling the line back over a tree once it is up and over the trees.. I don’t dare use my Mavic in the trees! Mitch
Billy, it looked to me .. that when it lost you... maybe it had ticked one of those thin whisper branches and tossed it off course and it took a moment to recover stable flight and couldn't recover gps signal?
The wrong you did is that you decided to track you visual, instead the beacon. It was matter of time to lose you in such a difficult enviroment. If it was tracking the beacon it wouldnt have lost you. But again it did great . Explain us how you make it come back, and why you use the beacon and not the phone to steer it back to you. An other thing i noticed is that in the telemetry the distans (not the hight) was only icreasing. was it measuring from the home point? If it was tracking the beacon would it measure the distans from it?
Did you guys enjoy having the screen recording to reference on the side? Was it annoying? Let me know for future videos👍🏻
Billy Kyle I'm watching you on a big screen tv so I like it. If I was watching on my iPhone it would probably annoy me.
Lon Denard Agree with Lon, Billy. Recording graphic is cool enhancement. And abundantly interesting video!
Yep. Screen recording on the side is cool.
It’s perfect. Gives you a good perspective.
It worked for me. Added another viewing dimension and a new layer of available information.
This scenario (in the woods) is exactly why I want great tracking/obstacle avoidance in a drone. It doesn't seem to be there YET, but it did remarkably well in my opinion.
Give it another decade and it will be on POINT.
@@YorktownUSA I'm looking forward to implementing this drone into our inspection process for bridges. The ability to go under a bridge/3d model the entire bridge autonimously, is going to save a significant amt of time and money for clients and myself. No need for snooper trucks/etc, complete the work in a day versus a week and have a accurate record of the bridge in a model, versus pictures in folders referenced to a pdf with pts.
Just to be fair to Skydio remember this all new technology. I believe the their next drone its going to be so much better. Great video billy.
Billy, what is remarkable to me is that even when the blue bird ‘lost’ you, it usually took care of itself! So impressed with this device! It’s as if it could find its way out of a tumbleweed. Supremely interesting video. Thanks so much.
That is why we edit footage anyway.
The footage this piece of crap shoots is totally worthless in my opinion
Thanks Billy for another real world test. I.M.O., that trail wasn't all that much restricted. It was fairly open where you were riding with the exception of some bare branches. Unbelievable that it lost you three times in the terain you were in and with you in great sight. I'm a snowmobiler in Michigan which has decent trails but, I would not trust this drone to follow me after seeing your test. Simply said, I wouldn't be able to trust having my back against it. Each time it lost you, it climbed to a highr altitude without you in sight. I'm really surprised it didn't crash the first time while mysteriously climbing. Plus, you had an open floor which was set to the closest/lowest proximity of you. With all your tests, Skydio has a long, long way to go. This drone needs a totally different RC and a ton of software/firmware changes. I'm in batch 2 and barely hanging in......... If I was to get an email today, I would cancel and wait for a possible Skydio 3. I sincerely appreciate all your testing and sharing with us potential purchaser's. In the long run, you may save me approx. $1,500.00. Right now, my MA is looking pretty damn good. As always, Thank You for your true, real world reviews! 👍😊
So, does that mean you'll take the MA when you snowmobile on those trails?
@@huyked Not as a following selfie. I have however had it hover approx. 15ft while showing me cutting through the trail.
I liked showing a screen shot of your phone, shows exactly what is going on. Excellent video, really enjoyed.
I think the drone is operating fine. The problem may be you and not understanding what interferes with gps signals. I relate to my experience with gps tracking on marine chart plotters. In my experience, your body (probably the liquid makeup) blocks gps. On a boat if you cover the gps antenna puck with your hands the plotter will lose lock. In the case of the skydio I think the beacon position is transmitted to the drone in terms of gps coordinates. The errors I seen on your phone seem to indicate the drone is losing the gps lock. I suspect the beacon is what is actually losing lock. You might experiment with how you hold the beacon. Maybe attach it to your clothing on the outside or your backpack. Essentially try to let the beacon have a good view upward. My two cents anyways Jim
Good point! Thank you for sharing your experience about the gps antenna puck when you cover it with your hands. I agree. Maybe velcro the beacon to the helmet. :D It's still handy if you want to change the settings.
