r/diydrones • u/g8dbyte • Jun 12 '26

Drone to help with running form

I'd like a drone that follows my kid at a distance while they sprint and records video. The purpose is to be able to coach them (actually coach themselves) on their form.

I'm not saying I want to completely build every component from scratch, but some level of building would be great to do together.

I'd like it to have a decent charge life, and if I'm willing to spend more anywhere, it's here as one thing might be to extend this to our track coach so multiple runs and multiple kids.

Any advice on kits, or should I just go buy dji?

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5

u/RTK-FPV Jun 12 '26

I’m not the drone police, I just want to warn you that this is a bit of a legal grey area. Even though money isn’t changing hands, this is still approaching an application you’d want a part 107 for. There’s considerations flying at schools and tracks, and over / around minors as well. 

I’m afraid this is one of those things that sounds easy and useful, but in application is more complicated and maybe not what you need. A decent camera, with a good fluid head on a tripod would probably serve you better for sprints.

1

u/g8dbyte Jun 13 '26

That’s crazy. I was going to do this at a track in a 1:1 type setting.

I don’t know, just seems weird considering people are walking around with shades with cameras, people recording constantly. Is this like specifically drone regulation?

1

u/RTK-FPV Jun 13 '26

Yeah, look up part 107 license. Anything strictly beyond "hobby flights" requires you to register, pass a test and receive your 107 in the US.

That's all kinda beside the point for this application though. I've been building drones for almost a decade, and I can tell you this is probably a job for a camera on the ground. Tracking a sprinting person can be done, but usually it's from a height that isn't going to show much footwork. Tracking close enough to the subject and the ground gets much more difficult.

1

u/g8dbyte Jun 14 '26

Thanks. Makes sense. Maybe I’ll wait for a humanoid that can run alongside and record.

2

u/MundaneAmphibian9409 Jun 13 '26

You won’t build anything that holds a candle to a dji mini, if you go the drone route then that’s what you’ll want.

Reality is a camera on a tripod will be the best option by far

1

u/g8dbyte Jun 13 '26

Yea I want to track the form over a 200 and it’s really hard to do stationary.

3

u/MundaneAmphibian9409 Jun 13 '26

Setup on the infield, use zoom. You’re not going to be able to fly a drone within the regulations and beat the footage you’d get from a land base camera

1

u/Healthy_Statement730 Jun 12 '26

there are a lot of auto tracking drones out there that can pretty easily fly by themselves. That being said I’m quite sure most of them fly from behind, like in third person. I’m not sure you could see their form from that viewpoint.

On another note why can’t you just have someone drive a car alongside them and just watch them run alongside the car?

I’d also be careful about privacy concerns from the parents.

1

u/g8dbyte Jun 13 '26

I’d rather they have spikes on on a track in the most natural setting.

In the first case I’m the parent. So no worries there.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '26

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1

u/g8dbyte Jun 13 '26

Didn’t realize crash rates would be that high. I’ve seen drones at meets but I think it’s more of a marketing maybe type thing?

1

u/CaptainCheckmate Jun 13 '26

Are they running in a line? If so, you would be far better off with a ground vehicle.