Mini 3 Pro Tracking issue - backing away

jphoto · Aug 26, 2022

I tested this today. Drone in the air, selected a human subject to track, selected Active Track, and hit go. The drone backed away from the subject about 10 feet.

Tried it again, same result.

Tried the same thing with the Air 2S, same subject, same surroundings, same lighting, same initial distance, the Air 2S does not back away when Active Track is started.

Is this a problem? Well...certain tracking shots work well only when the drone is fairly close to the subject, and when you set up the initial shot it's not helpful if the drone changes it just as you're ready to shoot.

So far I've had issues with tracking with the Mini 3P, none with the Air 2S.

Anyone else?

Fullscreenaging · Aug 27, 2022

I’m new to drones and bought a mini 3 pro about 3 weeks ago.
My first though after reading your post was to try putting it into sport mode. This will turn the avoidance sensors off. You should be able to get closer to your subject.

jphoto · Aug 27, 2022

Fullscreenaging said:
I’m new to drones and bought a mini 3 pro about 3 weeks ago.
My first though after reading your post was to try putting it into sport mode. This will turn the avoidance sensors off. You should be able to get closer to your subject.

As I said, I was 10 feet away from the subject in both tests. There were no obsticles.

I don't want to turn of the avoidance, and the Air 2S had its avoidance turned on. There was no obsticle that would need to be avoided in either case, other than the subject. You definitely need obsticle avoidance on if you fly in any of the autonomous modes in an area where there could be obsticles in the flight path.

Turning off the avoidance would be a bad work-around. If you're tracking a subject down a bath through the trees you need that on. That's not what I was doing, but that is one common application.

jphoto · Sep 1, 2022

I got a reply from DJI Support which includes some really helpful information about tracking with the Air 2S and Mini 3 Pro. Below is a copy/paste from that email. I only added the distances in feet, since I don't do the metric conversion mentally very well.

We got the information from our engineers that it's normal for the aircraft to move a little when entering the FocuTrack mode. It's for better locking on the subject you want to track. If the aircraft moves away from the subject please check if the aircraft is too close to the subject.

The focus track feature on the Mini 3 Pro and the DJI Air 2s is a little different.

For better tracking, when FocusTrack is used in DJI Air 2S, there are certain limits on the altitude and horizontal distance:
(1) Follow persons:
Maximum distance: The relative altitude with the subject is within 10 m (33 feet) and the horizontal distance is within 15 m (49 feet).
Minimum distance: Both the relative altitude and horizontal distance are 3 m (9.8 feet).
(2) Follow vehicles and ships:
Maximum distance: The relative altitude with the subject is within 100 m (328 feet) and the horizontal distance is within 100 m (328 feet).
Minimum distance: Both the relative altitude and horizontal distance is 5 m (16.4 feet).
The above distance is measured between the aircraft and the subject by the aircraft itself with slight divergence.

While for Mini 3 Pro If a person is set as a tracking subject, the distance between the aircraft and the subject should be 4 to 20 m (13.1 to 65.6 feet), and the altitude be 2 to20 m (6.5 to 65.6 feet). (Note: The recommended distance is 5 to 10 m (16.4 to 32.8 feet) and the recommended altitude is 2 to 10 m (6.5 to 32.8 feet).

If a vehicle/boat is set as a tracking subject, the distance between the aircraft and the subject should be 6 to 100 m, and the altitude be 6 to 100m (19.7 to 328 feet). (Note: The recommended distance is 20 to 50 m (65.6 to 164 feet)and the recommended altitude is 10 to 50 m (32.8 to 164 feet))

If the aircraft starts to follow the subject, but the distance between the aircraft and target is not in the range of abovementioned distance or altitude, the aircraft will automatically fly into the supporting range. If the aircraft flies in the range of recommended distance and altitude, you will have a better experience of tracking.

When the Mini 3 Pro is in focutrack mode please check if the disable sideway fly is enable. Please enable the sideway fly then try again. Also it's suggested to calibrate the controller in DJI Fly App.

Note that the above contains some rather significant and important operational information that is not included in the owners manual (or so far, anywhere else) for both drones.