I’m a mountain biker and skier. I have been experimenting with the Skydio 2 for a couple weeks. The Skydio will not be able to follow you during either sport through trees with any appreciable speed. As you demonstrated it will lose sight and then GPS will not really allow to ‘catch back up’.
Skydio has more work to do for sure.
I want to see a repeat of this same trail in the Spring when the leaves grow in, I think the Skydio will do much better.
I really liked having the smaller screen to look at, was fun to read telemetry as I was watching. Great video and it’s awesome your not trash talking it because of the crash. You really tested it hard in areas that Skydio don’t recommend us flying in. No drone is perfect but this little guy did a amazing job, it’s only going to get better and better as they send out updates to tweak it.
I kinda feel it didn't have to lose you not even once. So I'm disappointed about that. It had you clearly in screen every time but didn't expect you to change direction. The other thing I don't like is how it behaves when it loses you. Almost looks like it's panicking. Hopefully both of these things should be improvable by software updates.
Totally agree....... Would like to see a comment from Skydio. 🤔
@@rapaent yep
Great video. Although there are still a lot to be improved, Skydio 2 is still the best tracking drone so far. I hope Skydio to sell this product worldwide soon.
It looks to me like these results were due to the device having to balance the two information sources available to it and decide in the case of disparity, which one to consider the "source of truth". When the visual confidence dipped the GPS became the "stronger" signal, but at the time the location fix was not accurate due to the tree cover, however the drone didn't know that and swung to align to its new "position".
The GPS accuracy was probably fluctuating between accurate and less so all throughout, but it only caused an issue when the visual confidence had a blip.
If something along these lines was the case, then it can be addressed by refining the software algorithms. Things like tweaking how it reacts to loss of visual tracking, and what it will do when a position update suddenly tells it that it's in fact 50 metres from where it thinks it should be. This stuff is insanely complex, but it doesn't require new hardware to get better.
People should not be cancelling orders based on this sort of result, unless they ordered thinking it could do this, in which case they had an unrealistic expectation on the capabilities of such a device and it's probably for the best. I think Billy made it quite clear several times that this kind of scenario is way beyond what the drone is rated for, and is simply shown as a demonstration as to why this is the case.
I like your engineering like thinking. Skydio likes getting recommendations so hope you will write them your thoughts with link of this TH-cam.
This aspect ratio is amazing, especially for mobile iOS viewing.
I don’t usually comment on your videos, but I watch every single one. Keep em’ coming Billy! 👍🏼
A woman went to a pet shop & immediately spotted a large, beautiful parrot. There was a sign on the cage that said $10.00, which seemed awfully cheap.
"Why so little," she asked the pet store owner.
I should tell you first that this bird used to live in a house of Prostitution and sometimes it says some pretty vulgar stuff
The woman thought about this, but decided she had to have the bird anyway. The bird looked around the room, then at her, and said, "New house, new madam."
The woman was a bit shocked at the implication but then found it kind of amusing.
When her 2 teenage daughters returned from school, the bird saw them enter and said, "New house, new madam, new girls."
The girls and the woman were a bit offended but then began to laugh about the situation considering how and where the parrot had been raised.
Moments later, the woman's husband came home from work.
The bird looked at him and said, "Hi, Bob!"
Still, this is pretty impressive! Awesome demo Billy
Wow! Who would have predicted this tech at the beginning of the decade...Great video.
so glad it doesn't corrupt the whole file. i have had other cameras just screw up the whole file due to loss of power.
Billy, great job on the video! Great having the Recording Graphic but even looking at it when the drone failed I couldn’t see why! Would be great to have Skydio see you’re vid and give us an idea what’s going on. Or they need to see you’re vid and use it to improve the software. Thanks for not dissing the drone because it failed! Too many folks here on TH-cam whining about this drone and cancelling their orders. Especially those who own every drone made then cancel their Skydio order. It’s software folks.... it’s gonna get better. How many cancelled their order because of no telemetry? And the first software upgrade gave us telemetry. Boo haha. Software takes time and with a complex drone like this one it’s not ez. Thanks for the great work.
