So I got me a little drone…..

And I must say, it’s a pretty cool bit of tech!

It’s the new DJI Neo and the BEST thing about it is it does what i’ve said drones should be able to do (i’ve said it for years!) – it uses AI to identify you (or any subject it casts eyes on..) then follows you about! Magic!

It means that you could jst take it out your pocket, turn it on, and it’ll hover a few meters behind you, a few meters in teh air, and record you up/down/along a trail etc etc!

I’ve yet to take it out on the bike, but I did take it to the local skatepark adn it latched onto my daughter and whizzed along behind her, much to the absolute awe of all the parents and skater dudes in the park! honestly.. several people came up asking “how on earth is that jsut following your daughter”… Very clever!
I also got the ‘fly more combo’ so it has the hand controller and a few more batteries… for such a tiny drone it’s actually quite stable and manouverable…

Here’s the video from our first outing..a combination of AI-follow, and me filming from several meters up…

Enjoy!

Can’t wait to record some technical riding!

DrP

Review by Simon Willis

He’s been using the HOVERAir X1 for some time too.

Clever.

It looks to be getting pretty close to the other people, ie it looks like you set it to fly a bit low. Is it actively avoiding everyone else?

I’ve been tempted to replace my Mavic Mini with a Neo, looks fun and simple to use, as well as a bit less faff than the Mavic.

I’ll add the fun-police link, just in case you’re not aware of what’s needed to fly a drone;

License Requirements For DJI Neo | Why It’s Not So Simple

I think this might be about to cost me a load of money…lol

Have to admit I’ve been tempted by these little buggers.

They look like a very handy thing for getting some additional footage

It looks to be getting pretty close to the other people, ie it looks like you set it to fly a bit low

It’s at the ‘high’ setting, but possibly because my daughter is only teeny it’s flying low… but i take that on board!

Probably shouldn’t have been flying around other people so close – will learn for next time..

DrP

Mates got one. Follow-me mode was good, trying to fly in front of you only worked in a straight line devoid of trees so not good for the local single track in that view. Luckily it makes a high pitched whining ‘cry for help’ as it hits the trees and cant stabilise 😀

I’ve been drone curious for a long time, but was struggling with the cost.. currently the Dji Mini 4K (an update Mini2, it has no obstacle avoidance sensors or chase setting) is on Black friday sale for £210. The mini series being under 250g have a huge amount of more freedom to fly, where bigger drones simply cannot legally. Looking at the reviews, this is a great starter unit though you need to move up the mini range to use it for proper video creation (camera sensor is limited). I was all ready to go, then I started check out where you can fly them legally, and by god there a huge amount of places that you will get into trouble flying them. For me this is places like the Wyre forest, or another local forest (the million) where you simply wouldn’t expect there to be limits, are within air port exclusion zones. A mircolite air port has the same exclusion zone as a RAF base! Then I looked at the free Drone assist app, and fricken everyone seems to be some sort of exclusion zone. Admittedly some of these are due to limitation like SSSi’s , which you can fly over thee depending on what the SSSi is in place for (eg: Plants are not going to be affected, but nesting bird could be, if it’s during their nesting season) but so much is not allowed and will get you into trouble if you do not take it seriously. Maybe it’s not quite as bad as all that, but it worth taking it seriously. It is not the fun police you need to worry about, it’s being prosecuted and a major fine

All good except without collision avoidance not much use for mountain biking, skiing, kitesurfing etc.
Which is interesting because on the dji website they show a video of it following a mountain biker and appearing to dodge out of the way of obstacles, hen in reality (I think) it would crash into them…

Very cool. Yeah, get some tech trails filming done, hopefully will be awesome.

@andylc it seemed to do OK at lower speeds in follow-me mode through tight tracks. Not seen the 15+mph footage yet so I can’t comment on that.

One thing that is impressive is you can link a bluetooth mic to the phone app and do a ‘tech talk-and-walk’ style of video as you walk round pointing at things which was neat for a Vlog the owner does at RC Glider competitions.

As cool as it is DrP, you need to familiarise yourself with the drone code and get the basic licence. No flying within 50m horizontal of people for example.

Collision avoidance is the only thing stopping me getting one now the firmware update has increased the follow speed

That thing plus collision avoidance would be awesome!

Having seen DC rainmaker and a few others, it looks like as long as you don’t make sharp turns and you’re not having to dodge and duck under branches, it seems to follow your route pretty well, so shouldn’t hit things..

Shouldn’t being the optimistic word!

Might have a go at some tree lined routes and technical climbs this weekend (weather permitting).

Just waiting for my top-gun pilot licence stickers to arrive too!

(BTW, the operator licence is jsut over 11 quid a year)

DrP

The Neo is under 250g so you can fly it in a LOT more places than bigger drones, @tthew. (I think a crowd is defined as a group of people unable to move freely, so you’re okay there too)

Yeah, as it’s only 135gm the appeal was there’s no requirement for a licence, and can be flown closer to people/groups.

Howeve, rule 1 etc etc always needs to be employed!

