Fly App Compass suddenly wrong

[ScottsMA2]

Mavic Air 2. Has been fine for the past month. However, I noticed yesterday that the compass pointed generally the opposite of the way that the aircraft was pointed. Then I also realized that it was showing the aircraft behind me when it was in front of me. I've calibrated the compass and the IMU. After powering down and moving to a different area, it worked correctly again. Then today went to the same area that worked last night and it was backwards again. Wondering if anyone may know why this is happening? Thanks in advance.

 

[Hummingbird.UAV]

I believe you are talking about the grey half circle symbol in the lower center of the screen. My understanding is that this symbol is driven from GPS information. The drone GPS and controller screen GPS and compass. I have seen mine flip backwards too. Usually when I am very close to the drone. Sometimes when further away I get a red symbol indicating loss of GPS or compass info, always the screen.

 

[ScottsMA2]

Yes, exactly. The half circle below. I tried getting the drone further away from me, but still the same result. Wondering if I'm going to have to calibrate the compass everytime and if that'll even correct it.

 

[Meta4]

Mavic Air 2. Has been fine for the past month. However, I noticed yesterday that the compass pointed generally the opposite of the way that the aircraft was pointed. Then I also realized that it was showing the aircraft behind me when it was in front of me. I've calibrated the compass and the IMU. After powering down and moving to a different area, it worked correctly again. Then today went to the same area that worked last night and it was backwards again. Wondering if anyone may know why this is happening? Thanks in advance.

This has nothing to do with the drone's compass or IMU.

Directional arrow on screen

The red directional arrow on the cell phone screen does not correspond with the actual direction of the drone. What is the procedure to link the two?

mavicpilots.com

 

[ScottsMA2]

Thanks Meta4, but then my follow up question would be, "what does control/affect that?" Then aircraft flies well it seems, but the feedback at the bottom of the Fly App screen is totally incorrect. Would love to resolve this issue ?

 

[AMRE2ME2]

Does anyone know why dji changed the “radar“ screen on the Fly app? Seems a lot of issues with this feature. I used the radar screen all the time on the Go app with my MA1. It was always spot on.

 

[Meta4]

Thanks Meta4, but then my follow up question would be, "what does control/affect that?" Then aircraft flies well it seems, but the feedback at the bottom of the Fly App screen is totally incorrect. Would love to resolve this issue ?

It has nothing to do with your drone and it just the interaction of your phone's compass and the magnetic fields that are part of your controller, so that the phone doesn't properly show the phone's orientation.
Even with it being wrong, you can still use it to turn the drone and bring it home if necessary.

 

[boblui]

..... the compass pointed generally the opposite of the way that the aircraft was pointed.....

Have you check the arrow's direction on the map ? If it is pointing to the opposite direction on the map, the drone should not be able to hold position and just fly away by itself once airborne. It has happened to my Mini.

 

[ScottsMA2]

Meta4, so you're saying it would be a phone issue then?

Boblui, I'll check it on the map next outing. It does hover fine. But if you try to fly it "towards you" using the app feedback, it will fly away from you! Not good!

 

[Hummingbird.UAV]

Thanks Meta4, but then my follow up question would be, "what does control/affect that?" Then aircraft flies well it seems, but the feedback at the bottom of the Fly App screen is totally incorrect. Would love to resolve this issue ?

It might be the magnets in the controller affecting the compass in the screen. The joysticks use magnets and coils to detect stick movement. Try mounting the screen 180° from the position you are using.

 

[ScottsMA2]

Great suggestion Hummingbird. I'll give that a shot tomorrow during daylight. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[AMRE2ME2]

It has nothing to do with your drone and it just the interaction of your phone's compass and the magnetic fields that are part of your controller, so that the phone doesn't properly show the phone's orientation.
Even with it being wrong, you can still use it to turn the drone and bring it home if necessary.

Do you think dji will come up with a fix? Seems like this is a useless feature with so many people having problems with it.

 

[Meta4]

Meta4, so you're saying it would be a phone issue then?

It is entirely due to the magnetic field of parts of teh controller deflecting the compass in your phone so it doesn't properly read which way you are pointing the phone.

But if you try to fly it "towards you" using the app feedback, it will fly away from you! Not good!

Even when it's not working properly, it still works.
You are the centre of the circle.
You can rotate the drone to point to the centre and push the right stick forward to bring the drone back to you.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Most importantly, the solution is to simply rotate the tablet in a figure 8 while attached to the RC, even in flight. Keep trying it until it properly resets itself. Repeat any time you detect that it needs recalibration. Make sure your device has a compass. All iPads (even wifi only ones) and iPhones have compasses. Some Android devices do not.

 

[ScottsMA2]

Good ideas folks. Thanks and I'll try these out and report back.

 

[Meta4]

but only cellular Android devices have compasses.

I'm not sure where that idea comes from.
Almost every Android device has a compass and GPS.
I've only heard of one weird Samsung tablet that doesn't have a compass and another Samsung tablet without GPS..

 

[Droning on and on...]

...but only cellular Android devices have compasses.

This statement is just nonsense.
Sony Xperia Z4, Nokia N1, Huawei MediapPad M6, just to name a few. (GadgetGuy huh? Hmmm.)

 

[phantomi]

I had the same problem with my returned MA2. I did the compass calibrationn of the phone but problem pesist. Never happened with the Mavic Pro. And reported problem in june 6th, Fly app problem

 

[GadgetGuy]

I'm not sure where that idea comes from.
Almost every Android device has a compass and GPS.
I've only heard of one weird Samsung tablet that doesn't have a compass and another Samsung tablet without GPS..

It came from Samsung wifi only tablets that bought at CostCo for an EVO. I couldn't find a non-cellular Android tablet with a compass. However, I'll defer to your more current Android experience. I now only use iPads. Post edited to reflect your input.

 

[InvisibleName]

I had the same problem with my returned MA2. I did the compass calibrationn of the phone but problem pesist. Never happened with the Mavic Pro. And reported problem in june 6th, Fly app problem

Did you have this symbol with the Mavic Pro? I thought it used the Go4 app, and I don’t remember that app having this symbol with my original Mavic Air?