That was a torture test. Mainly because of all the ghost branches....I'm amazed it was able to see them and avoid them. It would be interesting to ride this same path in the summer when there is foliage on most of those branches. I'm guessing it would fare even better with leaves on those branches. BTW, I liked seeing screen display.
Cool video, I have been thinking of picking one of these up for my RC car channel that I have. With the beacon, do you think this drone would be able to follow an RC Car? Most of the cars I have are pretty fast. But even if it didn't track 100%, can I send the drone up, then start driving my cars to get at least a few good shots? I have multiple cams on my shoots anyway that I edit later. Would love to hear your thoughts.
im constantly surprised how it doesnt break after crashing on so many videos. maybe because it usually isnt very high and falls thru branches but still pretty impressive. good video and i like the extra info on the right side of the screen.
This where the mavic shines. It's obstacle avoidance system is so caveman that it won't drift far away like this drone does when it looses you.
You don't KNOW how well it will do unless it was there in this exact environment. Stop talking out of your ass.
There is no way a Mavic m2p to do the same thing. I dare you to try.
My Mavic 2 tried to head back east- china countless times when it lost me.
@@thebx-substack-com it won't, it just stops in place. This skydio3 drone wanders off deeper into the forest.
It looks to me like when it "loses" you, that you're maybe accidentally hitting the gimbal controls. Which moves the camera off of you and in one case, the exact opposite direction.
The technology in this drone is AMAZING! The Skydio 3 will be a masterpiece no doubt. And I'm sure future firmware updates will make the Skydio 2 work even better.
Either way, great video bro.
Compared to Mavic series (even the new ones), the Skydio 2 tracking is amazing. The Mavic won't enter close-spaced areas. You'd think the programmers would be able to set up a more seamless algorithm at this point between visual rasterization of the camera and the other on board sensors. When you look at how FINE the branches are, the Skydio 2 is doing an amazing job differentiating between foreground and background. The Mavic Pro would spend most of its time on the ground ... this is a major step in the right direction IMHO. You'd also think that the beacon GPS coordinates would be "read in" by the drone for the horizontal path to follow (that is simple) with the drone parsing the other data along the already predetermined alignment.
I wonder why it went to the complete opposite direction if you were having the beacon with you?
i imagine the algorithm did not find a forward pocket and so it looks for alternative pockets to go thru. the drone went to a side pocket and in a area like that (lots of thin branches) with obtructive signals, it seems easy for the drone's algorithm to say just keep searching for the net clear pocket
If you pay attention to the phone record i think she did that because of weak gps connection. So the drone didnt know where the beacon was so she tried to search randomly for the motion track object instead.
I think she would perform better with better gps signal.
But anyway still impressive.
Awesome tracking test, but I am wondering about the strange artifacts that seem to be focused in on the leaves and tree trunks as the drone flies by. My Mavic Pro initially had this problem and it was related to noise reduction in the drones camera. The fix if I remember correctly was to bump up the sharpness setting one click. I did that and the artifacts completely went away and everything was crisp and sharp. I wonder if this drone has a similar issue. Great video. Thanks for posting.
Still impressed, seems like it went into panic mode with so much obstacles around it, not taking up for it but it still did some amazing things that other drones would have been f'kdup on
I don't suppose you are making it any easier for the beacon to get a good gps lock by putting it in your pocket , it will already be struggling under the tree canopy , maybe worn on your arm on some kind of strap would help.
from the beginning ....beacon GPS insufficient .....it looks cloudy and everything the same color and low light....did you even check uav forecast app to see sats locked ........if you gonna do a test like that do it in the bright sunshine and summer time.....i dont know how many times i have said this......but its a good test
Almost a year later wonder if they fixed any of the bugs with it losing visual with the beacon.
Billy - As always, GREAT information here. I currently have a a Mavic Pro Platinum. And as you know it has a built in electronic compass. Since the battery on the Skydio connects via a magnet, does that mean it doesn't use an internal compass? Because I would think the magnetic connection would throw off any local electronic sensors...
I also think the SD2 did very well in that tree infested environment, but you mentioned that if someone else wants to do the same, don't bring this drone. What other drone would you recommend? Maybe you should wait until SD10 arrives with optional saw blades for props and then it won't have any trouble cutting through the forest and tracking you and then you'd better be running for your life in that case!
