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There is a tripod that automatically tracks you. I get ads for it on YouTube all the time. http://www.gizmag.com/soloshot-automated-tripod/25453/

I haven't been able to figure out how these work. GPS alone wouldn't give the resolution and responsiveness required. It doesn't seem to be CV-based either, since there's often no line of sight of the tracking device. Perhaps the tripod has two directional signal strength sensors so it can tell if the beacon is to the left or right, and move in order to keep the beacon centered.

The popular theory is that it's a RTK differential GPS system: base station in the tripod transmitting correction information to the remote unit. The explains the warmup time, the accuracy, as well as the big price tag.

http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/73083/how-doe...

This was my question on Stack Exchange! I was so angry because I was so curious how this worked, but I was downvoted to hell.

Ha! I found your question a couple months ago after youtube hit me with the soloshot ad, and I couldn't figure out how it worked. Despite being downvoted, it still ranks fairly high on the SERP for "how the hell does the soloshot work, their site is useless".

I guess Stack Exchange isn't the place for discussion, just question and answers only

I have no clue why you got downvoted, but then again, I fail to understand the Stack Exchange system and community in general.

This is by requirement line of sight. So indeed a cheap radio frequency tracker should be able to do the job. There are just minor issues with multipath and transmitter power.

EDIT: The included antenna is a wifi-like omnidirectional antenna, so I guess it's just using GPS. The precision is greatly improved due to large distances (linear precision is amplified into angular precision by O(distance) )

Thanks, that's an awesome product, never seen this before! Very cool.

More info here: http://shop.soloshot.com/

A bigger issue to me is what do you do with Lily after it has run out of battery. I don't think I want to carry it for the rest of the day on the ski fields, mountain biking, trail running or anything else, it is fairly cumbersome. And I wonder how tough it is when it is in a back pack and I fall and land on it.

Very cool device and it would have a lot of practical uses, but not sure it will ever be that useful for the masses.

"When I ride alone I can maybe go top to bottom in slightly under 20m but I'm flying and really pushing it the whole time, I wonder if the drone could even keep up in that situation (speed would be over 25mph almost the entire time)."

Where do you ski? 20 min at 25 mph implies an 8.3 mile long run.

My rock climbing friends and I have been watching the drone market. 20m in rock climbing just wont cut it at all :\

That 25 mph is not all horizontal, and any downward movement would mean less power drain from the drone. Though I'd definitely agree that the battery life is a pretty big problem.

I'm sure they will also sell a Lily branded external battery that can be kept in your backpack and used to recharge it.

Maybe, but the FAQ states the current battery isn't replaceable. So it seems more likely they'd have to come out with an entire new unit in order to have external batteries.

It doesn't seem like something they're interested in for the launch.

Since they're using the upfront pre-order money to cover manufacturing costs, I would bet enough feedback from customers (or even speculative customers) asking for a 30 min minimum would have enough impact for them to source different batteries or reduce weight. Features like this can make or break a flashy new product like Lily.

Removable batteries would likely also hamper the ruggedness (IP67 rating).

A bigger issue is that drone power consumption goes down as they go faster. Even if 20m at 25MPH is fine, you'll actually get less than that if you go slower. Hovering uses a lot of power.

20 minutes should be plenty for skiing, and should cover more than one descent in most cases.

The airspace is going to be pretty hilarious at Killington on a weekends if half the people with GoPros upgrade to drones.

Multicopters have this time limitation in general. They don't have great flight times due to the power density of the batteries. It's the main limiter of the platforms really.

I had to read your post several times that by 'm' you meant minutes. Without that it makes the Colorado ski resorts seem a little less impressive.