I have only had my MP for about 3 months now.  Only in the last month have I really tried active track and well it does not work well at all.  I make sure I am never I can never get blocked by an object so the MP always has clear view of me.  Well Dylan Young just posted a YT confirming the same thing.  I thought maybe it was me well it is not.  He says that before the last Firmware update that it use to work well but since it is not good at all so confirming what I am seeing as well.  

Can anyone that used active track prior to this latest MP firmware and since tell me is there a difference and does it just not work well now?  Here is a video I did to show how it just looses me for no reason and is clear in this video.


Here is a video Dylan Young just did as well showing pretty much the same thing.

For me active track on the Mavic Pro has always sucked hard.  I am even rolled back to 01.04.0100 firmware and it still sucks back on that.  .0100 update was the update right after DJI optimized the active tracking allegedly but I always had issues.  

I’m not sure why it is so bad, looks like maybe the CPU/GPU or memory gets loaded to 100% briefly then it let’s go.  For me however my Mavic Pro will usually pop up the box around my again and ask to press go again... so breaks lock then reistablishes it but doesn’t continue.  

Back when I had a spark about a year ago, active track on that wasn’t any good either but I feel like it was better than that mavic pro’s active track but maybe that my bad memory.    I know both suck horribly when obsticals around but I’m talking about in open fields. I feel like few times the spark derped out but for most part of it could match the speed of my ATVs it remained locked.  Where as my Mavic Pro never been good at tracking at all... I had a few nasty crashes from active track and sometimes just gives up following you... like it can’t be bothered anymore.

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2018-5-17 18:57
For me active track on the Mavic Pro has always sucked hard.  I am even rolled back to 01.04.0100 firmware and it still sucks back on that.  .0100 update was the update right after DJI optimized the active tracking allegedly but I always had issues.  

I’m not sure why it is so bad, looks like maybe the CPU/GPU or memory gets loaded to 100% briefly then it let’s go.  For me however my Mavic Pro will usually pop up the box around my again and ask to press go again... so breaks lock then reistablishes it but doesn’t continue.  

Thanks for this great detail.  I am afraid to use it due to a possible crash like you said so I do not even bother with it anymore.  Like I said I always remain in clear view yet it just randomly stops. Just wish it would get fixed maybe if we get enough in here to show how bad it is they will work on it.  

When I got my MP last year, active track for me was AWESOME. I used it about a week ago and still was on point. Used terrain track to follow my friends car, for a video he was shooting.

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-17 19:01
Thanks for this great detail.  I am afraid to use it due to a possible crash like you said so I do not even bother with it anymore.  Like I said I always remain in clear view yet it just randomly stops. Just wish it would get fixed maybe if we get enough in here to show how bad it is they will work on it.

Did it randomly stop flying in other modes? Any other malfunction? Please tell me the firmware of your drone.

I tried active tracking me and my GF on our bikes. Tried it while racing ATVs or cruising ATVs.   I tried it while fishing in an open river and ocean even! I have a large straight empty rural road where very low valine number of vehicles pass daily and even so, my Mavic Pro in all of these situations has given up almost randomly.

This has always happened with my Mavic Pro!   

I don’t remember a time activetrack on my Mavic Pro was better or worse..  feels equally as usualess as it always has been.  

Only comparison I have is my memory of owning a spark and I do remember that being frustrating too but I remember lot less of it randomly breaking lock, usually issue with keeping up  with OA enabled.   But disabling OA in my fields it usually kept up enough that even if it got really far behind as long still saw me it raced to roughly original distance it was set to track at.  My Mavic Pro just gives up... even if it’s got a relock...

Excuse my weird use of English, I’m on my iPhond and the autocorrect is stupid.  

Hey Sparks, It is not firmware related, I am on 0100 and the active track has a mind of its own especially if while on active track you decide you want the drone to rotate around the subject 30 degrees it works maybe 2 out of 10 tries for me.

Ya it’s pointless to even have it rotate around subject or profile in active track.  90% of the time even if it is in plain sight it breaks lock and just sits there or better yet sometimes just sits there with green box around you again with GO button.. like come on... not like going to hit anything..


