Follow Me mode - Comparison

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I'm currently using two apps and testing the Follow Me modes that are being added. I'd like to give my opinion on these modes in both apps. Keep in mind... these apps are changing weekly and in some cases, even daily. So this review is dated. Also, these are _my_ observations. Your mileage may vary.

DJI Ultimate Flight - Android Apps by Ken
This is my favorite app. I've used it several times for free flying and for Ground Station use. Both of these work very well and I have no complaints. I tried the Follow Me mode and it's somewhat lacking. In order to use GS or Follow Me you need to turn on "Enable Flight Control Modes" in the settings (the three dots in the upper right corner). You can then turn on Follow-me flight mode. However, this turns off the Ground Station Flights mode. You can only have one on at a time. It's kind of a pain to go into settings and select one or the other each time you want to change. There is only one option in the Follow Me settings and that is "Bering Accuracy (degrees)" (yes, it should be "Bearing"). I believe this is the angle that the drone flies in relationship to your controller. I have mine set to 30 degrees.

Follow Me... I just could not get it to work well at all. As I understand it, Follow Me mode uses a dynamic waypoint to follow the controller. It's updated every so often as the controller moves. It seemed like the update was _very_ slow. When it reaches a new waypoint it pauses. Sometimes I could not get it to move to the next location. Another issue I had was that it was not very accurate. In the video below I walk about 20' away from a tree. The drone then starts to fly _into_ the tree. As I see this I immediately click the S1 switch to Atti and back to GPS :)40). It changes to Atti and then instead of going into GPS mode it starts to move right back to the waypoint in the tree. I do this several times, same result. I finally leave it in Atti mode and escape the tree monster. You then see me switch it back to GPS and it again wants to fly to that last waypoint :)49). So it appears that there is an issue with getting it out of waypoint mode.

Disclaimer: In both of these videos I'm controlling the pitch of the camera. Nothing else.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lCUFKbq45g[/youtube]


DJI Vision 2 + Booster by - Beyond the Cube
I've only use this app for free flying and Follow Me mode. The layout of this app is very nice and clean. I like that the user can resize the video/map view to any size. The Follow Me mode... works perfectly for me. It tracks very quickly and accurately. A few times I tried to sneak away from the drone but it continued to follow me very well. To enter Follow me mode to click on the GS icon (I suspect turning it on) and then click the play icon with no waypoints set. Very easy. One current draw back to DJI's SDK release is that it won't allow you to turn video on/off while in GS mode (so this is true of all non DJI apps). This app has the GS icon right on the free fly screen. So you can turn the video on, click on GS and then go right into Follow Me mode. No need to go into settings and turn video on at launch. This makes the work around very simple.

For me, Follow Me mode works very well in this app. I could not find any issues. When I clicked into Atti and back into GPS, it stayed in GPS mode.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQJ3TmCLZvA[/youtube]
 
tcope:
I have both apps you detailed but just haven't had the time or weather to test them yet so appreciate the time you have taken to provide us with details. I agree between new apps and updates to existing apps its almost a daily deal.
 
Tcope what kind of device are you using? What version of Android? I am using the ilovecoffee mod and am looking at these apps.
 
Spiritskeeper said:
Tcope what kind of device are you using? What version of Android? I am using the ilovecoffee mod and am looking at these apps.
I'm using a Samsung S5 running stock 5.0.

IMHO, both of these developers are doing a great job. Ken with DJI Ultimate Flight has mentioned he's working on some improvements/changes and they sound very promising. He states that he's been working on a much better way of implementing Follow Me. I get the impression that he kind of pushed this version out because the other app released it and he did not want to get left behind. For me, it just does not work. What he says he's working on sounds much better. He is also working on Point of Interest (being able to automatically fly around a certain point) and banked turns in Ground Station. However, at least for me, DJI Vision 2 + Boost by Beyond the Cube works better and the interface is a little better.

Again, all of this may change next week as both app are a work in progress and both developers are actively (and aggressively) working to improve their apps.

I've also used Vision Pilot by by taco-rc.com. However, I don't see this app as adding much that the other two apps already have and I don't think the app is on par with the other two. Many things don't work that well.
 
Just so you know, currently both apps are using the same method for the followme feature. It is also the most generic way to do it as well. Ken with the DUF(dji ultimate flight)app has another cleaner and smoother followme setup he will introduce when ready. In the meantime the generic one gives the user something to play with. Regardless whether it's generic or not, it's still a good start for something we never had before.
 
flyNfrank said:
Just so you know, currently both apps are using the same method for the followme feature. It is also the most generic way to do it as well. Ken with the DUF(dji ultimate flight)app has another cleaner and smoother followme setup he will introduce when ready.

I'm looking forward to see what Ken will offer. While both apps use dynamic waypoints for Follow Me, each app will have different code and internal settings that do make a difference. I've tried Kens feature a few times and the results are spotty at best. Beyond the Cube's Follow Me feature works perfectly for me. The break it issue with Ken's app feature for me is that I cannot get it to go into GPS mode and it always wants to go into waypoint mode. The second issue is that the following is iffy at best. The last issue is how to start recording... it can only be done in the settings and then it kills video and camera ability in the free fly mode. It's all or nothing.
 
lignow said:
Very Cool but kind of creepy....[ PHANTOM...yes master...GO FIND THAT WIFE OF MINE...yes master...SEND PICTURES AND LOCATION...yes master ]
Future = certainly. Which might explain why people are fearful of drones. But Follow Me mode is completly different. It simply uses the controller's location to "return home" and hover.
 
 

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