FollowMe mode inop

[dennyc39]

I've been unable to get any use from FollowMe mode, to my disappointment. The mode engages, as shown by the FollowMe icon, but it will not follow me if I dragged a carrot on a string. DJI support verified that my procedures were correct, and they speculate that there is something with my smartphone (a BLU) that prevents it from working.

Odd thing is that the drone knows exactly where the phone is, even though it refuses to follow. When I change home point to "Me" and update it, then press RTH, the drone promptly hoists the anchor and scampers right over to me and lands within a few feet.

 

[Nathan Hoover]

Don't worry, even when working in the best of cases it isn't very good. It's like a V0.1 version of follow me. I had high hopes for it and with lots of time you can actually get some decent footage as long as the area you're shooting in is obstacle-free, but overall a big disappointment.

 

[dennyc39]

Don't worry, even when working in the best of cases it isn't very good. It's like a V0.1 version of follow me. I had high hopes for it and with lots of time you can actually get some decent footage as long as the area you're shooting in is obstacle-free, but overall a big disappointment.

Thanks. I've only run a few trials, and given it up to 300 feet to wake up and start following. However, no sign so far that it will ever work, even a little bit. I had hoped to use it next summer aboard a sailboat.

So far, the stuff that works seems to work very well. However, I am still only partway into the process of exploring the intelligent modes. I want to experiment under controlled conditions so that I don't get surprised when trying to use them on a task.

According to Youtube, FollowMe actually seems to work for some people. However, all the videos of it I've seen are demonstrations. I've not seen anyone using it to help with a task.

 

[Neebles]

Thanks. I've only run a few trials, and given it up to 300 feet to wake up and start following. However, no sign so far that it will ever work, even a little bit. I had hoped to use it next summer aboard a sailboat.

So far, the stuff that works seems to work very well. However, I am still only partway into the process of exploring the intelligent modes. I want to experiment under controlled conditions so that I don't get surprised when trying to use them on a task.

According to Youtube, FollowMe actually seems to work for some people. However, all the videos of it I've seen are demonstrations. I've not seen anyone using it to help with a task.

I used it to watch my dog out on the (frozen) lake this past weekend. It worked pretty well until he ran back to my son. At that point the tracker switched over to my son and forgot about the dog. Unless something is moving relatively slow, and in a relatively straight line, I find it loses track really easily, or starts tracking another subject.

 

[Lake_Flyer]

I used it to watch my dog out on the (frozen) lake this past weekend. It worked pretty well until he ran back to my son. At that point the tracker switched over to my son and forgot about the dog. Unless something is moving relatively slow, and in a relatively straight line, I find it loses track really easily, or starts tracking another subject.

That's Active Track you're talking about. The OP talks about Follow Me.
But active tracking is very far from flawless either. It's more a joke actually. Nice gadget but not to be trusted at all.

 

[Nathan Hoover]

Here's the best I was able to do with it. This video is over a year old but I tried the same again a year later and it functioned the same.

Vs here's what a real follow me drone can do. I could NOT make it fail. DJI is very far behind in this area. This was shot a week ago:

 

[tcope]

Follow Me does not work well at all and relies on your device sending updated GPS data to the controller and the controller sending that to the Mavic. Active Track using the DJI Go app and the camera on the Mavic to follow. It's much better but as mentioned aboe, has its issues.

 

[dennyc39]

I used it to watch my dog out on the (frozen) lake this past weekend. It worked pretty well until he ran back to my son. At that point the tracker switched over to my son and forgot about the dog. Unless something is moving relatively slow, and in a relatively straight line, I find it loses track really easily, or starts tracking another subject.

That will likely be something of a problem in a sailboat race, a group of similarly-shaped objects moving relative to each other.

 

[dennyc39]

Here's the best I was able to do with it. This video is over a year old but I tried the same again a year later and it functioned the same.

Vs here's what a real follow me drone can do. I could NOT make it fail. DJI is very far behind in this area. This was shot a week ago:

That's pretty cool. The drone did well, too…

 

[sticks07]

I think you have to start out at a height of at least 30 feet and then bring it down. Works for me anyways.

 

[dennyc39]

I tried 100 feet and 60 feet. No joy, even though it knows where I am.

 

[Dspace]

Vs here's what a real follow me drone can do. I could NOT make it fail. DJI is very far behind in this area. This was shot a week ago:

The Skydio looks awesome for close in follow and even dealing with heavily wooded areas but it also seems to have its limitations. Cost: $2,500 (ouch). Developers also say the vision algorithms don’t like flying over water so they recommend flying over water bodies no larger than 30 ft wide. Also limited flight time and speed due to all those vision sensors and resource intensive processor. Still, an ideal solution for a wooded mountain biking or ski session as long as the winds are low and required follow speeds manageable. Not really usable for water sports; surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, wakeboarding, etc.

It hardly ever gets mentioned on this forum but Hanger’s Autopilot 3rd party app (like Litchi) has a GPS Follow mode that really does work way better with the Mavic than DJI’s version, and supposedly better than Litchi’s electronic leash as well. It does have a downside of requiring a fast IOS processor; iPhone 7 or 8. Won’t work with android. It’s the only thing I’ve found so far that gives the Mavic a workable “follow” option compared to DJI’s weak “GPS follow me” or “Active Track” modes.

 

[meens]

I have the same problem with a Samsung A5, follow me mode does work well, however using the same function on Litchi, it worked quite well so I am not sure it really comes from the GPS phone. Furthermore as said in previous posts the flight controller position on the map moves when you move so even with a bad GPS follow me mode should work. I recently bought a crystalsky monitor and tried the follow-me mode which works badly as well or does not work at all indicated the GPS signal is too weak, I haven't tried yet follow-me with Litchi and CrystalSky..

 

[Nathan Hoover]

I have a Skydio R1 now and wow, it is perfect for this stuff. Really amazing. Here's a clip from yesterday:

And one with audio - you can hear it working and it actually clips a branch or two but doesn't bat an eye: