Mavic Pro cycles left and right on take off

[DPL]

Hi all, I’m a bit of a newbie so I’m just doing some simple manoeuvres at the moment. I had something odd happen today so l’d like to reach out for an explanation.
I took my MP outside just before dusk and as soon as I tried to increase altitude from initial takeoff, the drone cycled from left to right. I’d guess about 45 degrees either side of central and about a couple of seconds per cycle.
I had full control over height and general direction but wherever I pointed it, it was cycling. The display said I had an obstacle but as I had turned it through 360 at hover, this was not possible.
I landed and tried again.....same thing happened.
I landed again and thinking it might be compass error, I tried to calibrate but it failed twice before I gave up and just switched off and back on again.
From then on, it flew perfectly.
I kinda wish I’d caught some video but was more concerned with checking out the issue really.
Any helpful comment would be appreciated.

 

[Bunny Too]

Hi all, I’m a bit of a newbie so I’m just doing some simple manoeuvres at the moment. I had something odd happen today so l’d like to reach out for an explanation.
I took my MP outside just before dusk and as soon as I tried to increase altitude from initial takeoff, the drone cycled from left to right. I’d guess about 45 degrees either side of central and about a couple of seconds per cycle.
I had full control over height and general direction but wherever I pointed it, it was cycling. The display said I had an obstacle but as I had turned it through 360 at hover, this was not possible.
I landed and tried again.....same thing happened.
I landed again and thinking it might be compass error, I tried to calibrate but it failed twice before I gave up and just switched off and back on again.
From then on, it flew perfectly.
I kinda wish I’d caught some video but was more concerned with checking out the issue really.
Any helpful comment would be appreciated.

Was the sun shining into the front of the Mavic, it can wreck havoc with the sensors sometimes. Did you make sure you removed the stickers from the sensors?

 

[BD0G]

Vision Sensors on the front of the Mavic Pro may have triggered a "false positive" due to something covering them internally or externally. One can calibrate the Vision Sensors withing the DJI Assistant 2 application to make sure they are setup properly.

 

[DPL]

Thank you Bunny Too and BD0G for your comments.
It was a bit overcast today so it’s not going to be due to the sun shining.
I’ll try calibrating the sensors tomorrow.

 

[BD0G]

Im just hoping you dont have something obstructing one or both of the sensors.

 

[Big Fil]

How far off center was it deviating in distance? You mentioned that you were flying before dusk which means low light could have caused VPS to be inactive. VPS keeps the keeps the accuracy much tighter over that of just GPS when close to the ground.......but only if there's enough light for it to work. If the VPS icon is red then it is inactive meaning hover accuracy is just relying on GPS which will allow it to deviate off center further. If I remember correctly GPS accuracy is around 1.5meters. Wondering if it's possible when the issue later resolved itself you were in a slightly different location where more light was shining on the ground, or just even a lighter surface. That could cause the VPS to lock on and hold position tighter.

 

[DPL]

Im just hoping you dont have something obstructing one or both of the sensors.

I’ve checked the sensors and they’re fine. I didn’t go as far as calibrating them.
Also took it for another spin tonight.....only vertical movement though to check if it was still doing it, but didn’t have a problem.
Maybe it’s just a glitch.

 

[DPL]

How far off center was it deviating in distance? You mentioned that you were flying before dusk which means low light could have caused VPS to be inactive. VPS keeps the keeps the accuracy much tighter over that of just GPS when close to the ground.......but only if there's enough light for it to work. If the VPS icon is red then it is inactive meaning hover accuracy is just relying on GPS which will allow it to deviate off center further. If I remember correctly GPS accuracy is around 1.5meters. Wondering if it's possible when the issue later resolved itself you were in a slightly different location where more light was shining on the ground, or just even a lighter surface. That could cause the VPS to lock on and hold position tighter.

Thank you for responding Big Fil.

Hard to judge the distance but I guess the front end of the drone was panning by about 300mm from centre.
The day light was still pretty good but I was in the shade a bit on launching.
When the problem disappeared (after switching it off & on again) it was in the same position but with a little less light.
I took it on a short journey and took some photos which are amongst the flight records.
I’d like to share as they also show what the drone was doing but I haven’t worked out how to get them off for posting yet.
As soon as I’ve sussed it out, I’ll upload them.

 

[BD0G]

I’ve checked the sensors and they’re fine. I didn’t go as far as calibrating them.
Also took it for another spin tonight.....only vertical movement though to check if it was still doing it, but didn’t have a problem.
Maybe it’s just a glitch.

Its issues like this that are intermittent that give me reason for pause. One never knows if or when they will crop up again.

 

[DPL]

Finally!!!
I’ve managed to upload a vid to you tube.