PX4 User Guide
  • Introduction
  • Getting Started
    • Basic Concepts
    • Vehicles/Frames
    • Flight Controllers
    • Sensors
    • Radio Systems
    • Flight Modes
    • Vehicle Status Notifications
      • LED Meanings
      • Tune/Sound Meanings
      • Preflight Checks
    • Payloads & Cameras
    • Flight Reporting
  • Basic Assembly
    • Mounting the Flight Controller
    • Mounting the GPS/Compass
    • Vibration Isolation
    • Cable Wiring
    • CUAV Pixhawk V6X Wiring QuickStart
    • CUAV V5+ Wiring Quickstart
    • CUAV V5 nano Wiring Quickstart
    • Holybro Pixhawk 6C Wiring Quickstart
    • Holybro Pixhawk 6X Wiring Quickstart
    • Holybro Pixhawk 5X Wiring Quickstart
    • Holybro Pixhawk 4 Wiring Quickstart - Discontinued
    • Holybro Pixhawk 4 Mini Wiring Quickstart - Discontinued
    • Holybro Durandal Wiring Quickstart
    • Holybro Pix32 v5 Wiring Quickstart
    • Cube Wiring Quickstart
    • Pixracer Wiring Quickstart
    • mRo (3DR) Pixhawk Wiring Quickstart
  • Standard Configuration
    • Firmware
    • Airframe
    • Sensor Orientation
    • Compass
    • Gyroscope
    • Accelerometer
    • Airspeed
    • Level Horizon Calibration
    • Radio Setup
    • Joystick Setup
    • Flight Modes
    • Battery
    • Safety
      • Failsafe Simulation
    • ESC Calibration
    • Actuators
    • Autotune
  • Vehicle Types & Setup
    • Multicopters
      • Multicopter Config/Tuning
        • MC Filter/Control Latency Tuning
        • MC PID Tuning (Manual/Basic)
        • MC PID Tuning Guide (Manual/Advanced)
        • MC Setpoint Tuning (Trajectory Generator)
          • MC Jerk-limited Type Trajectory
        • Multicopter Racer Setup
      • X500 v2 (Pixhawk 6C)
      • X500 v2 (Pixhawk 5X)
      • X500 (Pixhawk 4)
      • S500 V2 (Pixhawk 4)
      • DJI F450 (CUAV v5+)
      • DJI F450 (CUAV v5 nano)
      • QAV250 (Pixhawk4 Mini) - Discontinued
      • DJI F450 + RTK (Pixhawk 3 Pro)
      • QAV250 (Pixhawk Mini)
      • QAV-R 5" Racer (Pixracer)
      • Omnicopter
    • Planes
      • Fixed Wing Config/Tuning
        • Fixedwing PID Tuning Guide
        • Fixedwing Advanced Tuning Guide
        • Fixedwing Trimming Guide
      • Reptile Dragon 2 (ARK6X)
      • Turbo Timber Evolution (Pixhawk 4 Mini)
      • Wing Wing Z84 (Pixracer)
    • VTOL
      • VTOL Config/Tuning
        • QuadPlane Configuration
        • Back-transition Tuning
        • VTOL w/o Airspeed Sensor
        • VTOL Weather Vane
      • Standard VTOL
        • FunCub QuadPlane (Pixhawk)
        • Ranger QuadPlane (Pixhawk)
        • Falcon Vertigo QuadPlane (Dropix)
      • Tailsitter VTOL
        • Build: TBS Caipiroshka Tailsitter Build (Pixracer)
      • Tiltrotor VTOL
        • Build: Convergence Tiltrotor (Pixfalcon)
    • Airships (experimental)
    • Autogyros (experimental)
      • ThunderFly Auto-G2 (Holybro pix32)
    • Balloons (experimental)
    • Helicopter (experimental)
      • Helicopter Config/Tuning
    • Rovers (experimental)
      • Traxxas Stampede
    • Submarines (experimental)
      • BlueROV2
    • Airframes Reference
  • Flying
    • First Flight Guidelines
    • Flying 101
    • Missions
      • Package Delivery Mission
    • GeoFence
    • Safety Point Planning
    • Flight Modes
      • Position Mode (MC)
      • Altitude Mode (MC)
      • Manual/Stabilized Mode (MC)
      • Acro Mode (MC)
      • Orbit Mode (MC)
      • Position Mode (FW)
      • Altitude Mode (FW)
      • Stabilized Mode (FW)
      • Acro Mode (FW)
      • Manual Mode (FW)
      • Takeoff Mode
      • Land Mode
      • Return Mode
      • Hold Mode
      • Mission Mode
      • Follow Me Mode
      • Offboard Mode
