A Little Reflection - Reliability is the Bane

[loyukfai]

Really like the ANAFI, IMO it has the best portability, video quality and functionality combination out there. Superb camera, 90-degree camera up, loseless and lossy zoom, low noise, all in a package for under 400 grams.

However, the reliability just isn't there.

Pity.

 

[Gipsz Jakab]

Really like the ANAFI, IMO it has the best portability, video quality and functionality combination out there. Superb camera, 90-degree camera up, loseless and lossy zoom, low noise, all in a package for under 400 grams.

However, the reliability just isn't there.

Pity.

However, we note:
Just because of the new firmware. I have no problem with the 1.6.3 firmware.

 

[Rocky the FS]

That's my firmware and I'm stickin' to it!

 

[pmh1nic]

I've only got about 5 hours of flight time but I haven't had any issues with my Anafi. What kind of issues are you having?

 

[Vegasrobbi]

I'm going on 400 flights, Anafi can be quirky but mine has been very reliable.

 

[S.C.C.]

My main issues are in relations with GPS :
1. I have seen automatic movements just after hand launch that are not acceptable for a device with accelerometers : without any joystick action, it jumped several meters high, then "crashed" on the ground !
2. on flight plan it touched the ground while the elevation was 6 meters at this point (I had already flown the same flight plan a few times without a problem)
3. on RTH it goes back to the first GPS position, even if this position was found while flying 10 m/s at 70 meters altitude, which makes no sense at all (why no option to come back to the controler, it's easy to send the lat/long/elevation to the Anafi)
4. I suspect that hand landing is more complicated after a "precise home defined" if you are not at the exact same position as the launch, even 2-3 meters away and the Anafi won't stop moving in your hand ?

That said I'm still impressed by what this little drone can do despite the wifi limitations and GPS imprecisions...

 

[Gipsz Jakab]

My main issues are in relations with GPS :
1. I have seen automatic movements just after hand launch that are not acceptable for a device with accelerometers : without any joystick action, it jumped several meters high, then "crashed" on the ground !
2. on flight plan it touched the ground while the elevation was 6 meters at this point (I had already flown the same flight plan a few times without a problem)
3. on RTH it goes back to the first GPS position, even if this position was found while flying 10 m/s at 70 meters altitude, which makes no sense at all (why no option to come back to the controler, it's easy to send the lat/long/elevation to the Anafi)
4. I suspect that hand landing is more complicated after a "precise home defined" if you are not at the exact same position as the launch, even 2-3 meters away and the Anafi won't stop moving in your hand ?

That said I'm still impressed by what this little drone can do despite the wifi limitations and GPS imprecisions...

Since many have now updated, some don’t (nor do I) add which firmware this happened.
For me, the older 1.6.3 FW doesn't produce any problems.
And to avoid future confusion: everyone writes out which firmware and which FF6 is causing the problem. Then you don't always have to ask back ... Thanks

 

[S.C.C.]

Since many have now updated, some don’t (nor do I) add which firmware this happened.
For me, the older 1.6.3 FW doesn't produce any problems.
And to avoid future confusion: everyone writes out which firmware and which FF6 is causing the problem. Then you don't always have to ask back ... Thanks

It doesn't matter, I have these same issues described here with ALL the updates, and my Anafi is more or less always up to date. Recent updates are about batteries, app stability, additional app features, it makes no difference in this domain, anyway.

Point 2 is certainly more complicated to solve, I notice that on different GPS devices, elevation is less precise than other coordinates, I understand we need to accept that. But just after launching (point 1.) there is no reason for the onboard system to apply corrections of several meters in elevation based only on (innacurate) GPS elevation, when no joystick movement nor onboard accelerometer input !

 

[Vegasrobbi]

My main issues are in relations with GPS :
1. I have seen automatic movements just after hand launch that are not acceptable for a device with accelerometers : without any joystick action, it jumped several meters high, then "crashed" on the ground !
2. on flight plan it touched the ground while the elevation was 6 meters at this point (I had already flown the same flight plan a few times without a problem)
3. on RTH it goes back to the first GPS position, even if this position was found while flying 10 m/s at 70 meters altitude, which makes no sense at all (why no option to come back to the controler, it's easy to send the lat/long/elevation to the Anafi)
4. I suspect that hand landing is more complicated after a "precise home defined" if you are not at the exact same position as the launch, even 2-3 meters away and the Anafi won't stop moving in your hand ?