DrP

Ah, as you were, my knowledge is obviously out of date. I bought one for work back in the days of the massive DJI Mavic for doing simple inspections at height without needing expensive rope access gangs or big scaffold. Sound idea but I was absolutely shite at piloting it and crashed it every time it was deployed. Gave myself quite a decent thumb injury on one of the props too! Never admitted that to the safety team. 😀

You still need an operator ID (this is not a license) for drone under 250g with a camera*, you don’t need a flyers ID (but is a free test currently) & that operator ID must be on your drone @DrP

DJI Neo need to know

* even £30 toy drone off amazon, if they come with a camera, you need an operator ID to use it outdoors

Yeah obvs rule 1 always.

My knowledge was out of date too, I only know ‘cos I’m being seriously tempted by the Mini 4k. I really don’t need it though, and I’ll probably never use it.

How was it recived in this kind of social environment.  I would have imagined some funny looks at you recording other peoples kids regardless of your innocent intentions.

I actually think this is ace.  Would be fantastic for some outdoors bouldering videos

How was it recived in this kind of social environment.

Honestly, many parents came up to me asking about it..they seemed really impressed and all wanted them.. No one seemed bothered, and several were chatting to their own kids about them.
A ‘grown man’ sk8r boi was asking me about it too – so I got it to film him as he impresively grinded adn jumped his way around the park! I emailed him his clip.

Many kids came running up saying “film me…film me…”!!!

I politely declined!
I guess it would have been different were I rubbing my thighs and sans child!!!

DrP

Some good links to registering my neo above… Cheers.

You must have a very trustworthy face.  Its really nice to hear it was received in this way because i bet loads of those kids/families really found it interesting.  If it were me i would expect to be hung, drawn and quartered for even considering it.

So took the drone out for a little play on the bike today… was proper fun being chased by it, and playing around etc!

Forgive the poor video quality-  ALL of this is new to me; from drones, to filming, to editing… I’m obviously doing something wrong in the editing -> compressing/rendering..
Need to lear Davinci Resolve a bit better!

But anyway..not bad for effort no. 2!

The drone is VERY impressive at following at reasonable speed..you soon learn to take corners WIIIDE or it’ll hide behind a tree!

DrP

OK..i’m learning… i THINK if i render in a better CODEC it’ll make it higher quality. It seems at EVERY stage quality is compressed.
Rendering… and then youtube have their say too!

DrP

@drp three corner copse and the rest. i lride the same trails. will keep an eye out.

Better vid!

DrP

That looks pretty cool.  Loved the lad at the skate park getting buzzed up close by it.

The only thing that takes the gloss off the footage is everyone I’ve seen with these is constantly looking behind to checks it is still tracking. I’d fall off.

Fab, including the old bloke popping wheelies at the end ! LOL.  Seemed to follow really well and avoid most obstacles

Hey…I may be old, and a bloke, but…. Erm… LOLZ!

DrP

Excellent wheelie skills.  Impressive bit of kit.  How does it dictate who it follows and what effects the height it seems to follow at.

How brilliant is that skatepark 🙂

I’d seen a video a while ago of the LocoSkates guys there. Wish we had something like that around here.

How does it dictate who it follows and what effects the height it seems to follow at.

You choose the height (Low, flat, high) and the distance (close, mid, far) via the app  on you phone…

You can choose these for all the different modes… You can change the modes with just the drone, but need a phone to change those parameters. I used a variety of flat and low follow… And med when climbing, close when descending

DrP

I’ve got mixed ideas about the Neo, having watched the DC Rainmaker review video he seemed to be able to flumox it with the foliage  near running trails and by out-paced it at not particularly huge speeds in the open, on a bike.

I can see it being fun to capture a few chasing and orbit or panning shots on MTB and Gravel rides, but I don’t think it’s going to keep up with spirited DH sections, and I can see it impacting a good ride with lots of stopping to retrieve a hung up drone from a bush. At the same time the price is pretty good, it’s in the fun toy range Vs buying something as pricey as a new GoPro it’s not a bad deal.

I can’t help wondering if a better version with some collision detection and a bit more ability to keep up/track at higher speeds will be about in 24 months or so.

My wishlist feature that would make these a really awesome toy is Garmin edge pairing and a connect IQ app so you could send basic commands from the bars.

I’ve got one sat in my Amazon basket…

I can’t help wondering if a better version with some collision detection…

It seemed to do OK avoiding the trees and street furniture.

I can think of a couple of trials I’d like to try one on, but like the GoPro videos I made a few years ago, it all come out looking a bit flat and samey. Well the MTB one, the skatepark was great.

I can’t help wondering if a better version with some collision detection and a bit more ability to keep up/track at higher speeds will be about in 24 months or so.

I agree…

But I’m happy to be an early adopter!

I wonder if a lot can be done with software AI updates… I think “path tracking” i.e figuring out the route I take, and following that precisely (rather than just keeping me in frame), would help avoid getting lost in corners… ?

DrP

Great wheelie skills @Drp

For a small relatively inexpensive drone it’s produced some impressive footage. I’m sure DJI will improve on this – but what an impressive bit of kit.

i don’t need one but seriously tempted to buy one now regardless

what’s the battery life like ?

Ok pretty good what it can do but very irresponsibly used

There are rules about how these things should be used which clearly have not been followed.

Also IMO they are no better than Sur-Ron ie completely anti social. Just imagine if everyone had one