    • Terrain Following/Holding
  • Flight Log Analysis
    • Log Analysis using Flight Review
    • Log Analysis using PlotJuggler
  • Advanced Configuration
    • Finding/Updating Parameters
    • Full Parameter Reference
    • ECL/EKF Overview & Tuning
    • Flight Termination Configuration
    • Bootloader Flashing onto Betaflight Systems
    • Land Detector Configuration
    • Prearm/Arm/Disarm Configuration
    • IMU Factory Calibration
    • Sensor Thermal Compensation
    • Compass Power Compensation
    • Advanced Controller Orientation
    • Static Pressure Buildup
    • Serial Port Configuration
    • MAVLink Telemetry (OSD/GCS)
    • PX4 Ethernet Setup
    • Bootloader Update
  • Hardware (Drones&Parts)
    • Complete Vehicles
      • ModalAI Starling
      • PX4 Vision Kit
      • MindRacer BNF & RTF
        • MindRacer 210
        • NanoMind 110
      • Holybro Kopis 2
      • Bitcraze Crazyflie 2.1
    • Flight Controllers (Autopilots)
      • Pixhawk Series
        • Silicon Errata
      • Pixhawk Standard Autopilots
        • CUAV Pixhawk V6X (FMUv6X)
        • Holybro Pixhawk 6X (FMUv6X)
        • Holybro Pixhawk 6C (FMUv6C)
        • Holybro Pixhawk 6C Mini(FMUv6C)
        • Holybro Pix32 v6 (FMUv6C)
        • Holybro Pixhawk 5X (FMUv5X)
        • Holybro Pixhawk 4 (FMUv5) - Discontinued
        • Holybro Pixhawk 4 Mini (FMUv5) - Discontinued
        • Drotek Pixhawk 3 Pro (FMUv4pro)
        • mRo Pixracer (FMUv4)
        • Hex Cube Black (FMUv3)
        • mRo Pixhawk (FMUv3)
        • Holybro Pixhawk Mini (FMUv3) - Discontinued
      • Manufacturer-Supported Autopilots
        • AirMind MindPX
        • AirMind MindRacer
        • ARK Electronics ARKV6X
        • CUAV X7
        • CUAV Nora
        • CUAV V5+ (FMUv5)
        • CUAV V5 nano (FMUv5)
        • CUAV Pixhack v3 (FMUv3)
        • CubePilot Cube Orange+ (CubePilot)
        • CubePilot Cube Orange (CubePilot)
        • CubePilot Cube Yellow (CubePilot)
        • Holybro Kakute H7v2
        • Holybro Kakute H7mini
        • Holybro Kakute H7
        • Holybro Durandal
        • Holybro Pix32 v5
        • ModalAI Flight Core v1
        • ModalAI VOXL Flight
        • ModalAI VOXL 2
        • mRobotics-X2.1 (FMUv2)
        • mRo Control Zero F7)
        • NXP RDDRONE-FMUK66 FMU
        • Sky-Drones AIRLink
        • SPRacing SPRacingH7EXTREME
        • ThePeach FCC-K1
        • ThePeach FCC-R1
      • Experimental Autopilots
        • BeagleBone Blue
        • Raspberry Pi 2/3 Navio2
        • Raspberry Pi 2/3/4 PilotPi
          • PilotPi with Raspberry Pi OS
          • PilotPi with Ubuntu Server
      • Discontinued Autopilots/Vehicles
        • Drotek Dropix (FMUv2)
        • Omnibus F4 SD
        • BetaFPV Beta75X 2S Brushless Whoop
        • Bitcraze Crazyflie 2.0
        • Aerotenna OcPoC-Zynq Mini
        • CUAV v5
        • Holybro Kakute F7 (Discontinued)
        • Holybro Pixfalcon
        • Holybro pix32 (FMUv2)
        • mRo AUAV-X2
        • 3DR Pixhawk 1
        • Snapdragon Flight
        • Intel® Aero RTF Drone (Discontinued)
      • Pixhawk Autopilot Bus (PAB) & Carriers
        • ARK Electronics Pixhawk Autopilot Bus Carrier
    • Flight Controller Peripherals
      • ADSB/FLARM (Traffic Avoidance)
      • Air Traffic Avoidance: ADSB/FLARM
      • Air Traffic Avoidance: UTM
      • Airspeed Sensors
        • TFSlot Airspeed Sensor
      • Barometers
      • Camera
      • Distance Sensors (Rangefinders)
        • Lightware SFxx Lidar
        • Ainstein US-D1 Standard Radar Altimeter
        • LeddarOne Lidar
        • Benewake TFmini Lidar
        • Lidar-Lite
        • TeraRanger
        • Lanbao PSK-CM8JL65-CC5
