Camera moving involuntarily, but only if pointed 100% down (at -90 degrees)

[ninjafingers]

When my Mavic Mini is in the air, and the camera is pointed directly downward , if (and only if) I navigate the drone forward, when I let off the control stick even slightly, the gimbal automatically "jumps" up to about -80 degrees. This happens about half the time I do this. So it is impossible to face the camera down and reliably record stable footage while moving the drone forward. This happens in Cinesmooth mode moving very slowly, or moving more quickly in another mode.

Here are a couple of an example videos

- as the Mini was climbing in altitude, I tried to move it forward very slightly, and as soon as I let off the stick a bit, the camera angle jumped from -90 degrees to -80 degrees.

- in this video, you can see that the first time I let off the stick, it doesn't happen. I move it forward a little more and let off, and it jumps up a bit. There are a couple of similar examples after the first.

I've tried performing all calibrations (gimbal, compass, controller, IMU). I've also tried flying at low altitude (6 ft.) or high altitude (anything higher), and the problem persists. I tried using Control Mode 2 and Mode 3, and the problem follows the forward/backward input, moving to the left stick in Mode 3. It feels like a command interpretation issue between the controller and the Mini.

Is anyone else experiencing this issue, or can anyone do some testing to see? Thank you in advance for any input!

 

[old man mavic]

it could be a firmware issue,or maybe just inertia as it stops have you tried to fly backwards and see if it still does it

 

[ninjafingers]

it could be a firmware issue,or maybe just inertia as it stops have you tried to fly backwards and see if it still does it

Thank you for your input. I am on the current firmware, which is part of the reason why I'm curious if other people are having the same problem. This does not happen if I fly backwards. And it happens if I move forward only very slightly (almost no inertia), or at full speed - about half the time in both cases, even if I try these movements back to back in exactly the same flight/altitude/conditions etc.

 

[DanMan32]

Strange that happens in modes other than sport but I'm sure that can be corrected in firmware.

In the M2, the opposite happens in sport mode. Gimbal jumps down about 20 degrees in a quick stop.

 

[Deleted member 109934]

I noticed the same thing, but only in a very strong tailwind. If I fly upwind it does not happen. Almost like the wind is blowing cam up a bit when I stop.

 

[scro]

I've had this happen too, but not really managed to clock up enough air time to home in on exactly what I'm doing when it happens. Possibly the gimbal moves back up to -80deg so that it has a bit of leeway to provide stabilisation? When pointing straight down and you fly backwards (ie drone pitches up at the front) the gimbal won't be able to continue pointing straight down since it is at its endstop. "Shouldn't" be an issue when you fly forwards, but when you then stop or go backwards then the issue will occur, so it could be the drone pre-empting this?

 

[Deleted member 109934]

I've had this happen too, but not really managed to clock up enough air time to home in on exactly what I'm doing when it happens. Possibly the gimbal moves back up to -80deg so that it has a bit of leeway to provide stabilisation? When pointing straight down and you fly backwards (ie drone pitches up at the front) the gimbal won't be able to continue pointing straight down since it is at its endstop. "Shouldn't" be an issue when you fly forwards, but when you then stop or go backwards then the issue will occur, so it could be the drone pre-empting this?

Never thought about that but you are probably right, it makes perfect sense drone detects the angle and trying to do the best job at stabilization possible.

 

[Ray Naylor]

It's possible that the sudden stop could be causing the gimbal to hit the end of it's travel as you are already at 90 degrees down and when you try to stop, the camera tries to go to 100 - 110 dregrees which is beyond it's travel range.

 

[scro]

@ninjafingers were you flying in sports mode at the time? Does this happen in P or C modes too? The reason I ask is that the max inclination of the craft in sports mode is 30deg and the gimbal only has 20deg of spare travel if you have it pointed down at -90deg (end stop is at -110deg). So, in sports mode you could easily get the gimbal to reach its endstop, whereas P and C mode limit the aircraft tilt to 20deg, and theoretically the gimbal has enough movement to cope with that. I have 1 video of it happening and I was flying in S mode at the time.

