Gimbal Level Issue

[mark0001]

I noticed an interesting phenomenon on my MP2. I put the drone (switched on/props off) on the ground and Gimbal is not level. I adjust to - 5 in DJI Go, take the drone and move it a bit around by hand and put it back down in the same position. Now the right setting for levelling Gimbal would be only - 1. It changes evertime.

Same inflight. On the the ground before take off e.g. - 7 and when I am up I need to change it to - 3 or even 0.

Any thoughts if Hardware or Software driven problem could it be? Have already calibrated the Gimbal couple of times.

 

[Goof]

If the gimbal isn't vibrating, it's probably either a faulty camera IMU or a software issue. Not much can be done from your end. Some people recommend calibrating the aircraft IMU, gimbal and compass if this happens, but I've not personally seen this fix the problem.

If it is vibrating slightly, it can still be a camera IMU, but it can also be a problem with the gimbal steppers or ESCs. Check there's no foreign material lodged in the gimbal anywhere. This issue can also be accompanied by a very hot gimbal assembly.

Maybe a future firmware update can fix it, maybe not. If it's proving a major concern you might need to talk to DJI and try and arrange a warranty replacement of the camera / gimbal assembly. Bonus points if you can capture a video (using a second camera) of the gimbal just sitting there "drifting" around while just sitting on the ground.

 

[mark0001]

Thank you for the thoughts. It is not vibrating so let's hope it is just for the moment an annoying software problem. I had done all the calibration but only once again - didn't change it. I will see if I can bring it on a video to show what is happening

 

[Goof]

A lot of P4s had this issue, I can't speak for mavic owners but I believe a few of them also had the issue. Might be poor coding, poor QC on the IMU control loop, dunno...

The IMUs are very easy to damage through impact. If the aircraft IMUs are damaged they can exhibit this as well, but considering the aircraft generally makes greater control corrections, coupled with the fact that a correction error will result in compounding motion away from center the error will eventually get large enough for the IMU to sort itself out.

The camera is a different story, since the error won't compound, it'll simply sit there slightly off axis.

I had one of my P4 cameras do it from new, but only slightly. A second camera module had a serious case of it after a 70km/h impact, though I cannot blame DJI for that one

I've never returned any of my cameras due to this, so I can only really guess about DJI support's reaction to the problem It would seem they were aware of it at least on the P4 side; the P4Pro's camera IMU was on rubber mountings instead of being rigidly mounted to the casing, maybe to try and protect it against impact damage / hard landings?