My Mavic Pro can break visual for say half a second say a light pole or a leaf gets inbetween you and the drone, not even using avoidance system it just keeps a lock on you and green box but stops tracking... like why not just continue if you get relock..?  

DJI Elektra it does not randomly stop flying when flying normal and there are no other issues that I am aware of. I have not tried all of the advanced tracking but am making a point to try them now. It seems clear to me though I am not the only one with active track not working well as you can clearly see in not just mine but the other video I posted. I am of course on the latest firmware.

Ok so I just updated to the latest IOS DJI GO 4 version which is 4.2.16 and it seems DJI did some behind the scenes fixes for Active track as it is night and day better.  I was able to do a full bike ride with the only time it losing me is when I could no longer be seen due to a tree.  Other than that it was spot on and kept up and another major improvement was it stayed at a stable speed instead of sling shooting around.  I am uploading a video and will post here when it is done.  So for those that have been having problems with Active Track make sure and update to the latest that was just released yesterday.  Another major improvement was when I was back in the camera view it automatically picked me back up and started tracking again.  It never ever did this before as previously I would have to start the active track back up again.

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-18 15:25

looks fantastic!   what did you change? its actually following you now and consistantly...

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2018-5-18 15:47
looks fantastic!   what did you change? its actually following you now and consistantly...

Did not change anything I just updated DJI GO 4 to latest 4.2.16

If there is one thing I do not like and it is a small thing is it updates and tells you your home page has been updated every second.  It never did it this often before.  I wish there was a way to at least turn off the noise "your home point has been updated" because it seriously does it every second one right after the other.  Gets kind of annoying.

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-18 16:27
If there is one thing I do not like and it is a small thing is it updates and tells you your home page has been updated every second.  It never did it this often before.  I wish there was a way to at least turn off the noise "your home point has been updated" because it seriously does it every second one right after the other.  Gets kind of annoying.

i just flip it to mute when that happens (not best solution since could miss other alert).   i haven't tried active track on latest Dji go 4 app yet... so is it the application that dictates quality of tracking?

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2018-5-18 16:43
i just flip it to mute when that happens (not best solution since could miss other alert).   i haven't tried active track on latest Dji go 4 app yet... so is it the application that dictates quality of tracking?

It would appear so because I am telling you it is night and day different how much better it is.  

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2018-5-18 16:43
i just flip it to mute when that happens (not best solution since could miss other alert).   i haven't tried active track on latest Dji go 4 app yet... so is it the application that dictates quality of tracking?

Have you updated yet?  Are you using IOS?  If so 4.2.16 just came out and I suggest you update and test it out.  I would love to see if it works for you like it did for me now.

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-18 16:51
Have you updated yet?  Are you using IOS?  If so 4.2.16 just came out and I suggest you update and test it out.  I would love to see if it works for you like it did for me now.

im going to tomorrow assuming the weather isnt total wash out...  and yes im on ios and its already updated, just haven't tried it out yet because the weather been wet and stormy.   

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2018-5-18 17:02
im going to tomorrow assuming the weather isnt total wash out...  and yes im on ios and its already updated, just haven't tried it out yet because the weather been wet and stormy.

Ok I am very interested to see how yours works out.  See I did more testing earlier today just to be sure it was not a fluke and well it was not a fluke.  It performed flawlessly for me and in fact I did not catch until watching the videos that it nearly hit a pole but luckily I had obstacle avoidance on.  So it stopped and went around it and kept on tracking.  You can see in the video I will post here shortly once it is done.  I am very happy now.

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-18 15:25
https://youtu.be/126oMei74dc

SparksBird,
The difference is like night and day between the 2 videos.
I am at this moment updating to the latest  Go4. Didn't know about the latest update.

B1houdini Posted at 2018-5-18 17:16
SparksBird,
The difference is like night and day between the 2 videos.
I am at this moment updating to the latest  Go4. Didn't know about the latest update.

Wait till you see this latest one I will be linking here soon.  I did more than an hour testing this last time.  I am very pleased now.  It is great that it does seem DJI does sometimes listen to us

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-18 17:22
Wait till you see this latest one I will be linking here soon.  I did more than an hour testing this last time.  I am very pleased now.  It is great that it does seem DJI does sometimes listen to us

just checked the weather.. saturday is rain and thunderstorms 100% chance.    but only calling for half inch of rain, so it ve very light and probably spotty at times.  so i'll try to get 1 run in at the very least because i'm excited to see what's what now.  

