Gimbal motor overloaded and pigeon photo bombing

[Herongate]

I guess there is a first for everything! If you don’t know already, I am a new drone pilot. I got a DJI mini4 pro in early December. Well today I was out flying my drone and all of a sudden the image that I see on the controller is not what I was taking pictures of. It is as if there was an object in front of the drone at an inch distance. The screen just had a unidentified form on it. It turns out that a bird had touched or hit the drone (see picture below).

So at this point, I didn’t know what was going on. I hate to admit it but I had lost VLOS of the drone. So I hit the Return Home button. Nothing seems to happen from what I saw on the screen. The screen looked like the earth was upside down as if the drone was upside down. Then, I got a message on the screen that said : Gimbal motor overloaded. Gimbal motor overloaded. Land aircraft and check whether gimbal can rotate freely on all three axes (Code: 40003) and right after I got a similar message, different code : Gimbal motor overloaded. Land aircraft and check whether gimbal can rotate freely on all three axes (Code: 1D010003).

And the picture on the screen is not helping at all. So I think I tried to pause RTH and tried to move the drone forward although I didn’t know if I was going forward at this point since I couldn’t rely on the screen to give me a useful visual. Then I press again the RTH, 1 minute 17 sec later and it showed back the regular screen you see when you press the RTH button with the green cone. And the drone came back to the Home Point or there about!!!

After I looked at the flight log, I saw the following notification on the log 12 seconds before the Gimbal message. It said Detected side shock / possible collision, aircraft is rolling sharply to the left.

So did the bird touched the gimbal and cause the Gimbal error or are the two things unrelated?

I see that the “Gimbal motor overloaded” problem has happened to other people based on my research on the internet this afternoon.

The question is, What does it mean? What should I do now? Can I trust the Gimbal?

When I got home, I recalibrated the gimbal, just in case. What else can I do?

 

[Cafguy]

those two errors are obstruction errors and you either hit the bird with the gimble or hit the bird with the drone enough to shake the gimble and cause the overload. If it acts fine during and after calibration you should be fine--Watch out for those pesky Birds---There Not real you know

 

[Herongate]

those two errors are obstruction errors and you either hit the bird with the gimble or hit the bird with the drone enough to shake the gimble and cause the overload. If it acts fine during and after calibration you should be fine--Watch out for those pesky Birds---There Not real you know

@Cafguy, I was shocked to see that they were pigeons, not exactly tiny birds! I wonder if my drone will survive the summer when all the birds migrate back here ! It is winter (with snow) here in my neck of the woods!!! I thought I would not have to worry about birds too much but I think that with the warmer climate, more birds are hanging around. Anyhow, we are getting of topic here. Thanks for the reply.

 

[MA2 317]

I wonder if my drone will survive the summer when all the birds migrate back here !

A few years ago I took pictures of a court house on the town square in the Spring time and had to abort the flight.

The drone agitated the starlings in the area and it was neat to see how they took care of each other.

First one, then three more, and now a whole swarm of birds buzzing my drone.

I fly with prop guards to help protect my bird and the others.

Fly safe.

.

 

[Herongate]

@MA2 317 That must have been neat to see. I will get the prop guards once I get my certificate, which I don’t need right now, drone being at 249g.

 

[KBF]

Could it be icing? It looks like overcast conditions (?), what was the temp and wind/humidity like?

 

[Cafguy]

Could it be icing? It looks like overcast conditions (?), what was the temp and wind/humidity like?

Could be possible anything that will cause the gimble to vibrate enough to give the overload error would be some unusual condition like that. the first error he got was actually the "Hey you left the cover on" error (40003) So it got "stuck" for a sec.

 

[Herongate]

Could it be icing? It looks like overcast conditions (?), what was the temp and wind/humidity like?

@KBF No, no icing. it was a dry day at - 4 C. In my post, i did say that i found out after the fact that a bird had hit the drone (see picture in original post), and he possibly sent the gimbal for a spin. My question is more about the integrity of the gimbal. Can i trust it now?

 

[Herongate]

Could be possible anything that will cause the gimble to vibrate enough to give the overload error would be some unusual condition like that. the first error he got was actually the "Hey you left the cover on" error (40003) So it got "stuck" for a sec.

@Cafguy Who is « he »? I don’t get it !!! And if the « he » refers to the OP, then he is a she !

 

[Cafguy]

@Cafguy Who is « he »? I don’t get it !!! And if the « he » refers to the OP, then he is a she !

Sorry I am 59 old habits Die Hard My BAD honestly Its a conversation thing The old must be a HE thing I know ..Its wrong Once again- Sorry

 

[Herongate]

@Cafguy Who is « he »? I don’t get it !!! And if the « he » refers to the OP, then he is a she !

