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FF6 6.7.0 update and firmware 1.7.3

AnafiPilot1

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Managed to go out this morning with the new FF6 and firmware installed. Flew for around 18 minutes.

Few things of note :-

1) Descending is much faster than before - descends in RACE mode at around 5 m/s before it was around 2.5 to 3m/s.

2) When descending at full speed, letting go of the controls the drone carried on descending another 3 meters before stopping.

3) Switching on Advanced RTH disables precise home.

4) RT to Pilot does not seem very dynamic - The drone returns to the pilots position where & when the RTH button was pressed, not the current pilot position when it comes back. So if you press RTH and the pilot is still moving it will not come back to the pilot. Will need to work out how often the pilot position is updated for this feature. More testing needed.

5) Object tracking seems better, even when object changes size as the drone moves away.

6) Bobbing / Nodding seems to be cured in follow me and smartdronie modes.

Was flying in 10 to 15mph winds, so if it is calmer tomorrow will retry all my tests.

No problem with phantom falling out of the sky when flying down to 15% battery.

Did notice more warning messages - you now get a warning message about adverse flight condition before take off if the drone does not have good GPS - also below 20% battery I got a warning about the drone will land in 3 minutes, which I have never seen.
 
Someone mentioned in another thread which also happened to me.

There seems to be changes to GPS.

On the first flight GPS stayed RED on the Anafi for over 3 minutes until I picked it up and waved it around a bit - immediately it went green with 21 sats.

Normally only get 16 to 17 sats at that location - so 21 sats is quite surprising.

The UBlox M8 GPS chipped used in the Anafi is capable of tracking 3 networks concurrently - but like other users of this chip they normally have it tracking 2 networks (GPS and GLONASS). I assume that Parrot have updated the firmware for the UBLOX M8 which allows it to also use GALILEO and BEIDOU networks.

The GPS chip is capable of tracking 3 networks at the same time, so me seeing 21 sats at my location means they must be tracking GPS / GLONASS / GALILEO.
 
well in tracking mode as follow me it is still hard to make it works I cannot seen any improvement yet
Having more issues with connection from the sky controller too much time to get GPS
 
about item 1.
How is that possible if the setting for racing is max 3.9 m/s vertical in FF6 6.70 ?
about sat ,it seems to be an improvement checking my logs in Airdata I see max 26 max sat used before was about 20
 
In regard to GPS signal, I think @AnafiPilot1 got it right !
A few months ago I was testing my Android phone for GPS signal with an app made with the help of the European Community to check for Galileo satellite signals.
This app is called ‘GPS Test’. It gives you a vision of the sky above with all satellites and if your phone is able to use them or not, the signal quality...
I remarked my phone did catch much more satellite signals than the Anafi did.

On the specifications given by Parrot, the Anafi was able to catch 2 constellations : the American GPS and the Russian Glonass system.
Looking at the specs of the UBLOX M8 Gps chip that is onboard the Anafi, they say it’s compatible with the Galileo signal.

At the time Parrot launched the Anafi in July 2018, the Galileo constellation of satellites was not fully operational and for political reasons, the Galileo signal was not allowed to be used in some regions (the USA for example).

Now Galileo is more and more operational and precise, the laws have changed in the USA allowing Galileo early 2019... and there is an ANAFI USA on the shelves...to be used by first responders that are not really concerned by political debates.

They probably integrated the Galileo European Satellites constellation in the signal caught by the Anafi with this update. Some mention they have GPS problems with the new update. I’d be curious to see if they are located in the same regions.

Parrot did not communicate on the subject... but if the GPS algorithm is region related (Like the WiFi frequency)... there should soon be a new FF6 update ;o)

— Edit —
There is an excellent article that summarizes political and commercial use of the Galileo system in the US here : Why Galileo is not seen in United States? | GALILEO
 
Last edited:
As someone else has stated - GPS lock on the phone/controller icon is taking forever. Seems like a bug in FF6 on this.
 
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In regard to GPS signal, I think @AnafiPilot1 got it right !
A few months ago I was testing my Android phone for GPS signal with an app made with the help of the European Community to check for Galileo satellite signals.
This app is called ‘GPS Test’. It gives you a vision of the sky above with all satellites and if your phone is able to use them or not, the signal quality...
I remarked my phone did catch much more satellite signals than the Anafi did.