As promised here was further testing done late afternoon yesterday.  I did not notice this till the video but at one point it stopped before running into a pole, went around and kept tracking me.  Also having fun testing with the kids  

Hi,

I would like to say that it works very well, this was done with the latest FW and 4.2.14 of App on IoS

Check this one out, fast forward to 1.08 and then 2.05 or something

I see i'm a little late and that 4.2.16 is working as well.



Happy flying

Flybee Posted at 2018-5-19 06:41
Hi,

I would like to say that it works very well, this was done with the latest FW and 4.2.14 of App on IoS

That is a very cool video.  Thanks or sharing it.  Yeah so far happy with the update.  I will be testing out some other modes as well.  

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-19 06:50
That is a very cool video.  Thanks or sharing it.  Yeah so far happy with the update.  I will be testing out some other modes as well.

Thanks,

I saw something about a registration on 4.2.16 do you have any comments on stabillity or new features on DJI-GO?

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-18 15:25
https://youtu.be/126oMei74dc

Sparks, Im sending a traffic cop for you, riding to fast there

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-18 16:27
If there is one thing I do not like and it is a small thing is it updates and tells you your home page has been updated every second.  It never did it this often before.  I wish there was a way to at least turn off the noise "your home point has been updated" because it seriously does it every second one right after the other.  Gets kind of annoying.

If it is doing that is it not set on dynamic homepoint update??

Suren Posted at 2018-5-19 07:24
If it is doing that is it not set on dynamic homepoint update??

It is I believe.  I will have to double check but I think it just keeps reminding me/telling me this?  I will check later to make sure it is on.  

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-19 07:39
It is I believe.  I will have to double check but I think it just keeps reminding me/telling me this?  I will check later to make sure it is on.

Dynamic homepoint will keep on updating the home point position hence the constant reminders

Suren Posted at 2018-5-19 07:47
Dynamic homepoint will keep on updating the home point position hence the constant reminders

Yeah it is on I have always had it on.  And yes it even says it will in active track.  But what is annoying is how it keeps saying it every second lol.  I mean a simple muting of the alert will at least keep it from yelling at me.  It was never this aggressive before maybe that was part of the issue previously.  Does yours constantly say it like every second?  

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-19 07:51
Yeah it is on I have always had it on.  And yes it even says it will in active track.  But what is annoying is how it keeps saying it every second lol.  I mean a simple muting of the alert will at least keep it from yelling at me.  It was never this aggressive before maybe that was part of the issue previously.  Does yours constantly say it like every second?

I just get the message once on take off

Suren Posted at 2018-5-19 07:55
I just get the message once on take off

Yup that use to be the case for me as well.  Are you still on the "fun" version or have you updated to this latest 4.2.16?

Suren Posted at 2018-5-19 07:55
I just get the message once on take off

I would be curious to if it does the same for you as well.

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-19 07:56
Yup that use to be the case for me as well.  Are you still on the "fun" version or have you updated to this latest 4.2.16?

Have not updated as yet, due to it being CE area i have done a change on the iphone to get FCC and cannot update now

so i ran 3 tests today on latest app update and updated my drone as well.., been rainy, misty and cooler out so not most ideal.   ill try again in better weather i guess...

test 1 .  (wearing a bright red shirt).. in the morning, still misting out and look like may pour rain, i decided to jog around one of my fields, it did good, it kept up better than normal and was not panicky like i have seen before when doing my jogging tests, so it was much smoother.  it locked onto me as a person symbol.. so correctly identified..  

test 2 (now wearing black carhartt jacket its 55F and wet).. it worked again!  sort of.. it tracked me very smoothly for 10 whole minutes in the open field, but then it lost me the moment i started walking for the side trail..after that point it really wasnt tracking me at all.. it fly few feet and give up.. figured using color or contrast to lock and identify.     when it had a lock on me, correctly identified me as a person.. not just a box or on a bike like sometimes does.


test 3..(wearing a white jacket i use as part of my winter camo).  for some reason it identified my ATV as a sail boat twice(not sure the algo used to identify subjects anymore).   then as a bike.  but either way it kept up but OA was dumb as a bag of bricks. zero avoidance.. just air braking, does not want to swing around anything even lazily..  like how your mavic pro did with that pole, mine just slammed its breaks on about 10 feet from the tree with was to the side slightly enough it would clear it if it kept going, and sat there beeeeeeeping at me like it was going to hit something.

