New Android App: TelloMe (FollowMe for Tello)

[volate!lo]

I just released a new app TelloMe to Android play store. Currently release in the beta preview stream so only available via this link:
Play Store TelloMe


TelloMe is an app for just one thing:

It makes Tello follow a face / person (or a small group of people).

Tello can rotate to follow, or stay at a position relative to the person using roll instead of yaw (Called profile mode: that is Tello can record a walking person from the side, or from ahead).
Tello can keep a constant distance, and adjust the altitude to keep the object in view.
Computer vision requires image stabilization so it's slow video mode only, no sport mode. Maximum speed is slow running and calm weather is required. Even little wind affects tracking ability as Tello reacts differently upwind vs downwind.

In addition to Follow mode there are two more flight modes:

• Orbit:
  Fly a circle around a person, which also works while walking slowly. Orbiting also works for the front part of a face (but will stop once the face is no longer visible).
• Manual:
  Tello stays focused on the object. You can fly around using one onscreen joystick for pitch & roll. TelloMe takes care of yaw & throttle to keep the face / person in view.

Basically it is the same as TelloMe iOS, with one exception: No object follow, but that has never really been used much anyway. I may add this at a later point but no promises.


What this app is not:
This app is strictly dedicated to Computer Vision / FollowMe and is more or less feature complete. I am not saying it won't improve over time but it will not evolve into a another TelloFpv.
At the same time I have no plans to include FollowMe functionality into TelloFpv. There are a number of reasons but the main one is: I know FollowMe will trigger tons of 1 star reviews because it will never work on older phones or budget phones (which is what over 50% of my TelloFpv users have).



Distribution model: The app itself is free but does not record video. There is an in-app purchase to enable recording. Price depends on currency, taxes & fees.


Beware: This is Beta so please expect bugs. Not so much control bugs but more crashes of the app itself. I will iron them out over the next days.
Also I know the ZFlip and a few other high end phones don't work. No clue why but I will find a way to find out whats going on.

 

[tellocuco]

Awesome, I'll give it a try. Funny that you and Pgminin came up with the same app not long one from another.

You're talking about old phones and budget phones, do you have a rough idea of what is the minimum configuration needed to operate the app properly?

Thanks for providing new tools for the community, keep up the good work.

Cheers

 

[The_5treet]

Awesome, can't wait to try it, weather sucks right now so it's out of the question.

 

[volate!lo]

Awesome, I'll give it a try. Funny that you and Pgminin came up with the same app not long one from another.

You're talking about old phones and budget phones, do you have a rough idea of what is the minimum configuration needed to operate the app properly?

Thanks for providing new tools for the community, keep up the good work.

Cheers

Just give it a try. The app will perform a performance test on first connect to see if the phone can handle it, and adapt a few settings if the phone is borderline between good and bad. I have a S7 that provides acceptable performance - maybe the S6 would do, too.
That means 2016 flagship phones or fairly recent normal phones.


Number of kernels, clockspeed, RAM, etc don't mean much, there are tons of chinese crap phones that look good on paper only. Antutu benchmarks whould provide a good base for comparison.

 

[mbane78]

I tried it today with Nokia 7 Plus (SD660 SoC), but ML face test got 5.7fps so I was not able to use face tracking.

 

[Woodie_07]

I have installed the app and will try it when my batteries finish charging. Looks like a good app and I'm excited to try it.

 

[AnGo]

Good first impression so far, well done again, @volatello
Testing only indoor for safety reasons if something goes totally wrong I only damage my own stuff ^^ Help is short but good already and easily accessible.
I often experience that I get outside of field of view (FoV) because inside of room limitations I need to fly quite close to myself to avoid Tello from touching ceiling or walls.. I'd suggest a (maybe configurable) certain intelligence to remember where the tracked object left the FoV and actively turning (yaw) in that direction to get it back into FoV before giving up.

Tried with Samsung Galaxy S9+
Will also try with Galaxy S6 later for performance feedback on this "aged" phone.

 

[volate!lo]

I tried it today with Nokia 7 Plus (SD660 SoC), but ML face test got 5.7fps so I was not able to use face tracking.

Computer vision requires tons of CPU power, no way to change that

Good first impression so far, well done again, @volatello
Testing only indoor for safety reasons if something goes totally wrong I only damage my own stuff ^^ Help is short but good already and easily accessible.
I often experience that I get outside of field of view (FoV) because inside of room limitations I need to fly quite close to myself to avoid Tello from touching ceiling or walls.. I'd suggest a (maybe configurable) certain intelligence to remember where the tracked object left the FoV and actively turning (yaw) in that direction to get it back into FoV before giving up.

Tried with Samsung Galaxy S9+
Will also try with Galaxy S6 later for performance feedback on this "aged" phone.

Actually the app follows the last known position of a lost tracking for 400ms, you can increase that in the settings. That said with normal follow mode (the one using yaw, not the one using roll) it should do quite OK with a face. Follow person should not be used indoors, this one needs more room.