LMAO
saw blade for props, running for your life. :D
I know this is a really late post, but it was interesting when it started losing you, it went vertical, I am guessing to get a better gps fix. Even though the leaves may not be plentiful, you have enough tree cover to disrupt satellite fixes. It did the same thing the second time. I’m glad you have the phone screen inset on the right because we have better insight into what is happening. Once in a while it reports the beacon doesn’t have a good gps fix... so if the beacon doesn’t then the drone will have trouble as well. This is still very impressive.
Ever consider putting the beacon in your pocket you may be unintentionally pushing buttons on the beacon and giving the drone confusing inputs? Always seemed to happen when your right leg was on the up stroke on the peddle.
The beacon beeps when a button is pressed. They take some force to combat something like this happening
@@billykyle so, when your pant pocket is at its tightest on your upper thigh you don't think it is tight enough to depress any of the buttons and possibly block the speaker hole so you don't hear a beep? Cue Morpheus meme. It just seems a little coincidental that every time it went nuts was when your right leg was bent. I would think it might be worth redoing the test in a way the beacon isn't being jostled around in your pants pocket. Regardless of the beacon though, you also put your phone in your coat pocket with an active touch screen still active. I know that because of the screen recording. You may have done the equivalent of a butt dial. To test this fairly you either need to turn off your screen, or get a handlebar mount for both the beacon and phone.
wow. This turned out extremely bad. I wouldn't be taking my skydio into this type of environment. thanks for doing this test for us so we know what it CAN'T do. BUT I'm still going to keep my preorder.
Good job Billy, you are right, it had to be done and you did it. I think, however, not having purchased any Mavic 2 I am still waiting for the Mavic 3.
Good one. Its obvious that this drone has it's shortcomings, but impressive autonomy wise nevertheless. Torture test alright it was. Skydio has more work to do. It lost you around 3 times.
I was considering one... but now.. Im not so sure.
It lost alot off signals with a beacon there and fly somewhere else 180 degrees away.
What if I was snowboarding down a steep hill. I could never get back up. I first have to get down, take some elevator up again.. and..
hope it's still somewhere there, without being somewhere else 180 degree doing some Obstacle Avoidance and kill me at a unknown path where it kills the user.
And that's some down side..
If you want to sell it, sure ;)
Good stuff billy
Hi Billy, I understand that your Beacon loose the gps signal, because the cloudy weather and the heavy vegetation around you. Then the beacon cańt send it’s location to the drone and the drone begin to move around searching visually if can find you, for sure is part of the AI protocol when loose the gps data of the beacon. Make sense. The app say something like this in a moment. Weak beacon gps contact following only in visual mode.
My gripe is that the Drone quick to move away when it loss GPS signal, I think it should just stop right there when it loses the signal or maybe do a 360 rotation in hope of locating the subject, but not flying off somewhere else, never the less it did a fantastic job, video quality need tweaking.
Exactly! It immediately seems to fly away from the last known location. Easily the worse part of this drone it appears.
It's useful that flyers like Billy are testing the Skydio to see it's current limits, strengths and weaknesses. Keep in mind that this is a rapidly evolving tech product from a relatively new company that is more a Silicon Valley software startup than a drone company per se, so we are going to see software updates that I imagine will markedly change and improve the behavior. So these videos by guinea pigs - us customers - help not only future users like me (I placed a reserve order) but Skydio (hopefully they are watching!).
I'm not convinced the mavic is still my cup of coffee.
the mavic does not avoid branches , it crashes in no time
@@filipstevens6263 it avoids everything.