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2018-5-19 12:13
so i ran 3 tests today on latest app update and updated my drone as well.., been rainy, misty and cooler out so not most ideal.   ill try again in better weather i guess...

test 1 .  (wearing a bright red shirt).. in the morning, still misting out and look like may pour rain, i decided to jog around one of my fields, it did good, it kept up better than normal and was not panicky like i have seen before when doing my jogging tests, so it was much smoother.  it locked onto me as a person symbol.. so correctly identified..  

These are very interesting results thank you for the great detail.  So it seems that it has improved but could be better for you.  Mine when riding a bike it correctly identified me as a bike and that is when it worked great.  I never thought of the different color shirts to see how it does for each one.  I was wearing a blue shirt for all of my tests.  
So It would appear that darker objects it has a harder time identifying and keeping track?  


So I wonder did your OA get reset to where it will not go around the object but just stop dead in it's tracks in Active track?  You know I did not even look at mine but had to of been set to go around and not just stop because that is exactly what mine did.  Did you check this setting?  How fast were you going on your ATV?  I notice now the speed you can have it go it says 33mph, I do not remember what this was, is it the same as before?  I would check that OA setting if you can.

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-19 14:10
These are very interesting results thank you for the great detail.  So it seems that it has improved but could be better for you.  Mine when riding a bike it correctly identified me as a bike and that is when it worked great.  I never thought of the different color shirts to see how it does for each one.  I was wearing a blue shirt for all of my tests.  
So It would appear that darker objects it has a harder time identifying and keeping track?  

i think its using contrast and color to lock tracking, not specifically identifying correctly though i could be wrong.  and i thing dark colors on such a dull day as today really hurt its performance dark colors on a brighter day in a green field or white sidewalk may not be an issue.


i dont know how to configure my OA any differently other than on and off on my mavic pro does it go around things more if i pull below a certain value?  i believe mine was in 33mph setting.


i wasn't ripping and tearing on my ATV, my ATV is just a older Honda Rincon i think 2006?  i can only guess my speed because my speedo is dead just sits on 0 mph. i think during this test i was doing 15-20mph maybe 25mph.   

but top speed of my ATV easily outpaces the mavic pro. im going to guess 60 MPH on the field?  (just googled it, pparently people hitting 70+ MPH on packed flat surfaces, so 60 MPH seems about right on my field)

Update:  weather today permitted me some extra testing..

My Mavic Pro is still fairly useless at active tracking. However it is better on .16 app update, but given how bad it was prior that’s a low target to achieve.

I set max speed to 10mph, 15mph, 20mph and 33mph and apart from the mavic pro’s laziness at lower speed setting it appears to act identically for me.  

Test 1: walking around, had no issues tracking me followed me just fine and didn’t race up on me and over shoot me like it used to do, however any of speed settings my Mavic Pro refuses to avoid obsticals instead just air braking and beeping at me.  

Test two: open road test having it follow my GF’s bright blue BMW it did ok until another car(white SUV) passed and then it stopped and put the box back around the car with the go button.  So I’m baffled, guess not using color to track and just contrast?  Did this with speed settings at 20mph and 33mph.  

Test 3: me and my GF jogging together around the block near her work (she was catching up before Monday) but having her right next to me in her pink top vs my white top seem to confuse the active tracking, it did good with us in tandem and single file but a few feet into running side by side and it lost subject.  

Test 4: my gf tried active track while biking, and as long as she didn’t look back at the drone it would follow if she looked back at it it would slow down and blocking its front red LEDs.  But the app didn’t indicate lost active tracking, but I guess the drone was edging on confusion.. speed setting was 20mph.  

All these tests conducted at 15-30 feet up.   And this time around with actual sun light and not rain in the air and harsh greyness it properly identified everything.. bike for biking, car for car, walking for walking and jogging... no sailboats this time.