Camera Pitching Down at Speed

[RIG]

I'm new to the Mavic, just received my MPP 2 days ago, and am witnessing a strange behavior. I'm curious if what I'm experiencing is a common issue/limitation with the gimbal, or if this behavior is not normal and needs to be escalated to DJI.

When I'm flying straight and level flight at full speed the camera/gimbal will pitch downwards, in small intervals, over the course of a few seconds. When I reduce throttle and I come to a hover, the result is that the camera is pointed slightly downward at the ground. At first I thought I must be hitting the limits of the gimbal when the MPP pitches forward, but it seems strange that it doesn't return to its original positioning when returned to hover. Essentially, this means after every WOT forward flight, I have to manually raise the camera/gimbal pitch to level, which seems like odd behavior to me.

I tried searching for similar reports and didn't find any, so I'm wondering if my 2-day old MPP has a defect. Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[Former Member]

When you start off, are you going from hovering to WOT and then get the cam pointing down?

 

[RIG]

Hey Thunderdrones! Yes, that’s the scenario. Hover -> Sport WOT -> Hover

 

[Former Member]

Hey Thunderdrones! Yes, that’s the scenario. Hover -> Sport WOT -> Hover

You might need to give the gimbal a few seconds to catch up with the rest of the Mavic, since the gimbal is gyro stabilized, and dampens extreme movements. The same thing happens if you "snap" yaw it, the gimbal might take a few seconds to recover to a level horizon, but most of them usually do.

 

[RIG]

Thanks for the reply. The issue I'm having is slightly different. I'm familiar with gimbal dampening and lag from flying an Inspire for many years, and I'm fine with it, but my Mavic's issue seems to shift the pitch of the camera without any input from me. It seems that when the Mavic's nose pitches down for forward flight the gimbal pitches up to compensate but in sustained flight it's as if it can't hold the camera up that high (like doing dumb bell curls at the gym when your arms are spent and start succumbing to gravity), so it starts to point downward toward the ground in small increments. If I then stop and wait at hover, the camera never returns to the top limit unless I manually adjust the gimbal wheel.

Any other ideas? I was really just thinking I was hitting a physical limit of the gimbal, but it sounds like this issue isn't normal behavior.

 

[luciobio]

I’ve been having the same problem with my mavic. I already did every possible calibration and installed the last firmware again but nothing worked. Any other idea before I exchange all the camera and gimbal set?

 

[RIG]

I’ve been having the same problem with my mavic. I already did every possible calibration and installed the last firmware again but nothing worked. Any other idea before I exchange all the camera and gimbal set?

I wish I knew an at-home resolution. I don't think it's a commonplace issue with the community here, so I think we're on our own. I'm waiting for it to either bug me enough to send it in, or for more reports to start coming out that validate a larger issue and perhaps warrant an update via firmware from DJI.

 

[Mossiback]

I have not had this problem in seven months of flying. In fact, this is the first time I have heard of this problem. I hope it is not one of those "rush to production" issues that the early MP's had. Good luck to you.

 

[luciobio]

This problem started two days ago without any issue like a crash. Simple started. It sucks.

 

[RIG]

I have not had this problem in seven months of flying. In fact, this is the first time I have heard of this problem. I hope it is not one of those "rush to production" issues that the early MP's had. Good luck to you.

Thanks for the data point. It's nice to at least know it's not a 'feature,' and that something is indeed wrong that needs to be troubleshooted. My guess is that it is exclusive to the MPP, seeing as I haven't seen any other threads/reports outside this one.

 

[RIG]

I took the MPP out today to document the issue. The videos hosted in my DB show it very clearly. In the videos I am flying straight and level, at varying acceleration amounts, and not touching the gimbal controls at any point (except to raise it back up). You can see the camera tilt downward in each video, in jolty movements. After I stop and come to a hover, you will see me manually reset the camera to level, but that's the only time I touch the gimbal wheel.

 

[Mossiback]

You should send the video to DJI.

 

[Skrems]

I’d guess the ribbon is catching. Either way I’d be returning it.

 

[RIG]

Thanks, guys. Sounds like it’s confirmed that it’s not normal. I just sent in a report to them.

 

[luciobio]

I took the MPP out today to document the issue. The videos hosted in my DB show it very clearly. In the videos I am flying straight and level, at varying acceleration amounts, and not touching the gimbal controls at any point (except to raise it back up). You can see the camera tilt downward in each video, in jolty movements. After I stop and come to a hover, you will see me manually reset the camera to level, but that's the only time I touch the gimbal wheel.

First of all congrats for the great footage. Second, my problem is the same. Idon’t know if the problem is at the hardware or the software.

 

[zuzumuzu]

Hi,

Got my MPP a few Days ago. As i read this tried it out today and i am having the exact same problem.

I do not recognize this at the first flight.

I noticed that in the DJI Go App on the right side there is a slider with which you can also change the gimbal pitch by moving the little dot up or down. If you push it all the way up, the dot turns blue, otherwise it is white. If you stay in the white area everything is fine. If you push it up so far that it turns blue, this problem occurs.

I'm not a mechanic but it looks like a software problem to me.

I will send an Email to DJI today. We will see what they say.....

@RIG I linked them your Videos on Dropbox in my Mail. Hope this is ok!?

 

[RIG]

@RIG I linked them your Videos on Dropbox in my Mail. Hope this is ok!?

I'm ok with you using my videos so long as you disclose to them that they are a representation of the issue you are experiencing, as recorded on a different person's MPP. I'll keep them hosted there for another 2 weeks before removing them.

I got a ticket with DJI opened. They sent me the standard troubleshooting response (update app & firmware, refresh firmware, calibrate gimbal, calibrate IMU). I've already done all this, but I'm doing it again just to humor them and document it in the logs. I will likely be sending the bird in for repair this week. I'm disappointed.

 

[luciobio]

No my f

Thanks for the data point. It's nice to at least know it's not a 'feature,' and that something is indeed wrong that needs to be troubleshooted. My guess is that it is exclusive to the MPP, seeing as I haven't seen any other threads/reports outside this one.

No my friend. It isn’t an issue only happens to the MPP. A friend of mine has the same problem with a Mavic Pro.