That said I'm still impressed by what this little drone can do despite the wifi limitations and GPS imprecisions...

1. Yes I have noticed altitude fluctuations mostly in follow mode when the device is baro equipped. Remember Anafi uses device information for positioning, I use an iPad even though I am a Android guy for better stability.
3. Always wait for home lock before flying off. In follow mode Anafi switches to dynamic home point so it should return to the last known position of the controller; I have tested this and it works.
4. I always hand launch and catch in normal mode without issue. I still do the 90 degree twist to disarm and my Anafi is still going strong.

 

[S.C.C.]

1. Yes I have noticed altitude fluctuations mostly in follow mode when the device is baro equipped. Remember Anafi uses device information for positioning, I use an iPad even though I am a Android guy for better stability.
3. Always wait for home lock before flying off. In follow mode Anafi switches to dynamic home point so it should return to the last known position of the controller; I have tested this and it works.
4. I always hand launch and catch in normal mode without issue. I still do the 90 degree twist to disarm and my Anafi is still going strong.

1. Well, I have these issues without this follow mode add on... I was considering buying this add-on only to get the RTH to the controller option, but apparently you need to activate this mode, and I don't plan to use it for now, mostly manual flight and flight plan. Once the RTH gets auto-activated, it's a bit late or sometimes useless to change the flight mode, so I'm not sure this is the perfect configuration for me ?

3. I always wait for the drone's GPS icon to become green, but sometimes the icon reverts to brown while the Anafi is still hovering over my hand ! and this is the tricky part, as I'd like to fly in areas where bad GPS signal happens, best options would be to deactivate the drone's GPS to fly manually under trees for example, but I can't do that (I already flew under trees, but now I don't feel safe after seeing that unexpected movements can happen).

4. I don't like this 90° twist, I got small cuts, and don't like to "force" it... now I try to go back to the >exact< same position where I launched it, when I move around while piloting. Apparently that may be the key to easier hand catches, else it comes down in your hand, but then tries to move to the position its vertical camera and GPS recorded, could be 2 meters away) !

 

[Gipsz Jakab]

1. Well, I have these issues without this follow mode add on... I was considering buying this add-on only to get the RTH to the controller option, but apparently you need to activate this mode, and I don't plan to use it for now, mostly manual flight and flight plan. Once the RTH gets auto-activated, it's a bit late or sometimes useless to change the flight mode, so I'm not sure this is the perfect configuration for me ?

3. I always wait for the drone's GPS icon to become green, but sometimes the icon reverts to brown while the Anafi is still hovering over my hand ! and this is the tricky part, as I'd like to fly in areas where bad GPS signal happens, best options would be to deactivate the drone's GPS to fly manually under trees for example, but I can't do that (I already flew under trees, but now I don't feel safe after seeing that unexpected movements can happen).

4. I don't like this 90° twist, I got small cuts, and don't like to "force" it... now I try to go back to the >exact< same position where I launched it, when I move around while piloting. Apparently that may be the key to easier hand catches, else it comes down in your hand, but then tries to move to the position its vertical camera and GPS recorded, could be 2 meters away) !

Sell Anafit and buy Skydio2 if you want to fly through the trees. Anafi is not for that.
I bought it because I want to look down from a height and capture the landscape from a bird’s eye view. Perfect and trouble-free for this (1.6.3 FW / FF6 6.6.203_FCC)

 

[S.C.C.]

Sell Anafit and buy Skydio2 if you want to fly through the trees. Anafi is not for that.
I bought it because I want to look down from a height and capture the landscape from a bird’s eye view. Perfect and trouble-free for this (1.6.3 FW / FF6 6.6.203_FCC)

I didn't said I bought this drone to fly through the trees, this was just an example to illustrate an obvious bug in the Anafi's onboard system, when it comes to handling GPS elevation discrepancies, that could easily be corrected with the help of accelerometers' data in most cases...

 

[DanLins]

As far as the elevation when using GPS, I think the Z axis is always less dependable than X & Y, due to the inherent problems in solving very long distance triangles from multiple satellites, even with selective availability turned off.

This does not address why the barometer accuracy might vary so dramatically. Environment? Relative humidity variations? Hmmmm....