Follow Me Observations 04 (Success & Crash)

[MustangPhil]

There is also something that made me a little anxious with the follow me mode, it’s the feeling the Anafi has a ‘not so magical’ algorithm that not only follows you, but also has a tendency to sometimes ‘lose’ your track, and try to find some moving things in the scene that ‘could’ be you or try to follow your GPS signal coming from your phone (with a max precision of +/-5m)
... when I see you cross the path of your running dog ! (Not to say you look like your dog, but you know... it’s just an algorithm... ;o)

 

[Mar]

I read through these latest posting while at work today and just want to add my 2 cents about GPS signals.

I'm a long time, hard core gpsr user, use to do extreme gps contests so know a thing or two about how accurate or how much a receiver can fluctuate. Heck I've had a gpsr suddenly move a waypoint 1000's of KM's away and that was with good reception. I've had them off the mark by quite a bit very often.

I also know you need at least, minimum 3 good satellite signal, more the better. Gpsr have improve through the years but they still do weird things now and then.

I don't know how good the receiver is in the Anafi, would be nice if satellite signals could be viewed on the software like one can do on a gpsr.

So...maybe these fly away are because of poor signal receive, just guessing here. Or is fly away due too Wi-fi?

 

[Krusty Geeza]

Good luck with the repair mate. Reading this - a crap start to the day

I've been flying models for ever (since I'm really old) so I've been testing functions out at out model aircraft field - HMAC

It's amazing how often models find that one tree - or the out-house lol

I've already had to duck a couple of times when I commanded my Anafi to go somewhere... but my head was in the way! This is my first gps drone (I've designed and built 27 multi-engine machines in the last 7 years) and I still find it hard not looking at the drone... but looking at the screen. My trust is slowly building up (that's when I'll break it!)

It's all good, Pete. I know better now, so will search out an open area like what you shared the 360 image of, if I'm ever tempted to test out the Dynamic or Sports modes.

I'm glad it was a tree & not an out-house! That could have been dirty!

I was watching a video yesterday that talked about the perils of drone flying where people flit between looking at or for the drone & also looking at the screen. That individual was advocating looking at the screen only. I can't do that yet, I need to see that the Anafi is safely away or above things, then get my camera angles right, then fly through. That's probably why I have a tendency to walk behind it when at all possible, as that way I can quickly glance at it & back at the screen as needed. I don't think I could ever use FPV goggles, unless I was going high speed forwards only, then you could see where you are going & it would possibly make it an even more accurate experience for piloting through & around narrow spaces. But, for moving the Anafi sideways or on an angle to things, it would be useless, as you'd have zero spatial relationship to know where you were & if you were safe.

 

[Krusty Geeza]

There is also something that made me a little anxious with the follow me mode, it’s the feeling the Anafi has a ‘not so magical’ algorithm that not only follows you, but also has a tendency to sometimes ‘lose’ your track, and try to find some moving things in the scene that ‘could’ be you or try to follow your GPS signal coming from your phone (with a max precision of +/-5m)
... when I see you cross the path of your running dog ! (Not to say you look like your dog, but you know... it’s just an algorithm... ;o)

I'm still not very trusting of the Anafi's tracking systems. I tried it out today on a tower with some large lights on it at the shipping port & it lost it too many times, requiring me to refocus it about 3 or 4 times within 30 seconds, flying at Film speed manually, gently doing a circle of it from about 10 metres away. I was not darting this way & that trying to push it to its limits. It was a gentle test & it failed, again.

I was tempted to put my mobile-phone in a bag inside my dogs jacket & see if it could keep up with her from a long distance so it was easier to track her, but not now. Ever.

 

[Krusty Geeza]

I read through these latest posting while at work today and just want to add my 2 cents about GPS signals.

I'm a long time, hard core gpsr user, use to do extreme gps contests so know a thing or two about how accurate or how much a receiver can fluctuate. Heck I've had a gpsr suddenly move a waypoint 1000's of KM's away and that was with good reception. I've had them off the mark by quite a bit very often.

I also know you need at least, minimum 3 good satellite signal, more the better. Gpsr have improve through the years but they still do weird things now and then.

I don't know how good the receiver is in the Anafi, would be nice if satellite signals could be viewed on the software like one can do on a gpsr.

So...maybe these fly away are because of poor signal receive, just guessing here. Or is fly away due too Wi-fi?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, @Mar ! That's always appreciated to have my understanding expanded of what's going on.

Interestingly, I have an app on my mobile for another drone & it shows you how many satellites that your mobile-phone is locked onto. I don't fly with under 13 satellites locked on.

Also interestingly, I had 15 satellites locked on when standing in the centre of the park yesterday with the trees about 30 metres either side of me. So I am thinking the persons comment above about needing a 180 degree section of sky above you is not quite correct, based on having that many satellites locked on when there was only about 90 degrees of sky open above me there.

 

[Kilrah]

I'm still not very trusting of the Anafi's tracking systems.

I'm not very trusty of anything of its positioning system. Everytime I take it out I have some strange drifts at times that require being very aware of it at all times. The other day I was positioning at about 15m AGL for a photo, and after stopping it slowly drifted about 5m further than I wanted it to be... and there were trees behind.
Plus the lag in the controls/video feed and poor sticks make precise movements really difficult.

None of that is an issue on my DJI machines, they feel a lot more "connected" to my inputs, precise and reliable. For me the anafi is really just a work tool that allows me to get better stills while staying under the 500gr limit which is what's required by one of my recurring customers, but for anything else I'll take the other machines. The anafi is never getting out of its case for "fun", I don't have fun with it.

 

[Krusty Geeza]

I'm not very trusty of anything of its positioning system. Everytime I take it out I have some strange drifts at times that require being very aware of it at all times. The other day I was positioning at about 15m AGL for a photo, and after stopping it slowly drifted about 5m further than I wanted it to be... and there were trees behind.
Plus the lag in the controls/video feed and poor sticks make precise movements really difficult.

None of that is an issue on my DJI machines, they feel a lot more "connected" to my inputs, precise and reliable. For me the anafi is really just a work tool that allows me to get better stills while staying under the 500gr limit which is what's required by one of my recurring customers, but for anything else I'll take the other machines. The anafi is never getting out of its case for "fun", I don't have fun with it.

The twitchyness of the Anafi & random drifting has been my observation also. My only other experience was with a borrowed Mavic Pro in October last year & that was much gentler in its responses to subtle stick movements, it also held it's position much better.

Originally, I purchased the Anafi to explore aerial photography with, but I find myself enjoying exploring aerial video footage with it. As a photographic tool, I am suitably impressed with it! The video I am still grappling with as with the flight of it. So far, I am erring on using P-Log at 23.98 fps, as that has the best detail & potential for post-production work to my eyes when I compare the different options available. HDR is out, it loses too much detail for my liking. P-Log has better renditions than both Cinema & Natural capture modes from my comparisons. there is no better dynamic range, but there is better scope to tweak colour & much better detail for some reason. It's obvious without necessarily pixel peeping either! My monitor is only 2560 x 1440 pixels & I don't really view the 4K footage at full resolution very much, only for checking shadows or highlights of certain parts of the footage from time to time, just to make sure it's not blocked up or blown out at all after performing other adjustments.

Sorry for getting off-topic there!

The Anafi is not a professional tool for me, she allows me to explore my amateur photography in a different way.