Mavic Pro Drones Flying Diagonally in RTH

[Wanbli]

I've been repairing drones now for about a year. I'm not DJI Certified, but I fix laptops and other electronics, so this isn't my 1st rodeo...
The last few drones (all Mavic Pro's) I've worked on tend to fly diagonally when they are in the RTH mode. If I'm actually piloting them, they fly as I command, but when I hit the RTH button, the drone flies in a straight line, but facing off to the left about 10 degrees. They get to the right place, but, not straight to the right place. I've searched, and researched and I can't find anything relevant. There are a lot of people telling experienced fliers that they don't know how to fly, which isn't helpful. This happens when I'm flying repaired drones for testing purposes. These drones have ALL CALIBRATIONS successfully completed and all firmware updated to the latest version. I've also calibrated the RC & switched RC's to verify that it isn't the RC. It shouldn't be the RC if the drone is flying itself back to the Home Point anyway. So, since this has appeared recently (last 3 drones), I really don't know what is causing it and why just the last 3 drones? Obviously, something has changed...?

 

[hiflyer201]

I had this happen but I blamed it on adjusting the filter with the battery on. I think it messed up the gimbal calibration. The drone was flying straight line, but the camera was pointing off to the right about 30 degrees. This was on the Air 2. It's possible to rotate the camera with your finger but I hadn't done that. When I took over and began hand flying it was very confusing until I noticed that the drone was not flying in the direction the camera was pointing. I had line of sight but I couldn't determine that until the drone was fairly close.

 

[Wanbli]

I had this happen but I blamed it on adjusting the filter with the battery on. I think it messed up the gimbal calibration. The drone was flying straight line, but the camera was pointing off to the right about 30 degrees. This was on the Air 2. It's possible to rotate the camera with your finger but I hadn't done that. When I took over and began hand flying it was very confusing until I noticed that the drone was not flying in the direction the camera was pointing. I had line of sight but I couldn't determine that until the drone was fairly close.

Thanks for the quick reply!
I had just completed all calibrations and NO Filters. Also this only happens when the drone is flying itself in RTH mode. When I'm flying, it goes where I command with the sticks, it's weird!? Happened again this morning with another drone (4th one to do this!). See video here (please wait until at least 1:30pm EDT for the upload to finish ) Drone Media - Google Drive

The 1st 2 minutes are me flying the drone and all is well. At 2 minutes the RTH begins. You really don't notice any issue until 3 mins in, there you will see the Geo-dome (my house, the Home Point). It's here where you notice the drone is flying about 7-10 degrees to the left, then, as it get's closer, it narrows until it hits the RTH point. The RTH is "Perfect" within inches of it's takeoff position.
If anyone has a fix for this, I'd really appreciate the help!

 

[DanMan32]

Is the drone itself flying sideways, or just the gimbal pointing off center?

Strange it would occur with 3 different drones and RC. Have you tried using another mobile device in case it's a stuck setting, or no mobile at all?
Then again, with no mobile, your distance would be limited and within the distance where RTH would just land.

 

[zeusfl]

If you are using the same mobile or smart controller ( Is a Mavic Pro) with the same application I suggest reset all values or even delete the application and start over. The fact that is happening with one more one drone, suggests that is something in the application you are using.

 

[Wanbli]

Is the drone itself flying sideways, or just the gimbal pointing off center?

Strange it would occur with 3 different drones and RC. Have you tried using another mobile device in case it's a stuck setting, or no mobile at all?
Then again, with no mobile, your distance would be limited and within the distance where RTH would just land.

Thanks for the quick replies!
The drones are flying diagonally (to the left about 10 degrees). You can see it when it is in your sight line. Actually, now it's 4 drones, all Mavic Pro's. I've re-calibrated the RC's AND all AC calibrations, (one drone I downgraded to 0400 FW, then back to 0500, no change) reset all drones FW to Factory, Uninstalled the Android app & reinstalled, used 2 different android devices (Moto G7 & 8" Elipsys Tablet) and the device used on the video was an iPad Mini. NONE OF THIS MADE ANY DIFFERENCE!
I find this S-O-O-O-O STRANGE!!! It's actualy driving me nuts that I can't figure it out....
Once I get this last M1P listed on eBay today, I'm switching over to 2 Mavic Airs's that I have to get repaired & tested. I'll post the results here later today or tomorrow.

 

[zeusfl]

Are you using the same remote control all the time? Maybe the calibration is off or something is wrong.