        • Avionics Anonymous Laser Altimeter UAVCAN Interface
      • ESCs & Motors
        • PWM ESCs and Servos
        • DShot ESCs
        • OneShot ESCs and Servos
        • DroneCAN ESCs
          • Zubax Telega
          • PX4 Sapog ESC Firmware
            • Holybro Kotleta
            • Zubax Orel
        • VESC
      • TBS Crossfire (CRSF) Telemetry
      • FrSky Telemetry
      • Gimbal (Mount) Configuration
      • GPS/Compass
        • ARK GPS
        • Holybro DroneCAN M8N GPS
        • LOCOSYS Hawk A1 GNSS
        • Hex Here2
        • Holybro M8N & M9N GPS
        • Sky-Drones SmartAP GPS
      • Grippers
        • Servo Gripper
      • Optical Flow
        • ARK Flow
        • PMW3901
        • PX4FLOW (Deprecated)
      • Precision Landing
      • Parachute
      • Power Modules/PDB
        • CUAV HV pm
        • CUAV CAN PMU
        • Holybro PM02
        • Holybro PM07
        • Holybro PM06 V2
        • Holybro PM02D (digital)
        • Holybro PM03D (digital)
        • Pomegranate Systems Power Module
        • Sky-Drones SmartAP PDB
      • Satellite Coms (Iridium/RockBlock)
      • Telemetry Radios
        • SiK Radio
          • RFD900 (SiK) Telemetry Radio
          • HolyBro (SIK) Telemetry Radio
        • Telemetry Wifi
          • ESP8266 WiFi Module
          • ESP32 WiFi Module
          • 3DR Telemetry Wifi (Discontinued)
        • Microhard Serial Telemetry Radio
          • ARK Electron Microhard Serial Telemetry Radio
          • Holybro Microhard P900 Telemetry Radio
        • CUAV P8 Telemetry Radio
        • HolyBro XBP9X - Discontinued
      • RTK GPS
        • ARK RTK GPS
        • RTK GPS Heading with Dual u-blox F9P
        • CUAV C-RTK
        • CUAV C-RTK2 PPK/RTK GNSS
        • CUAV C-RTK 9Ps
        • Femtones MINI2 Receiver
        • Freefly RTK GPS
        • Holybro H-RTK-F9P
        • Holybro H-RTK-M8P
        • Holybro H-RTK Unicore UM982 GPS
        • Locosys Hawk R1
        • Locosys Hawk R2
        • Septentrio AsteRx-RIB
        • Septentrio mosaic-go
        • Trimble MB-Two
        • CubePilot Here+ (Discontined)
      • Remote ID
      • Smart Batteries
        • Rotoye Batmon Battery Smartification Kit
      • Tachometers (Revolution Counters)
        • ThunderFly TFRPM01 Tachometer Sensor
      • I2C Peripherals
        • I2C bus accelerators
        • TFI2CADT01 I2C address translator
      • CAN Peripherals
      • DroneCAN Peripherals
        • PX4 DroneCAN Firmware
        • ARK CANnode
    • Companion Computers
      • Pixhawk + Companion Setup
        • RasPi Pixhawk Companion
      • Companion Computer Peripherals
      • Holybro Pixhawk RPI CM4 Baseboard
      • Auterion Skynode
      • Computer Vision
        • Obstacle Avoidance
        • Safe Landing
        • Collision Prevention
        • Path Planning Interface
        • Motion Capture (MoCap)
        • Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO)
          • Realsense T265 Tracking Camera (VIO)
      • Video Streaming
  • Development
    • Getting Started
      • Recommended Hardware/Setup
      • Toolchain Installation
        • MacOS Setup
        • Ubuntu Setup
        • Windows Setup
        • Visual Studio Code IDE
        • Other/Generic Tools
      • Building the Code
      • Writing your First Application
      • Application/Module Template
    • Concepts
      • PX4 Architecture
      • PX4 Flight Stack Architecture
        • Controller Diagrams
      • Events Interface
      • Flight Modes
      • Flight Tasks
      • Control Allocation
      • PWM limit state machine
      • System Startup
      • SD Card Layout
    • Simulation
      • jMAVSim Simulation
