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Follow Me - Inspire 1

Joined
Jun 7, 2015
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While I feel the “Follow me” mode on the I1 may not really be an appropriate flight mode for such a large semi-professional quad copter, I thought I would give it a try. It happily followed me over a distance of around 800 metres (875 yards) when I changed my direction to a compass heading by around 180 degrees. My venue was a deserted golf course near dusk, with only some kangaroos, ducks and pelicans for company. I was reasonably impressed with the I1’s ability to keep the golf cart locked into a single position, however a short uphill section quickly saw a change in the angle of view (Position 2). As the I1 used the RC as its “aiming point”, I presume the lack of an altimeter in the RC saw this variation. Autopilot, which uses the tablet’s position would possibly do a better job as some iPads and Android devices have an inbuilt altimeter or barometer. I have included a few shots of kangaroos and pelicans which shows how a slow approach, sees them interested in the I1, but not terrified.

The brief (40 second) video is at

 
image.jpg I tried it today and got a " GPS signal too weak " in the upper left corner of the screen , any ideas ?
 
Go Fast, Initially I received the same message. I kept going and either the RC picked up more satellites or it decided to go with what it had. I was out in the middle of a golf course in a generally flat flood plain area. I had been out flying for about 20 minutes before doing the follow me thing. Occasionally I have noticed a similar message when attempting to make the RC my home point. I have an iPad Air 2 without cellular, but with a Garmin GPS unit that talks to the iPad. Its a pity the DJI Go App doesn't "talk" to the iPad to help the RC gain better GPS connectivity. I do not know of any techniques to increase the RC's ability to get a better GPS signal. I'm tempted to try the Autopilot App.
 
Gents,
It seems that everyone is having problems with the follow me mode. I have a couple of theories but need some questions answered first. I have heard that the Inspire uses the Controllers Position as the source to follow, is that correct? I have also seen on this forum that the I1 uses the GPS of the tablet for its source? Can someone for certain tell me what source and what algorithm is being used for the follow me mode?
 
Gents,
It seems that everyone is having problems with the follow me mode. I have a couple of theories but need some questions answered first. I have heard that the Inspire uses the Controllers Position as the source to follow, is that correct? I have also seen on this forum that the I1 uses the GPS of the tablet for its source? Can someone for certain tell me what source and what algorithm is being used for the follow me mode?

Although the I1 controller does have GPS built in its not good enough for realtime updates for things like follow me, also the tablet shields it as well.

DJI chose to use make it so you need to use a device with GPS instead, this means performance is based on how good the tablets internal GPS is and how well it can see the sky.

For optimum performance have your tablet or phone out of a case and figure out where it's GPS antenna is and make sure it's got a clear view of the sky.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Don't quite understand? Are you saying the Tablet GPS is sending data to the I1?


DJI Go uses the tablets Internal GPS for positioning data for follow me not the controllers internal GPS as its not accurate enough.

For follow me to work your phone or tablet must have GPS so for instance on IOS devices that's cellular models only.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
That makes no sense. Unless you are saying that the I1 knows the position of the Controller/Tablet and also knows it's own position (all via GPS sources). Then an algorithm compares the two positions (to which the system can calculate range, azimuth, and altitude, etc. Then as the controller/Tablet moves the computation takes place and adjusts the I1 accordingly. Is this what you're saying? Basically a comparison of 2 GPS positions converted in to a semi stabilized held line of sight measurement?
 
Based on my research of the situation I would make the following comments:
  • I had thought the Follow Me Mode on the DJI GO App used only the RC's GPS Unit until I received the following response to a query I sent to DJI China
Dear Davidbarton7,

Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support.

Kindly be noted that your mobile device's GPS location is used only when under Follow me function.

The Dynamic Home Point function is using the controller's GPS information instead of your mobile device's GPS information.

In the meantime, you can check out the DJI Support Youtube channel for all our official tutorial videos, which may help you solve your issue:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0sMNc2SGnM-wD3ZGYj3MAQ

Thanks for choosing DJI.

Best regards,

DJI Product Application Technical Support Center
I plan to do a further experiment, along the lines of the one already posted, to confirm the situation in Follow Me Mode. At this stage I believe the comments made by Mad_angler1 are correct. Hope this helps
 
I understand the logic between when the I1 uses the Controller or uses the Tablet. To me it's all the same. The GPS's in tablets and the controllers are RECEIVERS ONLY….NOT TRANSMITTERS! The GPS in either of these does not send any signal to the vehicle. That's why I'm trying to figure out the system (and help DJI). The only thing (method) I can think of is the comparison algorithm of both the GPS position of the controller/tablet an the position of the vehicle itself. From there it's simple trigonometry to set a position in space. If this is indeed the way they do it I can solve this problem, or at least make it way better!
 
I agree the notion of that the RC, Tablet (and Inspire), are only "Receivers" but they are able to convey GPS Data/longitude and latitude co-ordinates to the DJI GO App. When the App records the "Home Point", as the I1 takes off for example, the App is using the I1's GPS Unit as its source of the longitude and latitude co-ordinates. When the App records a "Dynamic Home Point" ie the position of the RC, the App is only using the RC's GPS Unit as its source of the longitude and latitude co-ordinates (and not the Tablets as per my experiment). When you activate the Follow Me mode via the App and P-A-F switch, it would appear the App is using the Tablet's GPS Unit as its source of the longitude and latitude co-ordinates.
 
Agree, and understand fully. The problem is the accuracies of these positions. (not accurate at all as a single source and they've doubled the error in ALL axis!) Trying to use and compare 2 low grade GPS antenna sources (never gona work). Point in case... look at the variances for the return to home mode! Now try do do this in a dynamic scenario and look out! I've been in contact with DJI this morning. I'm going to ask about this and see if they''l listen to my solution. As far as I'm concerned the I1 should be full capable of following you with insane accuracy with user adjustable ranges, heights, and azimuths. they've just chosen the wrong method to do so!
 
DJI Go uses the tablets Internal GPS for positioning data for follow me not the controllers internal GPS as its not accurate enough.

For follow me to work your phone or tablet must have GPS so for instance on IOS devices that's cellular models only.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi Mad I use a iPad mini 4 but it is not the cellular version, are you saying I can't use the follow me function?
 

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