Hi Billy, Happy Holidays, looks like its losing GPS. Are there hills nearby? or maybe its the density of forest? None the less, it still an awesome drone for capturing b-roll footage in a high-density obstacle environment. In a less density environment the Skydio 2 is flawless from what I see. I am in batch 3 order so it will be a while before I get mine. I need to consider if the pending Remote Pilot ID proposal due to be published on 12/31 will affect my decision as I tend to hold on to my drones longer than 3 years (like my favorite drone the P4P). DJI Mavic Mini was all part of the plan to be under the weight limit as they have close communication with FAA and other aviation authorities around the world. As you know, you actually did a video on it about the Go4 App option to enable Remote ID, if that will meet the new pending requirements on newer DJI drones out today or make them obsolete for "Standard Remote Pilot ID"? What about the Skydio 2? does it have Remote ID technology? One good thing that should come out of Standard Remote Pilot ID is it will eliminate the Line of Sight requirement. Of course, the huge government oversight is to accommodate big business like UPS and Amazon for parcel delivery service. Thanks for sharing your experience
I think the reason the drone stopped following both times was... The blue circles on the trees. If you'll notice, both times the drone lost the subject was when he went behind a tree with a blue dot. Second time, went past a tree with a blue dot. Was also wearing a blue jacket. Just my opinion.
I'm surprised no one brought up the most important question of them all, "If a drone crashes in the forest, does it make a sound?"
😂😂😂
The sound of me crying loudly.
It's unbelievable what the drone can do. How to avoid obstacles. He is unmatched .
When following you like this, is it visually tracking as well as using GPS? If so... since the woods were not very bright, I wonder if wearing lighter, bright colored clothes would have helped it keep you in sight? Just a thought.
This was a great test. It did even better considering Skydio clearly states not to fly it near branches, power lines and other "thin" objects. I am impressed to say the least!
Here I suspect the dense trees do confound the GPS, impairing the ability to track the beacon. Something similar might happen if tracking the beacon through a narrow canyon or a street bounded by tall buildings, which would reduce the satellite connections to ones directly above, thus reducing the breadth of angles to pinpoint the beacon. It might help if a Skydio 3 used the visual obstacle avoidance cameras as a supplement to GPS for the sake of tracking in such environments.
I tried taking mine into some trees and ended up with some broken props as well (thankfully falling in the snow bank didn't appear to cause any issues). My battery didn't pop off though. I foolishly thought it could follow in front of me since the trail I was on is really cut through the trees and almost forms a tunnel. I'd like to retry it with follow behind but am worried about two things now: 1. Breaking more props and 2. I encountered other people on my test ride. I was nervous it would fly toward someone or even just freak them out so I went out of my way to get away from others as much as possible (before I even got to the trees).
One thing I didnt figure out was how to switch to manual pilot mode to drive it out of the trees once it went in. I'll have to play with switching back and forth a bit before my next flight.
Thanks for posting your experinces.
Billy, definitely something *glitchy* in the firmware. At 7:06 you see it has you locked in and being tracked..but by 7:08 you make a LEFT turn and the Skydio 2 goes RIGHT. If it's following you the way it should, and your close, it should follow you around those corners but it doesn't...it goes off to the side as mentioned in your other video...hopefully Skydio fixes this as would be a huge improvement.
Ok, mine is still on order. Not completely discouraged. Lots of obstacles. Good test!! Curious.... Go down that same trail again, but put the drone just above the tree line where it’s tracking you from above ll the trees. Wouldn’t have all the trees to dodge, but Would it still keep signal and follow.
Hi Billy - great video as always. Looking forward to your thoughts on FAA proposed rules on remote ID. Thanks
Around 7:17 it was really weird to see it doing random movements. Was it trying to find its own way out? Just trying to find an open area? Was it claustrophobic? Who knows. I'm very impressed how it (for the majority of the time) moved around the smaller branches. You should to the same with DJI products like the 2 Pro to see how it compares!
I think the beacon was losing signal and then the drone had to resort to visual tracking (not exactly sure where you had the beacon while riding). Once the drone lost visual it resorted back to gps which was weak on the beacon. If you mounted the beacon to the handle bars it may have better gps reception. One thing to try.
I still think the drone will do better with leaves on the branches(spring/summer). Like to see you do this on a Super73 🚲
Billy, I would be really interested to see how well this tracks you in a group of people, say playing soccer for example!
I doubt many UAV Pilots could navigate their way through those woods like that. There's nothing else like it for the consumer now, and it's only going to get better. Your torture test proves it's pretty remarkable tech, regardless the few times it did lose you and eventually crash. Wonder what DJI will bring out to compete with it in 2020, other than ADS-B.
was wondering why wouldn't Skydio 2 choose to take upward path upward above the tree level to follow and once caught up the subject and should lower itself downward?
