New to the forum, so a quick bio. I am a land surveyor using an Inspire 1 Pro with X5 and an ipad mini 2 for aerial images and ultimately creating contour data. We are on our second uav, as my avatar shows what happens to an inspire when you hit a silo at 33 mph, at 100+ feet in the air!

We are having trouble with the follow me mode. We are trying to create some video of past and ongoing projects, and cannot seem to get the uav to actually follow me. The controller is in F mode, and we are 10+ meters in the air. The DJI Go app says that Follow Me is active. The inspire does a rotation, like it's aware it should do something other than hover. But then it never seems to do anything. It tried to follow me a couple of times, but never moved more than 20 feet or so, then just hovered.

Any idea what we're doing wrong (and I'm 99% positive it's user error)?

Thanks, Sam

Does the I-pad mini 2 have GPS and is it turned on? If the answer is no, this would explain your problem.  

Like Mark said, Your device needs to have a GPS sensor and they are not available in tablets with Wi-Fi only.

I am using the iPad mini 4 with both  Wi-Fi and Cellular modules. It will provide the tracking GPS needed for follow me to work.

Rich

Yes, it has cellular, and yes, it was turned on. It seemed like it WANTED to try and follow, it just wouldn't. All it would do is hover.

samd Posted at 2017-3-16 10:27
Yes, it has cellular, and yes, it was turned on. It seemed like it WANTED to try and follow, it just wouldn't. All it would do is hover.

Does it have GPS and was it turned on?

Mark Guille Posted at 2017-3-16 11:15
Does it have GPS and was it turned on?

Other than cellular data, I don't see anything that it has additional gps info/options. Where might I find that? Sorry, but I'm not an IOS guy.

samd Posted at 2017-3-16 11:39
Other than cellular data, I don't see anything that it has additional gps info/options. Where might I find that? Sorry, but I'm not an IOS guy.

You did press the apply when  you opened up the follow  me mode correct , does it say GPS signal is strong also ?

If it was a cloudy day it wont work , I have had this happen to me as well.  Look at the pic I provided and make sure you are getting  to this point , BUT right before this box open you must press "apply "
Make sure your I pad is not in a case or anything too, it could block the signal.

try it on a sunny day.
here is a link with directions and a similar situation.

http://forum.dji.com/thread-87088-1-1.html


donnie

Yes, I got to this screen. I would either start walking or hop in the back of the truck and have one of the crew start driving slowing, and Inspire would rotate, like it was going to follow me, but then it just sat there. It did start to move once, but it never went more than 15 or 20 feet before it just stopped and sat there.

Yesterday was overcast, but why would cloud cover make a difference? We use GPS all the time in cloudy, overcast weather, and even once in a while, at night.

samd Posted at 2017-3-16 11:39
Other than cellular data, I don't see anything that it has additional gps info/options. Where might I find that? Sorry, but I'm not an IOS guy.

Make sure your location services is turned on  and check the DJI Go App state while using under the list of apps.


PS, this is located under Settings /  Privacy / Location Services

Rich

There are two meanings to 'Follow Me'. One is to change the home point dynamically, and the other (which is what I think you mean) is 'track me walking'.

If it is the former you mean, the advice given by Mark and Rich is correct and the best way of dealing with this is to purchase the dedicated $29 GPS dongle that DJI has just released (though if you are using an I1, I'd check if it works with that).

If it is the latter you mean, use 'Active Track', go to the 'control' icon on the left of the tablet screen and select the option from the pop up menu. For tracking, your image has to be large enough for the AI system to detect you as the trackable object.

Rich, that setting was turned on.

Mike, this is what I am trying to get it do: We just built a new roadway, about 3/4 mile long. We want to drive the road, and have the uav follow the truck, filming the road. I don't believe that DJI GO has Active Track for the Inspire.

This feature would be extremely useful on several upcoming projects and I really need to figure this out.

samd Posted at 2017-3-17 06:59
Rich, that setting was turned on.

Mike, this is what I am trying to get it do: We just built a new roadway, about 3/4 mile long. We want to drive the road, and have the uav follow the truck, filming the road. I don't believe that DJI GO has Active Track for the Inspire.

The Inspire 1 does not have active track and the follow me can be touchy.  I have a couple of suggestions.

1, try another device such as a newer iPhone 7  and make sure you have plan view to the sky

2, try AutoFlight logic third party App   called Autopilot  Link for information and download


Using the Inspire 1 with AutoFlight is one of the best solutions that I have ever used. Follow me and Waypoints are some of the best available  IMO

PS please use the reply on a post for us to see that you have responded...

Rich

RichJ53 Posted at 2017-3-17 08:07
The Inspire 1 does not have active track and the follow me can be touchy.  I have a couple of suggestions.

1, try another device such as a newer iPhone 7  and make sure you have plan view to the sky

Rich,

1) I don't have another iOS device, so I'll try and make do with what i have.

2) I will try Autoflight. I'll try it tomorrow, along with the DJI GO follow me.

Thanks for the input and link. I will let you know how it goes.

This Youtube video explains it quite well.


Mark G.

samd Posted at 2017-3-16 13:29
Yes, I got to this screen. I would either start walking or hop in the back of the truck and have one of the crew start driving slowing, and Inspire would rotate, like it was going to follow me, but then it just sat there. It did start to move once, but it never went more than 15 or 20 feet before it just stopped and sat there.

Yesterday was overcast, but why would cloud cover make a difference? We use GPS all the time in cloudy, overcast weather, and even once in a while, at night.

I am not exactly sure why  but on cloudy overcast days it does not work well for me .  I think there is a lot going on with the triangulation of the GPS and conditions must be good.

