No spotter? No problem. Send up the drone!

[Ratbert]

This will obviously be crossing the line for many of the anti-tech purists here, but a drone to help spot could be very useful.

https://moparinsiders.com/stellantis-gets-patent-for-jeep-drone-enhanced-off-roading-tech/

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[yokramer]

Only problem is how flat video makes everything seem. Always run into that when I kinda want to use the front camera. I can see places for it but it wont be worth the hefty price tag they want to put on it vs just getting DJI and learning how to fly or using its follow feature.

 

[Ratbert]

Only problem is how flat video makes everything seem. Always run into that when I kinda want to use the front camera. I can see places for it but it wont be worth the hefty price tag they want to put on it vs just getting DJI and learning how to fly or using its follow feature.

I'm thinking the flatness would mostly be mitigated by its ability to move around objects to give a better perspective. Hopefully.

 

[yokramer]

I'm thinking the flatness would mostly be mitigated by its ability to move around objects to give a better perspective. Hopefully.

Could you imagine it down low and slide into it and poof there goes a $2500 Jeep branded Drone.

 

[Terrymo]

I can hear the tinfoil hat crowd on this forum angrily assembling and headed this way.

 

[yokramer]

I can hear the tinfoil hat crowd on this forum angrily assembling and headed this way.

Hey guys ... um ... Elon Musk is over there ------>


We should be safe for a bit.

 

[Wabujitsu]

Another way to eliminate the human factor - i.e. “fun” - from off-road driving. The tech is cool though; I definitely see a military use for this, possible IED identification, ambushes en route, etc.

 

[Gunfighter]

Cool. Kind of a real time scout for the trail ahead.

 

[RubiSc0tt]

This is cool. I just hope it doesn't only end up with Jeep branded garbage though. A lot of the branded stuff is 2nd or 3rd tier quality, ends up breaking easily or getting outdated fast.

 

[DarthAWM]

I can hear the tinfoil hat crowd on this forum angrily assembling and headed this way.

Well the tag under the video does say " for a method to control a vehicle as a function of data from a vehicle-based drone" so its to give the vehicle information not the driver.

 

[Only-In-A-Jeep]

I hear they have been doing extensive testing in New Jersey recently...

 

[TXSquid78]

Another way to eliminate the human factor - i.e. “fun” - from off-road driving. The tech is cool though; I definitely see a military use for this, possible IED identification, ambushes en route, etc.

Valid point however, there have been times when I've gone out with my better half or solo and would prefer to not have her crawling around some of the terrain. As for going solo, I've bitten it a few times trying to walk around and figure out my line.

 

[jadmt]

hell Stellantis can't even figure out why O2 sensors are failing or why 2024 manuals have a stutter....

 

[Poseidon20]

Another way to eliminate the human factor - i.e. “fun” - from off-road driving. The tech is cool though; I definitely see a military use for this, possible IED identification, ambushes en route, etc.

I would be very surprised if our (and probably all) military didn't already have something like this in use.

 

[Wabujitsu]

Valid point however, there have been times when I've gone out with my better half or solo and would prefer to not have her crawling around some of the terrain. As for going solo, I've bitten it a few times trying to walk around and figure out my line.

Good points! I’m wondering if you could do the same with a standard off-the-shelf drone? Most of them already have the “follow me“ function, and are GPS-capable. I worry that with all of the telemetry pouring into the head unit if it wouldn’t be a distraction, also. Additionally, I’m curious how accurate the self-landing function will work. Many modern drones also have that function, but can be off by inches or feet. To precisely land it into a cradle on top of the Jeep seems problematic. You also have the issue of relatively short flight times. I’m curious to see how they will make that all work consistently, especially when it’s windy.

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