On the specifications given by Parrot, the Anafi was able to catch 2 constellations : the American GPS and the Russian Glonass system.
Looking at the specs of the UBLOX M8 Gps chip that is onboard the Anafi, they say it’s compatible with the Galileo signal.

At the time Parrot launched the Anafi in July 2018, the Galileo constellation of satellites was not fully operational and for political reasons, the Galileo signal was not allowed to be used in some regions (the USA for example).

Now Galileo is more and more operational and precise, the laws have changed in the USA allowing Galileo early 2019... and there is an ANAFI USA on the shelves...to be used by first responders that are not really concerned by political debates.

They probably integrated the Galileo European Satellites constellation in the signal caught by the Anafi with this update. Some mention they have GPS problems with the new update. I’d be curious to see if they are located in the same regions.

Parrot did not communicate on the subject... but if the GPS algorithm is region related (Like the WiFi frequency)... there should soon be a new FF6 update ;o)

— Edit —
There is an excellent article that summarizes political and commercial use of the Galileo system in the US here : Why Galileo is not seen in United States? | GALILEO

I remember one thing beyond politics was that the US was not happy about the frequencies chosen by the EU.
 
Vertical Speeds differences between Anafi firmware 1.6.8 and the new 1.7.3.

Looks like they are respecting the vertical speed setting in the flying profile, before vertical speed setting only affected ascending speed, and descending was always around 2.5m/s, regardless of flying profile.

firmware-1.6.8_descend.JPGFirmware-1.7.3_descend.JPG
 
Some interesting findings on follow me mode with new firmware. I have had the bob up and down for some time now. So I thought I would see if the new firmware resolved it for me. According to the chart follow me started at about 29 feet. With no imput from me it started to rise till it got to just over 40 feet. As you can see from the vertical speed there was a zig zag in speed up and down till it leveled out at 40 feet which is where the video became smooth.
And yes boys and girls that is snow coming down today.
Screen_Chart altitude_1.png

 
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Some interesting findings on follow me mode with new firmware. I have had the bob up and down for some time now. So I thought I would see if the new firmware resolved it for me. According to the chart follow me started at about 29 feet. With no imput from me it started to rise till it got to just over 40 feet. As you can see from the vertical speed there was a zig zag in speed up and down till it leveled out at 40 feet which is where the video became smooth.
And yes boys and girls that is snow coming down today.
View attachment 4949

Nice video, thanks for sharing
When we see similar snow falling in Southern California we call it ash - 95 degrees right now ;)
 
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Some interesting findings on follow me mode with new firmware. I have had the bob up and down for some time now. So I thought I would see if the new firmware resolved it for me. According to the chart follow me started at about 29 feet. With no imput from me it started to rise till it got to just over 40 feet. As you can see from the vertical speed there was a zig zag in speed up and down till it leveled out at 40 feet which is where the video became smooth.
And yes boys and girls that is snow coming down today.
View attachment 4949


Did not see anything like that on my testing, but my testing was done at a much lower height I was maybe 7-10 m (21 to 30ft).

I had chance to review the footage from my follow me, the nodding is still present but it is at a much slower frequency - so the footage is a lot more useable!

With the vertical speed and controls - it feels more like the horizontal controls now - there is more run-on and de-accelerating / accelerating behaviour like we see with the horizontal controls. The vertical controls were more planted and direct feeling before.
 
I tried follow me with the new firmware, I couldn't make it work. When I draw the rectangle around the subject (me), the camera tilts all the way up and shows the sky and shows "subject lost". The drone is still following my movements but I can't tilt the camera down to point to me, unless I leave follow me and switch to manual. Can anyone confirm this behavior? My phone is a Xiaomi MI 5s plus (android 10)

Στάλθηκε από το MI 5s Plus μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk
 
I tried follow me with the new firmware, I couldn't make it work. When I draw the rectangle around the subject (me), the camera tilts all the way up and shows the sky and shows "subject lost". The drone is still following my movements but I can't tilt the camera down to point to me, unless I leave follow me and switch to manual. Can anyone confirm this behavior? My phone is a Xiaomi MI 5s plus (android 10)

Στάλθηκε από το MI 5s Plus μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk

Seems pretty strange that it follows our movements. It would need the camera locked onto you for it to do that.
 
