Litchi follow me

[yycwrangler]

Has anyone tried the Litchi follow me mode..I understand it follows based on a signal to the remote controller as opposed to a visual recognition algorithm.
Seems to me it would be more accurate.

On a secondary note, if you use follow me DJI app, don't forget to set return to home as the remote..I forgot and it registered my return to home as where it was launched. I was on my bike and travelled about 5 km's during the battery life. Needless to say at around 3 minutes it initiated RTH and took off. I finally overrode the command and started flying it back to me, but by then it had ran out of juice and landed. Thank god for "find my drone" as I found it in several thick bushes. Good lesson learned.

But again..anyone have experience in Litchi follow me

 

[Moofer]

I have, it works well at a distance, but is rubbish under 20 mtrs as can't centre the subject, DJI Go 4 app is much better at close range.

 

[Chrislaf]

I have been experimenting with Litchi - Track mode, DJI GO4 - Active Track, and AutoPilot - Follow mode. Both Litchi and GO4 use a visual recognition algorithm, whereas AutoPilot uses the GPS in the iOS device. In my testing I have found that Litchi has the most difficulty maintaining a tracking lock for a reasonable amount of time even in uncluttered environments like an open grass field. DJI GO4 Active Track is pretty good (much better than Litchi) but it sometimes looses track just like Litchi but not as often. I have had the best results with AutoPilot. It maintains a solid lock the whole flight.

AutoPilot has a complex non-standard interface and it took me numerous test flights to find the Follow settings that worked the best. Litchi and GO4 are much easier to set up and use but once you get AutoPilot set up it works perfectly. AutoPilot also has many advanced features as well that are not available on the other 2 apps. It is only available on iOS devices and costs money. One of the problems that I have with AutoPilot is that it is difficult to adjust manual camera settings and instead uses the setting previously set in GO4, but they seem to be addressing this issue with a new beta interface that mimics the GO4 interface. I am hoping to try out the new interface tomorrow if the weather is good.

I prefer the Follow function in AutoPilot to the other 2 apps since it has been the most reliable app at maintaining a solid tracking mission, can easily be adjusted on the fly and has many advanced features to suit a variety of different situations.

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[yycwrangler]

HI Chris

Thanks for the info..I will have a look at autopilot. Can you tell me if AP allows you track from in front of you and to the side..Or does it only track from behind.

Cheers
Al

 

[Chrislaf]

Yes, AutoPilot allows tracking from front, behind, left or right when Bearing Reference is set to Course. I tried this and the AC didn't behave how I expected it to. I found it made sudden abrupt course changes even when I hadn't changed direction, likely because I hadn't set it properly in the software. I have had the most success using 'Follow' in Advanced mode and setting Bearing Reference to Absolute and tapping Use Device Heading.

When I tried it on my bike (peddle power kind) I just sent the AC up to where I wanted it (height and distance) then made sure the same selections were chosen in the app, then I just pointed my controller with iPhone in the direction I wanted and tapped Use Device Heading. It pretty much followed me the whole time from the front.

Another time, I was walking along a path that followed a river bank. I sent the AC across the river and to the side of me, set the height and distance in the app and then pointed my controller and iPhone at the AC and tapped Use Device Heading. I then turned and walked forward (90º angle to AC) and the AC followed me perfectly from the other side of the river even when I switched direction and walked back. Note there are more settings that need to be selected to get the camera to focus on you.

I have used AutoPilot with both my Phantom 3 Standard and Spark and it has worked perfectly. The only trouble I have been having is that adjusting camera settings (I shoot in manual mode) has been difficult or not possible in AutoPilot's classic dashboard. They have a new DJI (beta) dashboard that looks more like DJIs interface. Tried it yesterday and it worked perfectly - I was able to manually adjust camera settings while in flight. I much prefer this new dashboard interface.

AutoPilot tends to have a bit of a learning curve and usually (for me anyway) requires some practice flights with the desired settings to tweak and see how they behave. With that in mind, I love AutoPilot! It is immensely more capable than DJI GO or Litchi in a lot of ways, but it is not the app to use if you want to do a Follow/Track mission on the spur of the moment without planning what you want it to do and doing a test flight. In that case either GO or Litchi would be better.

Chris