New app: TelloFPV for Android

[volate!lo]

Yes I like the idea of an advance up&away too!
Examples:
Up&away with distance
Up&away with circle me
Up&away with turn/spinn Forward

An enhanced lock POI / cirlce POI could do it:
You lock the heading on the POI, and use roll and pitch to move Tello around. If you move away from the POI Tello climbs higher to keep the POI in focus. If you fly closer Tello descends to keep the POI in focus.
Basically just like POI lock but with Tello automatically adjusting altitude to keep the POI in focus.

Likewise an enhanced circle POI: Tello circles the POI and travels backwards at the same time, either automatically or by user pitch input. While doing that Tello automatically adjusts altitude to keep the POI in focus.

That will take some consideration to make sure it works flawlessly, and design the user interface in a way that does not confuse folks looking for a simple "circle poi" function.

 

[brick72]

Yep. "Keep it simple" ?

 

[ilidene]

i have spent some more time and here are a few things i would like to tell you
1. The down and inward dji like start works only if i push the sticks straight down hold them for a second and than put into down and inward position, if i just pull them straight down inward it doesnt work.
2. After some takeoffs the center of gravity calibration goes bad, i have to launch official tello app redo calibration and then everything is fine in tellofpv.

Is it possible to add at least center of gravity calibration, or look at why does it go bad after just few takeoffs.

 

[Forestrooper]

An enhanced lock POI / cirlce POI could do it:
You lock the heading on the POI, and use roll and pitch to move Tello around. If you move away from the POI Tello climbs higher to keep the POI in focus. If you fly closer Tello descends to keep the POI in focus.
Basically just like POI lock but with Tello automatically adjusting altitude to keep the POI in focus.

Likewise an enhanced circle POI: Tello circles the POI and travels backwards at the same time, either automatically or by user pitch input. While doing that Tello automatically adjusts altitude to keep the POI in focus.

That will take some consideration to make sure it works flawlessly, and design the user interface in a way that does not confuse folks looking for a simple "circle poi" function.

Sounds great!

 

[volate!lo]

i have spent some more time and here are a few things i would like to tell you
1. The down and inward dji like start works only if i push the sticks straight down hold them for a second and than put into down and inward position, if i just pull them straight down inward it doesnt work.
2. After some takeoffs the center of gravity calibration goes bad, i have to launch official tello app redo calibration and then everything is fine in tellofpv.

Is it possible to add at least center of gravity calibration, or look at why does it go bad after just few takeoffs.

1. This sounds like an issue of your particular controller but I will look into this
2. How do you notice the CE calibration goes wrong, I mean what are the symptoms? I haven't used the stock app for weeks and not noticed any issue at all.

 

[umanbean]

@brick72

Yep. "Keep it simple" ?

Agree 100%! I don't want/need complicated APs so afaic put that way down on the todo list... the KISS principle applies here

 

[Arthuar]

I received a Xiami 2 recently but haven't found the time to test. Please report back.

One hint when using a BT controller: Place it a few meters away from you on. That way the Bluetooth signal between controller and phone will be very weak near the extender so the extender has to fight less noise on the wifi band.
If you keep the extender close to you instead it will see a similar amount of bluetooth noise as the phone typically sees. It may still improve results because it has better antennas (hopefully) but not to the extend possible. The connection phone / extender should be reliable over a few meters even with bluetooth getting in the way.

I always place the extender in the window: Inside when bad weather like today (I tend to forget it there and it already took some rain). If the extender is inside behind the window it still gives me around 100m reliable range, if placed outside outside 300-400m.

Hi Volatello, first of all thanks for a very clever app, which I will due to take immediately, later Tello delivered at home.
Then the question; without the controller, using it with phone only mode, would be considered a bad idea, connecting the wifi extender on OTG to the phone?
I was thinking the extender could be powered by the phone itself.

 

[volate!lo]

Folks:
I would like to shift focus a bit away from this thread.

Please head over here if you have comments on the current version:
TelloFPV - The app for Tello FPV, Photo, Video


This thread is in the development section and as such will focus on coordination of future releases, i.e. new Beta versions of future releases with significant functionality. I will not do beta versions just for bug fixing, thats just not exciting.

The last beta will expire in a few days, after that I will clean up post #2 until the next beta is ready.

 

[ilidene]

1. This sounds like an issue of your particular controller but I will look into this
2. How do you notice the CE calibration goes wrong, I mean what are the symptoms? I haven't used the stock app for weeks and not noticed any issue at all.

Tello doesn't hover well it moves all around the place, controls stop being precise. After doing calibration everything returns to perfect for 3-5 takeoffs and than again.

 

[volate!lo]

Hi Volatello, first of all thanks for a very clever app, which I will due to take immediately, later Tello delivered at home.
Then the question; without the controller, using it with phone only mode, would be considered a bad idea, connecting the wifi extender on OTG to the phone?
I was thinking the extender could be powered by the phone itself.

You can do this, but it won't add as much performance / range as possible. Especially if you use a bluetooth controller because then the extender is to near source of the interference.