Interesting, definitely seemed like an issue with the GPS. The Skydio could clearly still see you, yet it seemed to suddenly believe you were somewhere else entirely. This isn't that surprising when GPS poor conditions can cause accuracy to drop to 30 feet or more before cutting out entirely. That also means the Skydio is *far* too reliant on GPS for tracking. Hopefully, they are better able to blend GPS tracking with visual tracking (what DJI uses) for better results in the future, because that's a fatal flaw for its intended purpose in my opinion.
Still, I was totally floored by how well it was able to move around in those dense obstacles without hitting anything all on its own. That's some skynet alien tech stuff right there, i've never seen anything even remotely that good and i've flown a lot of high end drones. Extremely impressive.
Totally agree. Seemed to loose "eyes" on the subject way too easily and proceed to vacate the area too quickly.
its almost like casper the friendly ghost is following you
Hey Billy. Didn’t you mentioned in a previous video that Skydio also sent some update for the drone as well? That’s probably what’s messing up the tracking even more. I’ve seen other videos where if it stops following you it’ll just stay in place, not to fly away to another direction.
This is going to sound a bit silly but try using Velcro to attach the beacon to the top of your helmet. Satellite signals are rather fragile in a way. Doesn't take much to block the signal. You're at a disadvantage being in the trees to begin with. Then add the fact the beacon is in your hand or your pocket. Try it. It may improve performance greatly.
Screen recording on the side looked good, nice addition to the video. This is impressive having a drone navigate in that way
I fly drones to relax, just watching this makes me on edge.
This looks like the Wild Area in Pokemon Sword and Shield
I wonder if it would perform better or worse at a further tracking distance. Thanks for these videos while I 'patiently' wait for my preorder.
Def the most impressive drone out right now
Did you contact Skydio for this behavior? Would be interested to see what they say. I get that small branches can be a challenge, but it almost seems like it turns to the side out of nowhere at times. If I wouldn’t know better then I would think that Skynet hacked the Skydio. Also I thought the beacon will actually make the tracking more reliable and flawless, but it feels like it is first relying purely on the visual tracking and the. Once it loses the object tries to figure out where to go via the GPS from the beacon. Not very smooth footage in that case and I didn’t have the feeling it knew right away where the beacon was at and where to go. Great video and very helpful as not just some promo footage!
I agree
Great, great obstacle course you put this Baby through, Billy. I gotta have one!! Would u consider this as a main drone that you’d make a mini cinematic moment? I know it doesn’t have near the range the MP2 does, but the quality looks pretty darn good! I’d love to see you do one of your cinematic ventures, and BTW, I gotta fuss at ya a little bit...coming from years of working in the O.R., where is that helmet? :) Do not wanna see you get hurt! Not saying this in a smart a$$ way, it’s just something I had to say to keep you safe and those videos coming :) Keep ‘em coming !!!
Hey Billy, not sure why it lost you the 2cnd time. It was right behind you then it just turned around for no reason. Who knows, it's not perfect ,for sure. I wonder why the video was so pixelated, didn't see any on your last video. I don't think I would have the patience, and would stress-out over this drone, when it keeps looseing you or 'me".
You mentioned that your GPS signal was weak. In that situation, the GPS location coordinates also become much less accurate. The Skydio has to read it's own location, and gets your location from your beacon's GPS. A weak GPS signal can definitely cause your location to "jump" a decent distance, which could be what's causing the the Skydio to suddenly veer off to the side or turn around, thinking you are no longer ahead of it. It would be interesting to try to go farther away from it to see if it picks you up again. When your location is farther from the drone, it should still see you in generally the right direction even if the GPS coordinates are inaccurate.
Great job Bill.....we'll waiting next video from you,
do you considered to test this drone flying realy close to powerline tower? I havent see other video doing this test
How do you sync your audio with the drone footage?
