Follow Me (Not So Much)

N9344H · Mar 6, 2016

So I have been testing follow me, and I have some questions. First, why can I only get the bird to follow around 20MPH as opposed to the advertised 35MPH? It follows along for a while around 25MPH then slowly gets too far behind to keep up. (Calm clear day with ZERO wind.)

Second, when it does lose the connection, why can't I go back take control, and have if follow me again? I outran the bird when it was about a thousand feet from launch. The aircraft stopped, but the camera still tracked (yaw) as I moved across the field of view. I came back and took over GPS, went back to follow me, trued the gimbal to my location, then started out. The aircraft never left that spot, but still moved the camera (yaw). I don't get it. If it knows my direction, why can't it follow me?

ibuk · Mar 6, 2016

Did it hit a distance limit?

N9344H · Mar 6, 2016

Not unless Follow-Me has it own setting. I can fly a mile and a half and not hit a limit in P-ATTI.

normr · Mar 6, 2016

I've been having an issue with follow me, when I first put it in follow me mode and hit apply, my P3P, immediately takes off like a bat out of hell, immediately put it back in GPS mode and retake control, try it to get it in follow me mode and again takes off, get control again, and then try again and then it goes into follow me mode properly.

Any ideas what's happening?

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N9344H · Mar 7, 2016

@normr I have no clue, but I am glad it is not happening to me.

@ibuk I did another test run. It followed me about ⅔ of a mile away, (3x further than before) then just stopped flying. It was no where near the 200M range limit for Follow-Me. It was maybe 10M away when it put on the brakes and waited for me to come back and get it.

stixgod · Mar 7, 2016

I've been playing with it a little bit lately too, but over water. I have had mixed results with it but the fact that I am able to drive a seadoo, fly a quad, and film someone wakeskating behind me at the same time still blows my mind. 20mph seems to be the limit for a dependable follow, she has trouble keeping up on the turn arounds and I was frustrated when I did lose connection with it, to get it to follow again you have to switch it out of function mode and then back and start over again rather than it just continuing to follow once you get back into range. It definitely has its quirks too. I've had it take off running on me a couple times so I'm always ready to switch into aTTi mode and take over.

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Foxeye · Mar 7, 2016

N9344H said:
So I have been testing follow me, and I have some questions. First, why can I only get the bird to follow around 20MPH as opposed to the advertised 35MPH? It follows along for a while around 25MPH then slowly gets too far behind to keep up. (Calm clear day with ZERO wind.)

Second, when it does lose the connection, why can't I go back take control, and have if follow me again? I outran the bird when it was about a thousand feet from launch. The aircraft stopped, but the camera still tracked (yaw) as I moved across the field of view. I came back and took over GPS, went back to follow me, trued the gimbal to my location, then started out. The aircraft never left that spot, but still moved the camera (yaw). I don't get it. If it knows my direction, why can't it follow me?

I wonder if when these things take off in the follow me mode if the bird starts to track another cell phone signal close by?

Foxeye · Mar 7, 2016

Foxeye said:
I wonder if when these things take off in the follow me mode if the bird starts to track another cell phone signal close by?

That's a weird thing that happens. I haven't tried follow me yet, I'm still trying to get through points of interest and way points. I'll be on the alert when I do try it.

buford · Mar 7, 2016

Does it only follow you from behind, or can it be in front of you. I would feel better if it was out in front of me, that way I could tell if I needed to slow down.

I guess like if you set it up out in front of you, and then started moving right at it. Would it just hover until you passed under it, then start following you from behind.

tcope · Mar 7, 2016

buford said:
Does it only follow you from behind, or can it be in front of you. I would feel better if it was out in front of me, that way I could tell if I needed to slow down.

It will maintain any orientation to the controller that you place it before activating Follow Me mode. So it can stay in front of you. A possible issue with this is if you then gain any decent speed. This can be a problem as with the P3 flying in front of you the camera view is much more limited then if it was flying behind you. So with higher speeds, it's more likely you will go out of the camera view more easily.

tcope · Mar 7, 2016

N9344H said:
@normr I have no clue, but I am glad it is not happening to me. @ibuk I did another test run. It followed me about ⅔ of a mile away, (3x further than before) then just stopped flying. It was no where near the 200M range limit for Follow-Me. It was maybe 10M away when it put on the brakes and waited for me to come back and get it.

While the Follow Me mode on the P3 is very good (much better then the P2), it's not perfect.

The display device needs to send it's GPS location to the controller and the controller then sends this to the P3. The P3 then uses this location to maintain it's same orientation to the controller. I think that is a lofty goal. I think DJI has done a _great_ job in their implementation but it's only as strong as all of the hardware.

IMHO, the main weakness is the display device sending it's GPS location. The closer the drone is to that location or the faster the controller is moving, the faster this location needs to be updated.

buford · Mar 7, 2016

tcope said:
It will maintain any orientation to the controller that you place it before activating Follow Me mode. So it can stay in front of you. A possible issue with this is if you then gain any decent speed. This can be a problem as with the P3 flying in front of you the camera view is much more limited then if it was flying behind you. So with higher speeds, it's more likely you will go out of the camera view more easily.

I've always flown backwards to get a shot while moving at any speed greater than a crawl. The props tilt in the direction its going, so they move up out of the shot going backwards. That's good to know though. I planned a little scooter trip with it filming, as soon as I can figure out how to attach the rc on the scooter in a favorable reception spot I'll try it.
Might try overtaking it and see what happens too. If it turns and waits til its the same distance behind as it was in front and starts following, or if it just stops and hovers not knowing what to do.