        • Multi-Vehicle Sim with JMAVSim
      • Gazebo Simulation
        • Vehicles
        • Multi-Vehicle Sim
      • Gazebo Classic Simulation
        • Vehicles
        • Worlds
        • Multi-Vehicle Sim
      • FlightGear Simulation
        • FlightGear Vehicles
        • Multi-Vehicle Sim with FlightGear
      • JSBSim Simulation
      • AirSim Simulation
      • Multi-Vehicle Simulation
      • Simulate Failsafes
      • HITL Simulation
      • Simulation-In-Hardware
    • Hardware
      • Flight Controller Reference Design
      • Manufacturer’s Board Support Guide
      • Flight Controller Porting Guide
        • PX4 Board Configuration (kconfig)
        • NuttX Board Porting Guide
      • Serial Port Mapping
      • Airframes
        • Adding a New Airframe
      • Device Drivers
      • Telemetry Radio
        • SiK Radio
      • Sensor and Actuator I/O
        • DroneCAN
        • I2C Bus
        • UART/Serial Ports
          • Port-Configurable Serial Drivers
      • RTK GPS (Integration)
    • Middleware
      • uORB Messaging
      • uORB Graph
      • uORB Message Reference
        • ActionRequest
        • ActuatorArmed
        • ActuatorControlsStatus
        • ActuatorMotors
        • ActuatorOutputs
        • ActuatorServos
        • ActuatorServosTrim
        • ActuatorTest
        • AdcReport
        • Airspeed
        • AirspeedValidated
        • AirspeedWind
        • AutotuneAttitudeControlStatus
        • BatteryStatus
        • ButtonEvent
        • CameraCapture
        • CameraStatus
        • CameraTrigger
        • CellularStatus
        • CollisionConstraints
        • CollisionReport
        • ControlAllocatorStatus
        • Cpuload
        • DebugArray
        • DebugKeyValue
        • DebugValue
        • DebugVect
        • DifferentialPressure
        • DistanceSensor
        • Ekf2Timestamps
        • EscReport
        • EscStatus
        • EstimatorAidSource1d
        • EstimatorAidSource2d
        • EstimatorAidSource3d
        • EstimatorBias
        • EstimatorBias3d
        • EstimatorEventFlags
        • EstimatorGpsStatus
        • EstimatorInnovations
        • EstimatorSelectorStatus
        • EstimatorSensorBias
        • EstimatorStates
        • EstimatorStatus
        • EstimatorStatusFlags
        • Event
        • FailsafeFlags
        • FailureDetectorStatus
        • FollowTarget
        • FollowTargetEstimator
        • FollowTargetStatus
        • GeneratorStatus
        • GeofenceResult
        • GimbalControls
        • GimbalDeviceAttitudeStatus
        • GimbalDeviceInformation
        • GimbalDeviceSetAttitude
        • GimbalManagerInformation
        • GimbalManagerSetAttitude
        • GimbalManagerSetManualControl
        • GimbalManagerStatus
        • GpioConfig
        • GpioIn
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        • GpioRequest
        • GpsDump
        • GpsInjectData
        • Gripper
        • HealthReport
        • HeaterStatus
        • HomePosition
        • HoverThrustEstimate
        • InputRc
        • InternalCombustionEngineStatus
        • IridiumsbdStatus
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        • LaunchDetectionStatus
        • LedControl
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        • MissionResult
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        • OrbitStatus
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Powered by GitBook
On this page
  • How to Use Follow Me
  • Safety Precautions
  • Follow-Me with QGroundControl
  • Follow-me with MAVSDK
  • Configuration
  • Altitude Control Mode
  • Parameters
  • Tips and tricks
  • Known Issues
  1. Flying
  2. Flight Modes