It follows using the data from the gps of the phone, the camera is used only to center the subject in the frame.

Στάλθηκε από το MI 5s Plus μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk
 
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Managed to go out this morning with the new FF6 and firmware installed. Flew for around 18 minutes.

Few things of note :-

1) Descending is much faster than before - descends in RACE mode at around 5 m/s before it was around 2.5 to 3m/s.

2) When descending at full speed, letting go of the controls the drone carried on descending another 3 meters before stopping.

3) Switching on Advanced RTH disables precise home.

4) RT to Pilot does not seem very dynamic - The drone returns to the pilots position where & when the RTH button was pressed, not the current pilot position when it comes back. So if you press RTH and the pilot is still moving it will not come back to the pilot. Will need to work out how often the pilot position is updated for this feature. More testing needed.

5) Object tracking seems better, even when object changes size as the drone moves away.

6) Bobbing / Nodding seems to be cured in follow me and smartdronie modes.

Was flying in 10 to 15mph winds, so if it is calmer tomorrow will retry all my tests.

No problem with phantom falling out of the sky when flying down to 15% battery.

Did notice more warning messages - you now get a warning message about adverse flight condition before take off if the drone does not have good GPS - also below 20% battery I got a warning about the drone will land in 3 minutes, which I have never seen.
Thanks for testing and the report. I agree with you on most things, but don't think you're right about (3)

3) Switching on Advanced RTH disables precise home.

I set this 'on' and return to 'Take Off' and left it like this during 7 flights last Friday. I still saw the 'Precise Home' message flash up on some occasions. I believe it does this (and still does it) when you take off from something with a distinct pattern like a landing mat. If you take off from a surface like concrete it doesn't do it as there's nothing unique in its view.

Regarding (4) - yes I found that too, and it's a shame as I imagined it would be very useful if launching from / returning to a boat. Return to pilot is not much use if the boat continues to drift after the button is pressed!
 
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More observations around the whole GPS thing - it looks like the controller/phone GPS does not go green until the Anafi starts picking up GPS sats.

Been watching the logcat on my phone, and I can see freeflight is being provided a good GPS position by the phone but it still stays red, until I take the Anafi outside and the moment the Anafi picks up some sats then the controller icon GPS goes green.

Maybe they have done this force people to wait for the Anafi to get a GPS signal.

Anyone else confirm?
 
More observations around the whole GPS thing - it looks like the controller/phone GPS does not go green until the Anafi starts picking up GPS sats.

Been watching the logcat on my phone, and I can see freeflight is being provided a good GPS position by the phone but it still stays red, until I take the Anafi outside and the moment the Anafi picks up some sats then the controller icon GPS goes green.

Maybe they have done this force people to wait for the Anafi to get a GPS signal.

Anyone else confirm?
I am getting GPS green on controller not an issue- so I don't think that is the problem
but not on Anafi, 0 sats, not unless I pick it up a foot or two or move it to new location - even a foot to one side helps
It's quite odd as I have taken off exact from same location for hundreds of flights without issue
It's not really causing me an issue -as it does lock on plenty of sats after I take off and performs well flying
In fact I picked up 32 Sats over the weekend
Just odd that it behaves differently acquiring GPS lock
I did try a drone hard & soft reset along with SK3 reset - did not help
I do need to perform further testing - may try on my other two birds to see if same issue
I will say this - troubleshooting these keeps flying interesting
 
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More observations around the whole GPS thing - it looks like the controller/phone GPS does not go green until the Anafi starts picking up GPS sats.

Been watching the logcat on my phone, and I can see freeflight is being provided a good GPS position by the phone but it still stays red, until I take the Anafi outside and the moment the Anafi picks up some sats then the controller icon GPS goes green.

Maybe they have done this force people to wait for the Anafi to get a GPS signal.

Anyone else confirm?
You need to start the take-off and keep the altitude over 3M at lease & wait for around 1-minute duration! On the ground will never get both of GPS in GREEN!!!
 

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