No lateral control in tight spaces

[podmark]

I have a new Mavic 2 Pro that I'm trying to fly in my backyard but I have no forward/backward control when I take off. I'm not used to flying remote controlled devices that are heavily reliant on automation, but I didn't expect to not have full control over the drone. I assume this issue has something to do with the obstacle avoidance system, and I tried to disable it but still don't have control. I can take off, move the drone up and down, left and right, but I get the message "Braking Now! Return sticks to midpoints first". I try and land it, which works, but it tries to take off again and I have to do the emergency shutdown otherwise it'll keep popping back up. I've successfully calibrated the vision system, the compass, the accelerometer and the controller but the issue persists. I haven't yet attempted to fly in a completely open space, but even so that's not the sort of flying I'm looking to do. So even if it does work in an open space, the sort of flying I'll mostly be doing is in tight spaces.

Is there any way to completely disable the obstacle avoidance system and have full manual control over the drone? Is it possible this is an issue with something else?

 

[Goof]

Try calibrating the controller. The fact that it keeps trying to take off with no input from you should be ringing alarm bells...

 

[Chopstix Kid]

Putting it in sport mode will disable all obstacle avoidance however that’s not the moment you’re going to want to fly and if you are in tight spaces. You’re going to want to be in tripod mode for that. That said, putting it in sport mode and being very very careful will at least tell you if OA is causing you issue.

 

[podmark]

@Goof - Unfortunately I did calibrate the controller, I guess I can try it again and see what happens. It's a bit weird though as I can start up manually and idle fine, I can then advance the throttle and it powers up properly. Advancing it further will bring the drone into a relatively stable hover, at which point I can go up and down smoothly. I still have no lateral control, but I do have vertical control. Then it starts to slowly drift backwards and since I can't correct the drift, I lower the throttle until the drone lands. When it lands I give it full negative stick to keep it on the ground only for it to power up again and hop off the ground. At that point I put it into emergency shutoff as I'm afraid of losing all control. I mention this as I think the controller is properly calibrated as the left stick responds just as you'd expect until landing.

@Chopstix Kid - I guess what I'm looking for is something akin to flying an R/C helicopter. I know the two aren't the same and this drone is way more sophisticated than any R/C helicopter I've ever flown. That was also one of my concerns when purchasing something like the Mavic instead of building my own. There's so many sensors and things that can go catastrophically wrong that you essentially have no control over. If sport mode offers a comple manual control that would be perfect, I'll also look into tripod mode as well.

I'd also like to thank both of you for your help!

 

[DanMan32]

It's pretty simple. Left joystick controls height and turning/yaw.
Right joystick controls forward, backward, left, right.

I would assume OA hasn't really been turned off. If when you take off you what looks like a target at the top of the screen and if it is not all red, then OA is on. Latest firmware will falsely show OA off on the indicator and in the settings when you are not off the ground so don't let that fool you.
With OA on, AC will refuse to move toward an obstacle if it is closer than 3 - 6ft so if your space is that tight, that's your issue. It also can sense obstacles above it and won't go closer than 3 feet from anything above it.

OA is completely disabled in sport mode, but it will react faster.

To get more familiar with it, I suggest flying it in an open field. A football/soccer field will do nicely.

 

[JRT]

One thought I had... and I am no expert or anywhere near it... Do you have a solid gps lock (12 satellites or preferably more)? If flying in ATTI mode or when the app displays “ready go Vision” in yellow, your aircraft can do some wacky stuff. Though the whole taking off on its own is weird.
Best of luck,
JT
Where did you buy it?

 

[podmark]

@JRT - It was purchased directly from the DJI website. I'll have to go back and confirm that it's locking on to the correct number of satellites, though I think it did.

 

[JRT]

Huh? I was thinking if it was purchased at a local retailer you may be able to exchange it for a new one easily.

Also, someone mentioned going to an open field for your first flight... this is the best advice. You will attain a better GPS lock and less possibility of any magnetic interference.

Good luck and keep with it,
It’s a fun hobby

 

[Goof]

Any warnings in the Go app? What about in the sensors page, are the errors for compass and IMU bias both in the green before, during and after a flight? (This is in settings, top 'aircraft' tab --> advanced --> sensors). What firmware version are you on? Can try either 1.1 or downgrade to 1.0 with the DJI Assistant 2 for Mavic program on PC.

If compass is showing yellow or red find a different launch point away from buildings and try again. Don't try calibrating unless it's still showing yellow/red in an empty field away from all cars and structures.
If IMU is showing yellow/red perform an IMU calibration, as shown in the manual + many videos on youtube...

As chopstix suggested, you can try it in sport mode and see if it behaves itself a bit better. Be aware you'll need to enable "multiple flight modes" in the settings, and sport mode is quite a bit more sensitive than P mode. Another thing to try is to put it in Tripod mode (so you have side obstacle sensors enabled) and see if you then lose left/right control as well. If you do, this would confirm an obstacle sensor issue, or it's just too close to something. (it needs a couple meters space on all sides for it to fly happily in most cases). You might be able to perform a "vision system calibration" with the Assistant 2 app and see if that helps. Though I don't know if that's still a thing, I know you could do it with the phantom series...

The fact that it's jumping off the ground by itself after the props stop is a huge problem, plus a safety issue. Chances are there's a bigger issue there, you might need to return the aircraft / controller and get replacements if nothing in this thread helps.

With regard to "I want to fly it with traditional manual flight controls", I say, why? One of the features of these things is ease of flight/stability (assuming it's actually working properly...) Once the bird is more than ~60' from you it becomes very difficult to accurately gauge attitude. The live view in the tablet is no help either, since it's gimbal stabilised. There's a very crude "Attitude Indicator" in the bottom left of screen (the blue horizon indicator), but it updates too slowly to really be enjoyable to fly with. I've flown a phantom 4 like that in manual mode and it's quite a handful... Only real use for it is pushing top speed and showing people it can do backflips (not good for the health of the gimbal motors though)