Follow Me Mode

PreviousMission ModeNextOffboard Mode

Last updated 1 year ago

Follow Me mode allows a multicopter to autonomously hold position and altitude relative to another system that is broadcasting its position (and optionally velocity) using the FOLLOW_TARGET MAVLink message.

The vehicle will automatically yaw to face and follow the target from a specified relative angle, distance and height and altitude, depending on the altitude control mode.

By default it will follow from directly behind the target at a distance of 8 meters, and a height of 8 meters above the home (arming) position.

Users can adjust the follow angle, height and distance using an RC controller as shown above:

  • Follow Height is controlled with the up-down input ("Throttle"). Center the stick to keep follow the target at a constant hight. Raise or lower the stick to adjust height.

  • Follow Distance is controlled with the forward-back input ("Pitch"). Pushing the stick forward increases the follow distance, pulling it back decreases the distance.

  • Follow Angle is controlled with the left-right input ("Roll"). The movement is from the user's perspective, so if you face the drone and move the stick left, it will move to your left. From above if you move the stick left the drone will move counter-clockwise.

    Follow Angle is defined as increasing in clockwise direction relative to the target's heading (which is 0 degrees)

:::note Angle, height, and distance values set using the RC controller are discarded when you exit follow-me mode. If you exit Follow-Me mode and activate it again the values will be reset to their defaults. :::

Demo video:

@youtube

How to Use Follow Me

Follow-me mode is supported by QGroundControl on Android devices with a GPS module, and MAVSDK.

:::note

  • This mode requires GPS.

  • This mode is currently only supported on multicopter.

  • The follow target must also be able to supply position information.

  • QGroundControl only supports this mode on Android devices that have GPS. :::

Safety Precautions

:::warning Follow-me mode does not implement any type of obstacle avoidance. Special care must be taken when this mode is used. :::

The following flight precautions should be observed:

  • Follow me mode should only be used in wide open areas that are unobstructed by trees, power lines, houses, etc.

    • Set the follow-me height to a value that is well above any surrounding obstructions. By default this is 8 metres above the home (arming) position.

  • It is safer to manually fly to a safe height before engaging follow-me mode than to engage follow-me mode when landed (even though the mode implements auto take off).

  • Give your vehicle sufficient room to stop, especially when it is moving fast.

  • Be ready to switch back to Position mode if something goes wrong, in particular when using follow-me mode for the first time.

  • You can't switch follow-me mode off using RC stick movements (as that will adjust the properties). You either need to have a GroundStation that can send flight mode switch signals or a flight mode switch configured in your RC transmitter.

Follow-Me with QGroundControl

Follow Me mode is supported using QGroundControl as a target on ground station hardware that has a GPS module. The recommended configuration is a USB OTG-capable Android device with two telemetry radios.

To setup Follow Me mode:

  • Connect a telemetry radio to your ground station device and another to the vehicle (this allows positioning information to be relayed between the two radios).

  • Disable sleep-mode on your Android device:

    • This setting can usually be found under: Settings > Display.

    • It is important that you set your Android device to not go to sleep as this could cause the GPS signal to cease being emitted at regular intervals.

  • Takeoff to a height of at least 2-3 metres (recommended even though auto-takeoff is supported).

    • Set the vehicle on the ground, press the safety switch and step back at least 10 meters.

    • Arm the vehicle and takeoff.

  • Switch into follow-me mode.

    • The copter will first ascend to minimum safety altitude of 1 meters above the ground or home, depending on the presence of a distance sensor.

    • It will ascend until it is 3 meters within the follow height to avoid potential collisions before moving horizontally.

    • Copter will always adjust it's heading to face the target

At this point you can start moving, and the drone will be following you.

The mode has been tested on the following Android devices:

  • Galaxy S10

  • Nexus 7 Tablet

Follow-me with MAVSDK

MAVSDK supports Follow Me, allowing you to create a drone app that is a follow-me target.

For more information see the Follow Me class documentation as well as the Follow Me Example.

:::note MAVSDK is not currently recommended, due to a bug (MAVSDK#1756 where the same message is occasionally sent twice. This can confuse the target position and velocity estimator. :::

Configuration

Altitude Control Mode

The altitude control mode determine whether the vehicle altitude is relative to the home position, terrain height, or the altitude reported by the follow target.