 

[Wanbli]

Are you using the same remote control all the time? Maybe the calibration is off or something is wrong.

Well, I've tried 3 different RC's, like you, thinking the Stick calibration was not working (I re-calibrated all 3 of them), but the result was the same. Besides, correct me if I'm wrong, the drone is flying itself in RTH mode, not the RC, right?
As an FYI, I just took out my NEW Mavic Air 2 and ran the same flight pattern. It flew perfectly straight when I was the pilot and in RTH. Although, it obviously doesn't have "Precision Landing" because it missed the landing pad by 30 feet, TWICE!! I'm going to sell that drone and go back to the MA1.

 

[DanMan32]

30 ft is a lot. Something else there.
I've seen an error of 6 to 10ft without PL, but thats about it.

Did you trigger RTH at 30ft from HP? If so, that explains it. RTH will instead land if within 60ft of HP.

 

[Wanbli]

30 ft is a lot. Something else there.
I've seen an error of 6 to 10ft without PL, but thats about it.

Did you trigger RTH at 30ft from HP? If so, that explains it. RTH will instead land if within 60ft of HP.

No, I triggered RTH at 3,500 ft. I understand the process and how it's supposed to work, according to the manual. I just don't like the MA2, for SO many reasons & I HATE the FLY App!

 

[new2mavic]

May be the flight log files will indicate something. Can you post the .DAT and .TXT flight log files in the phone ?

 

[Wanbli]

May be the flight log files will indicate something. Can you post the .DAT and .TXT flight log files in the phone ?

Sorry for the delayed response. I don't want to seem like a noob, but I was using an iPad Mini to test this Mavic & I know NOTHING about anything Apple (been an android man my whole life). So I don't know how or where to look for the files you mentioned. If someone can guide me to the appropriate app & directory, I'd be happy to provide them!

 

[Wanbli]

30 ft is a lot. Something else there.
I've seen an error of 6 to 10ft without PL, but thats about it.

Did you trigger RTH at 30ft from HP? If so, that explains it. RTH will instead land if within 60ft of HP.

Re-calibrated everything, RTH works as designed now.

 

[kidroc]

Thanks for the quick replies!
The drones are flying diagonally (to the left about 10 degrees). You can see it when it is in your sight line. Actually, now it's 4 drones, all Mavic Pro's. I've re-calibrated the RC's AND all AC calibrations, (one drone I downgraded to 0400 FW, then back to 0500, no change) reset all drones FW to Factory, Uninstalled the Android app & reinstalled, used 2 different android devices (Moto G7 & 8" Elipsys Tablet) and the device used on the video was an iPad Mini. NONE OF THIS MADE ANY DIFFERENCE!
I find this S-O-O-O-O STRANGE!!! It's actualy driving me nuts that I can't figure it out....
Once I get this last M1P listed on eBay today, I'm switching over to 2 Mavic Airs's that I have to get repaired & tested. I'll post the results here later today or tomorrow.

I think you might have a magnetic interference where you fly four in a row is not a coincidence.

 

[Wanbli]

Thanks for the response!
I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains (George Washington National Forest), so unnatural magnetic interference is unlikely. Also, this ONLY happens in RTH (when the drone is flying itself), so an external force like that would effect the drone always, not just in RTH, right?

 

[Wanbli]

So, I finally figured this one out. I replaced the compass/gps module, calibrated everything, and the drone now flies as designed.

 

[Thomas B]

Excellent!

 

[Wanbli]

Now I have a similar issue, AND it's really strange... When I fly to the south (windless day) and hit RTH, the drone (M1P) flies perfectly straight back to my house (the whitish dome in the center of the video) and lands on the pad within inches of it's take-off point. Just as it should! (see video DJI_0004.mp4 in the link below)

But, when I fly to the north (same day) and hit RTH, the drone flies perfectly straight (by my seeing it in the air), but the video shows the drone flying at an angle to the left of strait all the way back to my house and lands on the pad within inches of it's take-off point. (see video DJI_0014.mp4 in the link below)

I have tried 3 different gimbals (with calibrations), and 2 different compass/GPS modules with several calibrations, IMU Calibrations (at least 3), 2 sets of stock props and 1-set of Low Noise Props (even switched them front to back, etc.)

Any help/ideas would be appreciated!

Videos can be seen here: M1P Issues - Google Drive
Seems that only 1 video completed the upload, but it's the one showing the angular flight, so you can still see what is happening. But remember, this ONLY happens in RTH when flying home from the North!