Hey all - I am having an issue with my gesture control only functioning intermittently. I can palm launch and the. Raise my palm for palm co tell - I hear Palm Control enables from my phone but when o move my hand the Spark sometimes responds but mostly it does not.

If I try to wave the Spark out it typically will not respond. When I attempt to take a selfie, I hear the shutter sound but the picture does not actually take until almost a second after the shutter sound from my phone.

I have not been able to successfully start a video from a gesture.

Any input or experience with this type of behavior from other Spark pilots?

Thank you in adavance.

Sir, please tell me the model of your device and the firmware of your drone. Please follow the user manual and try again. Here are some tips below:
1. Do not wear dark clothes, or clothes may absorb infrared light.
2. Fly the aircraft in open areas and windless conditions.
3. The Gesture mode may not perform well when the aircraft flies over surfaces without texture, in extremely bright surfaces, or in heavy winds.

Check your phone for notifications that you are in a flight zone. I have been having similar issues. When you accept to fly in that area on your phone it works as it should, you can use all gestures etc.

Hi Elektra - I am flying a Spark on the most recent firmware (not sure of the version number).

I have been through the manual several times and probably spent 10 or more flights dedicated to practicing the gestures (my neighbors think I am crazy now

after palm launch, you need to stand in front of the drone 0.5-0.7m away. raise your hand, palm in front. if the front leds are green then it "sees" your hand. if they are yellow then you need to go near the drone or back away from the drone. one the leds are green, then SLOWLY move your palm. if you want to take a selfie, you need to "wave" your hand, the drone will fly backwards and up a bit and that's the "follow" mode. only then you can take a selfie.

it is working in my case. it really depends what you are wearing. if i am all "black" i need to insist couple of times until everything works. another thing i noticed is, if the Spark is heading sunlight, it may not correctly recognize the gestures.

Thank you everyone for the feedback. One thing I had not considered that Elektra pointed out was infrared sensors. It got me thinking when I flying yesterday afternoon that it has been cold the last couple weeks and I have been wearing a jacket or long sleeve shirt. Yesterday I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and noticed that gesture was significantly more responsive. I even managed to get video started from a gesture - though I had difficulty getting it to stop recording. I confirmed my hypothesis by putting my jacket back on and testing, sure enough gesture control did not function as expected.

The morale of the story is that it seems that the Spark needs to see a large thermal profile for gesture to reliably function. Wearing a jacket or long sleeve appears to diminish that profile causing the gesture to behave erratically.

I also noted that the Spark is particular about the gestures so, there will be a great deal of practice on my part to ensure the gestures are more precise.

Thanks again everyone for the insights.

glad it worked out! happy flying!