  • 2D tracking (the default altitude mode) makes the drone follow at a height relative to the fixed home position (takeoff altitude). The relative distance to the drone to the target will change as you ascend and descend (use with care in hilly terrain).

  • 2D + Terrain makes the drone follow at a fixed height relative to the terrain underneath it, using information from a distance sensor.

    • If the vehicle does not have a distance sensor following will be identical to 2D tracking.

    • Distance sensors aren't always accurate and vehicles may be "jumpy" when flying in this mode.

    • Note that that height is relative to the ground underneath the vehicle, not the follow target. The drone may not follow altitude changes of the target!

  • 3D tracking mode makes the drone follow at a height relative to the follow target, as supplied by its GPS sensor. This adapts to target altitude changes, such as when you walk up a hill.

:::warning Do not set the Altitude mode (FLW_TGT_ALT_M) to 3D Tracking when using QGC for Android (or more generally, without checking that FOLLOW_TARGET.altitude is an AMSL value).

The MAVLink FOLLOW_TARGET message definition expects an altitude relative to mean sea level (AMSL) while QGC on Android is sending an altitude relative to the GPS ellipsoid. This can differ as much as 200 meters!

The drone probably won't crash due to the built-in minimum safety altitude limit (1 meter), but it may fly much higher than expected. If the drone's altitude is significantly different than specified, assume that the ground station's altitude output is wrong and use 2D tracking. :::

Parameters

The follow-me behavior can be configured using the following parameters:

Parameter
Description

Vehicle follow-me height, in metres. Note that this height is fixed relative to the home/arming position (not the target vehicle). Default and minimum height is 8 meters (about 26 ft)

Vehicle/ground station separation in the horizontal (x,y) plane, in metres. Minimum allowed separation is 1 meter. Default distance is 8 meters (about 26 ft).

Follow angle relative to the target's heading, in degrees. If a value out of the range [-180.0, +180.0] is entered, it will get automatically wrapped and applied (e.g. 480.0 will be converted to 120.0)

Altitude control mode. - 0 = 2D Tracking (Altitude Fixed) - 1 = 2D Tracking + Terrain Following - 2 = 3D Tracking of the target's GPS altitude WARNING: DO NOT USE WITH QGC for Android.

Maximum relative velocity for orbital motion around the target, in m/s. - 10 m/s has proven to be a sweet spot for aggressiveness vs smoothness. - Setting it to higher value means the orbit trajectory around the target will move faster, but if the drone is physically not capable of achieving that speed, it leads to an aggressive behavior.

Dynamic filtering algorithm responsiveness that filters incoming target location. - 0.0 = Very sensitive to movements and noisy estimates of position, velocity and acceleration. - 1.0 = Very stable but not responsive filter

Tips and tricks

  1. Set the follow distance to more than 12 meters (8 meters is a "recommended minimum").

    There is an inherent position bias (3 ~ 5 meters) between the target and the drone's GPS sensor, which makes the drone follow a 'ghost target' somewhere near the actual target. This is more obvious when the follow distance is very small. We recommend that the follow distance is set to be large enough such that the GPS bias is not significant.

  2. The speed at which you can change the follow angle depends on the maximum tangential velocity setting.

    Experimentation shows that values between 5 m/s are 10 m/s are usually suitable.

  3. Using the RC Adjustment for height, distance and angle, you can get some creative camera shots.

    @youtube This video demonstrates a Google-Earth view perspective, by adjusting the height to around 50 meters (high), distance to 1 meter (close). Which allows a perspective as shot from a satellite.

Known Issues

  • The SiK 915 Mhz telemetry radio is known to interfere with the GPS signal being received by some Android devices. Keep the radio and Android device as far apart as possible when using the follow target mode to avoid interference.

  • QGC for Android reports an incorrect altitude (altitude above elipsoid rather than AMSL). The follow altitude can be off by up to 200m!

Follow-me Concept
Follow-me Angle Diagram
Follow-me QGC Example
Follow Me Altitude Modes
FLW_TGT_HT
FLW_TGT_DST
FLW_TGT_FA
FLW_TGT_ALT_M
FLW_TGT_MAX_VEL
FLW_TGT_RS