S6 should struggle a bit but should be OK with reduced performance. I have an S7 and that works OK, but also has reduced performance.

 

[Woodie_07]

Just tested it out indoors on the follow face mode and it seems to do quite well with my Samsung Galaxy Tab A. The drone did follow me but there were a few times where it lost me for no reason. At one point, I walked quite fast and it lost my face as I moved direction to the left but instead of it stopping, it kept going forward and was about to hit the wall so I had to catch it before it did. The main issue that I have with it is that the drone doesn't yaw right when tracking, only left. Other than that, it was a great app. Will be doing more testing after my batteries charge again.

 

[enrique.monfort]

Hello.
As a happy Android user of Tello FPV I had bought a second hand IPhone SE and your IOS app to test the follow me features. I had only the chance to test it indoors due the Covid, I live in Spain, but I'm also enjoiging your good work. I have just tested the Android version but seems that you are totally right when you said that Android is not as good platform for this functionality. I have tested it with a Xiaomi Mi8se and, in the same conditions, the IOS app is better. I will do more testings in better conditions, today is cloudy, but anyway, congratulations for your work. I'm still impressed, I will follow up the evolution on both apps.

 

[MNNJR69]

I just released a new app TelloMe to Android play store. Currently release in the beta preview stream so only available via this link:
Play Store TelloMe


TelloMe is an app for just one thing:

It makes Tello follow a face / person (or a small group of people).

Tello can rotate to follow, or stay at a position relative to the person using roll instead of yaw (Called profile mode: that is Tello can record a walking person from the side, or from ahead).
Tello can keep a constant distance, and adjust the altitude to keep the object in view.
Computer vision requires image stabilization so it's slow video mode only, no sport mode. Maximum speed is slow running and calm weather is required. Even little wind affects tracking ability as Tello reacts differently upwind vs downwind.

In addition to Follow mode there are two more flight modes:

• Orbit:
  Fly a circle around a person, which also works while walking slowly. Orbiting also works for the front part of a face (but will stop once the face is no longer visible).
• Manual:
  Tello stays focused on the object. You can fly around using one onscreen joystick for pitch & roll. TelloMe takes care of yaw & throttle to keep the face / person in view.

Basically it is the same as TelloMe iOS, with one exception: No object follow, but that has never really been used much anyway. I may add this at a later point but no promises.


What this app is not:
This app is strictly dedicated to Computer Vision / FollowMe and is more or less feature complete. I am not saying it won't improve over time but it will not evolve into a another TelloFpv.
At the same time I have no plans to include FollowMe functionality into TelloFpv. There are a number of reasons but the main one is: I know FollowMe will trigger tons of 1 star reviews because it will never work on older phones or budget phones (which is what over 50% of my TelloFpv users have).



Distribution model: The app itself is free but does not record video. There is an in-app purchase to enable recording. Price depends on currency, taxes & fees.


Beware: This is Beta so please expect bugs. Not so much control bugs but more crashes of the app itself. I will iron them out over the next days.
Also I know the ZFlip and a few other high end phones don't work. No clue why but I will find a way to find out whats going on.


View attachment 5941

Outstanding! Thanks for all your hard work brother! ??

 

[Porriniz]

I am very excited about this application, today I was busy and just at this time I downloaded the test, first thing tomorrow I will make my contribution with tests thanks ?

 

[XXX-Man]

Thank you for your work on this app.

I have Xiaomi Mi 9 and it will not recognize any person to start tracking.

Poslano sa mog MI 9 koristeći Tapatalk

 

[enrique.monfort]

The same here with an Mi 8se. In the same conditions is working properly with an Iphone SE & IOS version. Charging more batteries to continue the testing changing MIUI app settings.

 

[The_5treet]

Unfortunately neither or of the phones i have passed the startup test no matter Volate!lo is still the man and i cant thank him enough for the work he's done so far

 

[volate!lo]

There is a bug that does not show the tracking boxes on some devices. I am still hunting this one as I can't reproduce on any of my devices...


As for performance: If the phone doesn't pass the test it is just too slow. Nothing I can do

 

[The_5treet]

As for performance: If the phone doesn't pass the test it is just too slow. Nothing I can do

Thats fine i kind of figured. Hats off to you though for doing the impossible

 

[enrique.monfort]

Tested again with Mi 8se without battery optimizations and game booster but still no tracking. Yes, the phone pass the testing but no tracking boxes. Waiting for next releases I have bought the video add on to support your work. Thanks.

 

[volate!lo]

Yes! I have no clue what the bug is but I found a device that shows this problem so now I can investigate. My kid will have to do without for a couple of days.

 

[AnGo]

S6 should struggle a bit but should be OK with reduced performance

Test result with S6:

Test passed with 7/1/5 (whatever that means).
Tf Person 13.0fps
ML Face: 11.7fps
Reduced Performance: None
Failed: None

Works perfectly even with this 5 year old device