@Cafguy The code had to be wrong because I definitely did not leave the cover on. I had been in the air for 12 minutes and the cover was of.That might be why I got different error codes one after another, the first one being wrong.

 

[MS Coast]

@Cafguy The code had to be wrong because I definitely did not leave the cover on. I had been in the air for 12 minutes and the cover was of.That might be why I got different error codes one after another, the first one being wrong.

Post the logs?

 

[Cafguy]

The code had to be wrong because I definitely did not leave the cover on.

You don't need to forget to leave the cover on to get that error, There are many ways.- That's just a nickname for it. The drone just thinks you left the cover on because of the amount of force that was used to try to move the gimble. basically you "Failsafed" the gimble motor. BUT That's the number you see when you forget the cover 40003 Trust Me lol.
I should know I was terrible about leaving the cover on at first!

 

[Herongate]

Post the logs?

@MS Coast : i think the relevant information is all in my original message i.e. 3 notifications / error messages. I don’t have access to the flight log right now.

 

[Herongate]

@MS Coast : Here is the part of the flight log related to the incident.

 

[slup]

...The question is, ...What should I do now? Can I trust the Gimbal?

When I got home, I recalibrated the gimbal, just in case. What else can I do?

...My question is more about the integrity of the gimbal. Can i trust it now?

Honestly... no one will be able to give you a definitive answer.

All rough handling of any sensitive equipment can leave lasting effects not showing up immediately... only time will tell.
If all is working as it should now, I wouldn't worry.

 

[Drone Views Media]

I guess there is a first for everything! If you don’t know already, I am a new drone pilot. I got a DJI mini4 pro in early December. Well today I was out flying my drone and all of a sudden the image that I see on the controller is not what I was taking pictures of. It is as if there was an object in front of the drone at an inch distance. The screen just had a unidentified form on it. It turns out that a bird had touched or hit the drone (see picture below).

So at this point, I didn’t know what was going on. I hate to admit it but I had lost VLOS of the drone. So I hit the Return Home button. Nothing seems to happen from what I saw on the screen. The screen looked like the earth was upside down as if the drone was upside down. Then, I got a message on the screen that said : Gimbal motor overloaded. Gimbal motor overloaded. Land aircraft and check whether gimbal can rotate freely on all three axes (Code: 40003) and right after I got a similar message, different code : Gimbal motor overloaded. Land aircraft and check whether gimbal can rotate freely on all three axes (Code: 1D010003).

And the picture on the screen is not helping at all. So I think I tried to pause RTH and tried to move the drone forward although I didn’t know if I was going forward at this point since I couldn’t rely on the screen to give me a useful visual. Then I press again the RTH, 1 minute 17 sec later and it showed back the regular screen you see when you press the RTH button with the green cone. And the drone came back to the Home Point or there about!!!

After I looked at the flight log, I saw the following notification on the log 12 seconds before the Gimbal message. It said Detected side shock / possible collision, aircraft is rolling sharply to the left.

So did the bird touched the gimbal and cause the Gimbal error or are the two things unrelated?

I see that the “Gimbal motor overloaded” problem has happened to other people based on my research on the internet this afternoon.

The question is, What does it mean? What should I do now? Can I trust the Gimbal?

When I got home, I recalibrated the gimbal, just in case. What else can I do?

I've had drones hit by birds, it's never fun, I learned to avoid areas where they congegrete

 

[Herongate]

I've had drones hit by birds, it's never fun, I learned to avoid areas where they congegrete

@ Drone Views Media : there were no birds in the area when i got there and for the first 10 minutes. They came out of nowhere. If i were to avoid places where there could potentially be birds I would not fly my drone anywhere. I am conscious of avoiding birds as much as possible but it is not possible around here to predict when a flock of birds might fly by, like starlings, snow bunting, etc. It happens really fast and without warning.

 

[Drone Views Media]

@ Drone Views Media : there were no birds in the area when i got there and for the first 10 minutes. They came out of nowhere. If i were to avoid places where there could potentially be birds I would not fly my drone anywhere. I am conscious of avoiding birds as much as possible but it is not possible around here to predict when a flock of birds might fly by, like starlings, snow bunting, etc. It happens really fast and without warning.

 

[Drone Views Media]

@ Drone Views Media : there were no birds in the area when i got there and for the first 10 minutes. They came out of nowhere. If i were to avoid places where there could potentially be birds I would not fly my drone anywhere. I am conscious of avoiding birds as much as possible but it is not possible around here to predict when a flock of birds might fly by, like starlings, snow bunting, etc. It happens really fast and without warning.

Unfortunately, it happens, it's best to be as vigilant as possible. That's where situational awareness and VLOS is important, no saint here, but you live and learn. Our drones are only visitors in the birds domain. The last time my old drone was hit, it returned in a bloody mess with a cracked prop. It seems you got away nicely..... happy flying