So bottom line please try on a sunny day and see if that makes a difference , I had the exact same experience as you  on cloudy days .

Be sure you are also pressing the "apply' when prompted as well.

donnie

donnie

Donnie Stugots Posted at 2017-3-17 10:32
I am not exactly sure why  but on cloudy overcast days it does not work well for me .  I think there is a lot going on with the triangulation of the GPS and conditions must be good.

So bottom line please try on a sunny day and see if that makes a difference , I had the exact same experience as you  on cloudy days .

Donnie, will do this weekend. Also trying the Autopilot. Hopefully I will be able to do a short comparison.

Thanks for all of the input.

Mark Guille Posted at 2017-3-17 08:58
This Youtube video explains it quite well.
Follow Me Mode Explained

This is a nice demo video Mark, It looks like they lost connection at 3:04 and then cut back to it.


Rich

samd Posted at 2017-3-17 08:33
Rich,

1) I don't have another iOS device, so I'll try and make do with what i have.

Sam,
sometimes can be a pain in the butt to get the solid connection...
AutoFlight autopilot costs some money, but has always exceeded my expectations..
I really hope you can get this going and wish much success to you!!

Rich

samd Posted at 2017-3-17 06:59
Rich, that setting was turned on.

Mike, this is what I am trying to get it do: We just built a new roadway, about 3/4 mile long. We want to drive the road, and have the uav follow the truck, filming the road. I don't believe that DJI GO has Active Track for the Inspire.

OK sorry I misunderstood. I beta-tested Follow Me for DJI on the Inspire 1 and it NEVER worked for me except for a few seconds where I am. Clear skies etc. The problem is that the GPS sat threshold is very conservative. I wrote in for feedback and did not get a satisfactory response.

You can try orienting the smart device differently with respect to the sky to see if you get better results.

Other tips given by Rich and Donnie are good ones.

Good luck.
Honestly if I were you, I'd fly manually. Just use the dynamic home point updating so that in the event of a RTH trigger, you won't lose the craft.

Another option would be like Mike says, fly it, manually but download Vertical Studiofor free, and use their tracking mode. If you are not that technically inclined, Vertical Studio is an incredibly simple app compared to Autoflight Logics.
Mark G.

Mike-the-cat Posted at 2017-3-17 12:36
OK sorry I misunderstood. I beta-tested Follow Me for DJI on the Inspire 1 and it NEVER worked for me except for a few seconds where I am. Clear skies etc. The problem is that the GPS sat threshold is very conservative. I wrote in for feedback and did not get a satisfactory response.

You can try orienting the smart device differently with respect to the sky to see if you get better results.

It may be a better idea to set the bird to hover instead of Dynamic HP, if there is a GPS issue, he doesn't want it flying off to wherever it thinks the HP is, much better to track back along the road he came down to find it hovering.
Just my two cents

Mark G.

Mark Guille Posted at 2017-3-18 02:14
It may be a better idea to set the bird to hover instead of Dynamic HP, if there is a GPS issue, he doesn't want it flying off to wherever it thinks the HP is, much better to track back along the road he came down to find it hovering.
Just my two cents

Hi Mark,

In my experience, the GPS threshold for resetting the home point is much more lax than the Follow Me threshold.

Resetting the HP is a safety in case the bird loses contact and the travel is >1 km or so. I think if he re-locks the HP every 500m or so and flies conservatively, the said strategy will work.

samd Posted at 2017-3-17 11:26
Donnie, will do this weekend. Also trying the Autopilot. Hopefully I will be able to do a short comparison.

Thanks for all of the input.

    Sure happy to help you , Mark and Rich have some very good input as well.  I am sure we can get to the bottom of this for (with) you .  
     Rich brings up a good point about making sure the GPS  is turned on for the I pad (  this is located in privacy  and then go to "location services").  In addition there is one other area to check as well .  Just open settings and  then scroll down to the" DJI Go"  app that you will find with your other apps and make sure the  "location services" are turned on .  


donnie

Ok, so here's the weekend update.

I went out around 1 pm, to a local park. Nice clear, sunny day. The following is a step by step.

1. Controller on.
2. Inspire on.
3. DJI Go app opened.
4. Flew inspire to 40' +/- in P mode.
5. Switched to F mode.
6. Tapped the the little drone icon on the left side of the screen.
7. Started follow me.
8. Pop-up screen on right side came up, hit apply.
9. Green text pop-up in upper left corner Follow Me mode started.
10. I walked toward and away (north and south) from inspire, approximately 50 to 75 feet, and it moved accordingly.
11. I walked east and west, and it followed me.
12. Then it stopped and hovered.

Total time following me was about 30-45 seconds or so. Then the inspire just stopped and hovered, and would not FOLLOW me. It would TRACK me. If I walked in a circle around it, it would rotate in the air and track me, but if I moved either towards it or away from it, it would not move, just hover.

I repeated the entire process at 6 pm, in a different park miles away, with the exact same results. Both time, GPS signal was strong, 14-16 satellites.

I tried the Auotpilot app. I got it to connect to the inspire, but I never could get it actually follow me at all. A total bust with the Autopilot app.

Did I miss a step, did I not click something, any ideas at all.

Update. Went to the RC park this afternoon. Turned off the bluetooth on the ipad mini and it seemed to work. Will do a longer test hopefully later this week.

I thought the controller had built in GPS so that the device didn't need it.  I'm sure I saw this on the Inspire 1 launch videos.

Advocate Posted at 2017-4-10 05:01
I thought the controller had built in GPS so that the device didn't need it.  I'm sure I saw this on the Inspire 1 launch videos.

any news on follow me? Does the Inspire 1 pro controller have a built in GPS?