Fly in a perfect circle

Klaus · Jan 18, 2014

Are there any way you can fly in a perfect circle around a object with the camera pointed at the object all the time?

Of course there are people there are so good at flying that they can do it just adjusting on the sticks, but what would be the best way trying to make a nice circle?

I'm pretty sure it must involve course lock in some way, but other than that, any good advice?

Thanks

Gizmo3000 · Jan 18, 2014

Not really, unless you set your HL to the center of the radius, .. then you can set your Phantom to fly in a 30' radius around the subject, but you'd still have to use the rudder to keep the craft pointed straight at the center.

The true answer is : practice.

It's actually fairly easy to rotate around a subject by using a combination of rudder and aileron.
(a bit easier if you have a Tx that you can adjust the stick sensitivity too)

pault · Jan 18, 2014

Not sure how it could be automated but I spent yesterday afternoon trying to do this exact thing by flying around a statue in my local park. After two batteries I managed to get around 270° around a couple of times but no complete revolution - yet

(this was keeping the head of the guy in the statue centered in the fov)

Pull_Up · Jan 18, 2014

EDIT: Cross-posted, slow typing, sorry!

Apart from "mad skillz" there's nothing built into the NAZA to do this. It is in the WooKong controller I believe, and it's called Point of Interest mode. You can set the camera facing something you're interested in and then the aircraft will proscribe a circle around it, keeping nose-in all the time.

If 30ft away is good enough for you you can do something similar with Home Lock, but only half automatic. If you set your home position to near the object you want to film, then fly more than 30ft away, initiate Home Lock, then give it left or right. It should circle around that point at that radius. You'll have to yaw manually, though, to keep the shot in frame.

Note I haven't completed a full circle with this myself, just a bit of an arc when trying it out.

Klaus · Jan 18, 2014

Thanks guys for your answers.

I will try it out when I got my PV back from Hong kong.

It is in the WooKong controller I believe, and it's called Point of Interest mode. You can set the camera facing something you're interested in and then the aircraft will proscribe a circle around it, keeping nose-in all the time.

Yeah I just saw a video on DJI's Website (after reading your answer). Wow that is a great function. Maybe we can have that in a future update of the NAZA

Are there any way on the Phantom to go from NAZA to Wookong?

Pull_Up · Jan 18, 2014

At £700 just for the Wookong controller I can't see it being cost-effective given the Phantom frame, never mind that it might not even be possible to fit it in there (both in terms of size and connectivity, etc). The Phantom range is designed to be a controller/frame package, unlike the flamewheel series where you can fit whatever you want.

If you need all the pro tools in the Wookong then you probably ought to be thinking about a hex or octocopter capable of carrying pro camera gear. If you're really serious you could buy the A2 at a tad under £1000 just for the controller!

LeoS · Jan 18, 2014

Theoretically if you roll in one direction and yaw in the opposite, while keeping your object in the centre of your frame all the time then you'll be making a (nearly) perfect circle around the object.

So start moving your craft in a constant speed in one direction (horizontal axis of the right stick) and counter with yaw (horizontal axis of left stick).. hold the right stick steady and adjust the left stick until your object stays still in the middle of the screen, once you find that sweet spot then just hold both sticks in their positions and wait til the completion of the rotation.

Don't mess with the vertical axis of either sticks(!)
Do it without wind.

pault · Jan 18, 2014

Finding the sweet spot is not a problem, it is just maintaining it that is the problem

In my defense, the statue I was practicing on had various trees around it so I had a narrow band of space to work in which added to the stress level. Next time I will find a vertical structure that has plenty of clear airspace around it.

jumanoc · Jan 18, 2014

Here is it:

http://youtu.be/JqzmRXrABag

Klaus · Jan 18, 2014

jumanoc said:
Here is it:

http://youtu.be/JqzmRXrABag

Yes that's the one I watched. Great function.