Personally I would not do this.

 

[Flydrone]

APP purchased! as soon as time permits, I'll try this fantastic app.
Thank you.
positive feedback

 

[OptiPlex]

hey guys... after some search in the forums and facebook didnt find an answer so ill. ask here since all the experienced master mind are here

parrot flypad with xiaomi wifi extender and ofcorse tellofpv

working??
no video lag?
all functions of the app can be mapped?

thx

Sent from my BLA-L29 using Tapatalk

 

[volate!lo]

Tello doesn't hover well it moves all around the place, controls stop being precise. After doing calibration everything returns to perfect for 3-5 takeoffs and than again.

Can you 100% confirm that this does not happen with the stock app when doing exactly the same things?

I can imagine that calibration goes bad over multiple flight on the same battery, and resets when powering up again after battery change. I can also imagine calibration going bad over time requiring a re-calibration. But that behavior should be the same regardless of the apps you use.

A difference in calibration between two apps doesn't make sense from a technical design perspective (from my current understanding of how Tello works). I can't see what TelloFPV does that could cause calibration becoming worse that Ryze Tello app does not.
I am nearly sure I am doing things exactly like the stock app. But there is megabytes of data flowing back and forth so one can't be 100% sure...

Also you are the first to report such issues.
On the other hand a similar issue had been reported some time ago for aTelloPilot so maybe you are onto something that I missed so far. Or there are few Tellos that have a problem others don't.

I'd appreciate if you could do a couple of more tests, and address these issue in the other thread (so this one could be reserved for future beta testing)

 

[volate!lo]

hey guys... after some search in the forums and facebook didnt find an answer so ill. ask here since all the experienced master mind are here

parrot flypad with xiaomi wifi extender and ofcorse tellofpv

working??
no video lag?
all functions of the app can be mapped?

thx

Sent from my BLA-L29 using Tapatalk

Works! video lag under 200ms, all functions can be mapped (Flypad is my main controller)

Video distortion depends on placement of the extender and local interference. Overall Flypad is a very chatty controller, sending BT packets ever few milliseconds and tends to break the video stream a lot without the extender.

 

[xcrost]

No trouble caused on my side. From my experience that is just the way brushed motors die. They lose power, the quad starts to behave sluggish, does not climb quickly or is unable to keep altitude at higher speeds.
I think you were also the one who reported lower flight times with TelloFPV? That also fits into the category: Burned motors eat more juice for less output.

I have had a few brushed quads, and replaced a motors a lot, using both cheap chinese set priced $2 for set of 4 motors and $30 per set from a specialized quad motor shop. Many folks on the internet are bragging about their super special expensive motor tuning but my own experienced is very mixed. The tuned motors may be more powerful but the higher rating did not necessarily match the characteristic of the onboard flight controller that well, or reduced flight time considerably.
Especially with a quad that relies so much on its onboard computing power like Tello would not want to change anything. Personally I'd buy the original motors from a reliable source, or just get a spare quad to gut out (refurbished / returned deals from a large warehouse are best deals IMO). In a month from now Ebay will be full of returned & refurbished Tellos.

This is especially true for the Tello which has brushed motors like I have never seen before. As said, each of my Tellos has more flight time than any of my other brushed quads has ever achieved. And that even though I crash all the time when developing TelloFpv.

Thanks for your recommendations. I went the cheap easy fast route. $14.20 free shipping for all 4 motors but non OEM. Amazon Prime fulfilled so I will have them tomorrow or Fri. despite the holiday My plan is to replace the bad one. Test that...then replace the other 3. Then I'll get a "new" Tello and compare the two.

 

[OptiPlex]

Thanks for your recommendations. I went the cheap easy fast route. $14.20 free shipping for all 4 motors but non OEM. Amazon Prime fulfilled so I will have them tomorrow or Fri. despite the holiday My plan is to replace the bad one. Test that...then replace the other 3. Then I'll get a "new" Tello and compare the two.

tell us how hard it was replacing the motor

Sent from my BLA-L29 using Tapatalk

 

[Arthuar]

You can do this, but it won't add as much performance / range as possible. Especially if you use a bluetooth controller because then the extender is to near source of the interference.

Personally I would not do this.

Yes, agreed. I was imagining a different situation.It must located a bit far from the controller to get it maximized.

 

[xcrost]

Any idea how RTH etc. will perform over water or a blanket of snow etc.? Anyone tried it?

 

[xcrost]

One other quick question for the group here. I use a T1d but I want to switch to OTG for my main controller. I like the feel of it so should I go T1s or what would be better? ...Now that I have all of these choices to make thanks to TelloFPV! Thanks all!

 

[volate!lo]

Any idea how RTH etc. will perform over water or a blanket of snow etc.? Anyone tried it?

If the snow forms a uniform surface when looked from above Tello won't be able to distinguish any markers. I suppose VPS will switch on and off. Whenever VPS is off Tello does not record any movement, so the longer you fly with "VPS off" the more it loses track of where it needs to return to.
Over water Tello is completely lost, and VPS will be off all the time.