Were the batteries low on the beacon? It was losing you, when it was right behind you. The trees wouldn't explain a weak gps signal.
love it . keep doing what you do, Ill keep watching
NICE - I got mine around Christmas and COLD!!!! here. I tried it a couple tiomes and worked well. HOWEVER - watching this all of the "get lost"" situations seemed like it lost GPS as you said about the first one. What puzzles me is when it loses GPS - it seems to RUSH OFF. Usually faster than when tracking you. It also climbs. That may be for safety. I just wondered why it sped up as it meadered aimlessly away from you. Why not just climb to 10 ft and hover. (easy firmware update). I hope you send data to Skydio on the issues. Anxious to try mine on a BOAT which will be a tricky situation. (how to land not being perfectly stable on a boat?) There is an idea for you to test. thanks
What’s causing the video to pixelate? Great torture tracking video.
TH-cam compression. Check the description to download the video in its full resolution.
Billy Kyle I appreciate your quick response and letting know that. I am really interested in purchasing the Skydio 2. Thanks!
Five minutes into my first bike following, it got into a leafless tree just like yours did about 4 minutes in. I was really scared but it found a path back to me on its own. I figure if it could get in, it could get out. Do you happen to know if you had auto white balance on when you recorded this? It seems like the leaves change colors at a few points in the recording.
Great review I caught the booster board one as well good stuff, yes the extreme is best if you can work it there then anywhere else is cake. In this video it would lose you the moment you left frame for any reason it seemed to me. The first one was the sharp turn and the other two flipped around so quick it almost had to be a small branch.
excellent video!
!!!thank you for all of your investigations!!!
Nice vid Billy, like the testing that’s being done. Great tech but doesn’t fit my use cases, a bit of a meh for me if I am being honest
pretty cool, did you see Klogee's video? He crashed it and destroyed it. He wasn't being wreck less just caught a wire on a bridge.
It turned around because it got blocked every time. You can't see the think twigs in the way, but a propellar would get snagged. Those woods are a very big ask.
it is a crazy environment for the skydio 2 def think it will do better with more leaves....but wow the fact that it did not crash when it loses u and camera goes all wild style and starts to shoot off....is pretty impressive....well one crash lol but what out of 3 or 4 times? the shooting/veering off is a little alarming but it should get better in time....still hella impressed
Your body is cutting the beacon signal to the Sydio when you turn. if you put the beacon up higher and in line of sight of the drone I bet it would follow better.
In a low battery situation that drone could self land in some weird spots flying that far away from you. Nice drone Billy and thanks for the nice video but I'll pass on the Skydio how many times can you film yourself (not you personally)
What an excellent performance by Skydio2.
A torture enhancement would be to make it fly in front of you.
What’s with the video quality going in and out?
How your voice gets recorded? It gets picked up by the phone?
I just picked up a Mavic Air... but wow thing has impressive tracking!
Hi Billy, Happy New Year 2020,
1. so when using beacons, a GPS signal is still needed for tracking, I think the drone will always look for a beacon signal without having to rely on the GPS signal
2. Is there a starting/home point on the menu? if using active tracking does it look that home points update regularly?
3. So the battery magnet easily falls out when it is hit?
Thanks Bro....SALAM UDARA
Hopefully the DJI guys aren’t watching this...if they are they won’t hurry to come out with a new drone...
The loss at 3:40 was dumb. Overall though, still impressive. Has it gotten better?
Hey Billy - Question: Could i use the Skydio to help me put up some antenna in the trees 🌲??
I’m a Ham radio op, K8UR.
Could the drone lift a fishing line up thru the trees in the woods, avoiding branches? I have a release mechanism made for fishermen that can release and drop a sinker, pulling the line back over a tree once it is up and over the trees..
I don’t dare use my Mavic in the trees!
Mitch
Billy, it looked to me .. that when it lost you... maybe it had ticked one of those thin whisper branches and tossed it off course and it took a moment to recover stable flight and couldn't recover gps signal?
The wrong you did is that you decided to track you visual, instead the beacon. It was matter of time to lose you in such a difficult enviroment. If it was tracking the beacon it wouldnt have lost you. But again it did great . Explain us how you make it come back, and why you use the beacon and not the phone to steer it back to you.
An other thing i noticed is that in the telemetry the distans (not the hight) was only icreasing. was it measuring from the home point? If it was tracking the beacon would it measure the distans from it?