Klaus · Jan 18, 2014

LeoS said:
Theoretically if you roll in one direction and yaw in the opposite, while keeping your object in the centre of your frame all the time then you'll be making a (nearly) perfect circle around the object.

So start moving your craft in a constant speed in one direction (horizontal axis of the right stick) and counter with yaw (horizontal axis of left stick).. hold the right stick steady and adjust the left stick until your object stays still in the middle of the screen, once you find that sweet spot then just hold both sticks in their positions and wait til the completion of the rotation.

Don't mess with the vertical axis of either sticks(!)
Do it without wind.

Yeah Leo sounds easy, but.....

zlinuk · Jan 18, 2014

I've been playing with this as well. I've created a mix so that I can control the rudder with one of the knobs on the Tx. I just add one or two clicks in whichever direction and the Phantom will rotate at a constant rate. Then just add elevator to bring it round in a circle, with just one control to concentrate on. I was pretty happy with the results the first time out and it will get easier with practice.

Venom93corba · Jan 18, 2014

Wow Jumanoc that was pretty bad ***. Cmon Phantom Vision, you got this!

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2

OI Photography · Jan 18, 2014

zlinuk said:
I've been playing with this as well. I've created a mix so that I can control the rudder with one of the knobs on the Tx. I just add one or two clicks in whichever direction and the Phantom will rotate at a constant rate. Then just add elevator to bring it round in a circle, with just one control to concentrate on. I was pretty happy with the results the first time out and it will get easier with practice.

Nice! I think I'll have to try that. Can I assume your mix still allows rudder input from the stick as well?

Also, what Tx are you using?

zlinuk · Jan 18, 2014

It does, but the mix is also on a switch so it can be switched off at will.

I'm using a 14sg, only had it a week, but I love it already.

Edit: I also used the Dual Rate Function to reduce aileron sensitivity to 50 %, it kicks in on the same switch. I will probably tweak it down a little further maybe 35 or 40% as it was still a little harsh.

OI Photography · Jan 18, 2014

Great, thank you!

Driffill · Jan 18, 2014

I love how basic simple questions are being wrongly answered! It's destroying this forum!

With home lock, the phantom should circle the home point with only roll applied! If you have it facing nose in it should stay facing nose in for the entire circle. . .

So to circle something that you can't take off from you need to go fly above it, reset the home point and the active HL (remember to fly out of the new home point 10m radius), point the cam at the home point, and push the right stick to the left or right and it should circle the new home point!

I bought my phantom almost a year ago to do exactly this! If it couldn't do this I wouldn't have bought it! I didn't actually get to make use of this feature when the day came that I had planned to use it tho (to windy to fly!) I was also planning to use this feature to record a perfect circle for the flytrex challenge.

LeoS · Jan 18, 2014

pault said:
Finding the sweet spot is not a problem, it is just maintaining it that is the problem

In my defense, the statue I was practicing on had various trees around it so I had a narrow band of space to work in which added to the stress level. Next time I will find a vertical structure that has plenty of clear airspace around it.

Play more games...
This is called circle-strafing in gaming

(and they go much faster)

Klaus · Jan 19, 2014

zlinuk said:
I've been playing with this as well. I've created a mix so that I can control the rudder with one of the knobs on the Tx. I just add one or two clicks in whichever direction and the Phantom will rotate at a constant rate. Then just add elevator to bring it round in a circle, with just one control to concentrate on. I was pretty happy with the results the first time out and it will get easier with practice.

Hi zlinuk
What do you mean with you created a mix?

Gizmo3000 · Jan 19, 2014

Klaus said:
What do you mean with you created a mix?

with the Futaba's and other Tx's, you can mix two channels at once, with varying amounts and such.

So basically, you can make it so that your rudder is tied into the aileron by a certain amount, so that if you move one ay or the other, the rudder will also be affected. this will allow you to almost pull off the desired effect of rotating around a subject
but it would only work at a certain radius