 

[chriscuk]

In C mode mine does not do this but not s it does. It seems like the drone is simply protecting itself from moving the gimbal too much

 

[scro]

Just been for a quick fly and managed to get the "gimbal jump" to happen in all 3 modes. In P and C modes it would jump up about 10deg seemingly only when braking after full speed forward flight. I guess this is because the drone will tilt beyond 20deg when braking.

 

[ninjafingers]

Just been for a quick fly and managed to get the "gimbal jump" to happen in all 3 modes. In P and C modes it would jump up about 10deg seemingly only when braking after full speed forward flight. I guess this is because the drone will tilt beyond 20deg when braking.

Sorry, been a busy week - to answer your earlier question, yes it happens in all 3 modes for me as well. What boggles my mind is that it happens even if I am in C mode and moving slowly. I don't understand why the camera would tilt up automatically and stay there in order to compensate for recoil movement. It basically ruins the 'straight down' shot if I let off the forward motion even a little bit.

I appreciate your taking the time to test this with yours as well. I am intending to record a side-by-side of what the control sticks are doing when I experience this problem, in order to continue dialing in my understanding of what's going on.

 

[ElPadre]

This happen to me too, All my videos that are looking down the camera jumps few degrees upwards running the video.
This is my very first drone, should I return it and get a new one, or DJI send firmware upgrades?
Thank you

 

[scro]

I see new firmware has just been released which, amongst other things, includes "optimised gimbal control". Hope to get a chance in the next few days to update and do some tests to see if it fixes this issue.

@ElPadre If you returned your current drone what would you get instead? This gimbal jump is almost certainly an issue for every mavic mini.

 

[WooZie]

that is not true, mine did not have this problem, it was very stable the gimbal

 

[scro]

that is not true, mine did not have this problem, it was very stable the gimbal

Interesting! So, just to confirm, if you point the gimbal down to -90deg and fly backwards at full speed in sports mode your gimbal doesn't automatically jump back to about -80deg or something? This is what I was doing when I got the "gimbal jump" first, and after doing some specific trials I managed to replicate the issue under some circumstances in P and C modes too. I'd be keen to hear your experiences, especially if they're different to mine.

Note - I've not yet updated to firmware v01.00.0300

 

[ninjafingers]

I see new firmware has just been released which, amongst other things, includes "optimised gimbal control". Hope to get a chance in the next few days to update and do some tests to see if it fixes this issue.

@ElPadre If you returned your current drone what would you get instead? This gimbal jump is almost certainly an issue for every mavic mini.

Oh wow this makes me cautiously optimistic. I'll try to update and test mine later today and I will follow up.

 

[scro]

Just done the FW update and it "might" be an improvement. I've only been able to fly indoors so not got up to any high speeds, but...
In C mode I couldn't get the gimbal to jump. It stayed at -90deg throughout while flying fwd/back/fwd.
In P mode it would jump a bit (to about -82deg) when braking from fwd flight or accelerating backward. Am I just imagining this is less of a jump?
In S mode it jumps back to about -70something deg and I get the feeling it is about the same as before the FW update.

My conclusion is if doing any video looking straight down then it'll need to be in C mode. If it's windy and you need to be in S mode then don't bother trying to film looking straight down - let the gimbal jump back to where it wants to and stick with that. given the mechanical range of the gimbal (down to -110) It's never going to be able to maintain a -90deg position and offer full stabilisation in S mode.

 

[mnpaslay]

I have the same problem and I suspect they all have this issue. I have prior experience with DJI and this is not normal. If you exceed the max angle the gimbal should still eventually return to the set point.

 

[ElPadre]

Haven't fly since my drone due bad weekend weather in NY, but here is my camera shift link to sample, this are done before the update. haven't fly after the update yet.

Involuntary Camera Shift.