Strange Mavic Camera bug

[steebchen]

Hey guys, my first thread!
I was trying to make a film while going backwards and increasing the altitude.
Then, I realized that the camera turned like crazy for a second – I just saw it on my phone screen and I thought it flew into a bird or whatever.
Then, I saw that the Mavic is still stable in the air. I did the same thing again and the camera bug happened again.
Here is a video from the drone's view:
https://luca-steeb.com/static/drone/mavic/bugs/camera-bug.mp4
It was in sport mode and I was pulling both sticks to the maximum.
At this moment, I proceeded safely and it didn't happen anymore. After this day, I didn't see it happening either. What could have caused this? Any ideas?

 

[atcsllc]

Maybe interference due to the traffic and congested city communications??

 

[steebchen]

I don't know. How is interference connected to the camera gimbal? I think traffic/communications can interfere with the RC signal and the GPS maybe, but not the camera. Plus, it was only when going back & up at the same time. And the area where I flew over was really quiet, i.e. no big buildings nearby etc.

 

[UAVXTC]

Interesting to see that this happened when you started to ascend. Very similar to my issue but mine was so aggressive it unmounted the gimbal mount in mid air and went mayhem. The only fault indications in the flight log we're around 10 'GPS Faults' in the log at the time it happened

 

[atcsllc]

I don't know. How is interference connected to the camera gimbal? I think traffic/communications can interfere with the RC signal and the GPS maybe, but not the camera. Plus, it was only when going back & up at the same time. And the area where I flew over was really quiet, i.e. no big buildings nearby etc.

That Mavic is full of sensitive components, the gimbal works electrically, any form of interference via wifi, radio, cellular waves can affect electronics in any piece of equipment, the Mavic just happens to be a flying electronic platform... Imagine this, you are out in an open area no buildings, no cars, no millions of people using cell phones, your Mavic doesn't have to compete with any other signals, Now Put your same Mavic in the environment shown in your video and multiply the competition level of communication signals x 500,000 (i.e. People) and you inherently raise the chances of something going wrong with your drone.

 

[steebchen]

Well, I understand. Still, it was strange. Everything else worked perfectly the whole time. Only the signal got weak when I flew too far away. Thanks for your comments

 

[steebchen]

Interesting to see that this happened when you started to ascend. Very similar to my issue but mine was so aggressive it unmounted the gimbal mount in mid air and went mayhem. The only fault indications in the flight log we're around 10 'GPS Faults' in the log at the time it happened

Woah.. Yeah, it was only when I ascend and fly back. Not when I flew forwards, downwards etc. Only the combination of going back and ascending quickly.

 

[Flycaster]

There have been a few reports of the gimbal "reseting" during flight. I think it was/is a bug in one of the many "updates" DJI has been spitting out. searching here in the forums, and you will find out and what level of firmware is the "likely" culprit.

 

[UAVXTC]

Woah.. Yeah, it was only when I ascend and fly back. Not when I flew forwards, downwards etc. Only the combination of going back and ascending quickly.

My Mavic was only 4 days old and happened after the previous FW update, it was fine before. DJI have now had my drone for 2 weeks, they tried to say I crashed it without looking at flight data or the video which clearly shows the camera / gimbal fail 4 minutes into the flight when I ascended a few feet.

Hopefully they are looking at the data but I'm convinced they will try every trick in the book to go into denial. Their diagnostic so far is to quote me a EU266.00 repair bill.

 

[UAVXTC]

There have been a few reports of the gimbal "reseting" during flight. I think it was/is a bug in one of the many "updates" DJI has been spitting out. searching here in the forums, and you will find out and what level of firmware is the "likely" culprit.

I've documented 14 incidents so far of the same issue. That's only ones who have put up videos, I assume there a many more as searching the subject brings up quite a few threads on forums all over.

 

[Flycaster]

I know it's a bit late, but I never just do an update that they throw out there for the masses, before it has been tested. I don't think that they fully vest the updates, just throw it into a test bird and see what happens.

I really wonder about all these updates "stacking" up on another. I am still on .400 (what came on the bird out of the box when purchased) for the AC. And nary a single hitch, not even the uneven horizon issue.Update for me?

"I don't think so, Tim."

I wonder if there could be a commonality of these faults, and may be a function of "stacked" updates? Not from a fresh burn into a new mavic at the factory. We had issue with loading firmware into SSD devices, and did find that sometimes, sometimes, not all the original data was being wiped, and the new data was written into the devices, and did cause issues. Sometimes it didn't show up until the equipment was at the customers facility, and had been in service for a short period of time.

"Enquiring minds want to know".....

 

[atcsllc]

Please don't think I'm criticizing you, just trying to help.
I try to calibrate the gimbal prior to the first flight of the day, along with a compass calibration especially if I have changed geographical locations, I usually do a first launch hover to see if the Mavic is maintaining position, I move the right stick and see if it stays by letting go of the stick, if it wanders back with no input from me I re-do the compass calibration. Then I do full range gimbal checks with the wheel.

 

[steebchen]

As far as I remember, I didn't have the latest firmware. I don't think that it was because of a new firmware.

 

[steebchen]

Please don't think I'm criticizing you, just trying to help.
I try to calibrate the gimbal prior to the first flight of the day, along with a compass calibration especially if I have changed geographical locations, I usually do a first launch hover to see if the Mavic is maintaining position, I move the right stick and see if it stays by letting go of the stick, if it wanders back with no input from me I re-do the compass calibration. Then I do full range gimbal checks with the wheel.

I don't, and as far as I know you should not re-do the compass calibration often, only if you're in an environment which is in the pure nature, no buildings, no devices, no remote, not even the belt you're wearing. Then you can be sure the compass is correctly calibrated.

 

[atcsllc]

You might be confusing the Compass calibration with the IMU calibration, the IMU should only be re-calibrated if the app tells you to. The Compass calibration as far as I am concerned is a part of my RISK management checklist that every pilot should be doing to ensure safe operation of the aircraft. This is an Aircraft, it's not a toy, if the FAA is making guidelines for the operation of UAV's then we need to respect it as an Aircraft class vehicle and not a toy.

Regardless of the situation if you are flying for fun or profit this class of UAV needs to be treated as a real aircraft and real aircraft need compass swings for correct operation. The Mavic compass can be calibrated 100 times a day if need be, there is no limitation on that. All I am saying is that the tools are there for us to use, I hope this helps

 

[Youser]

My Mavic was only 4 days old and happened after the previous FW update, it was fine before. DJI have now had my drone for 2 weeks, they tried to say I crashed it without looking at flight data or the video which clearly shows the camera / gimbal fail 4 minutes into the flight when I ascended a few feet.

Hopefully they are looking at the data but I'm convinced they will try every trick in the book to go into denial. Their diagnostic so far is to quote me a EU266.00 repair bill.

4 days old? Mine had the gimbal reset problem out of the box :'(

 

[steebchen]

You might be confusing the Compass calibration with the IMU calibration, the IMU should only be re-calibrated if the app tells you to. The Compass calibration as far as I am concerned is a part of my RISK management checklist that every pilot should be doing to ensure safe operation of the aircraft. This is an Aircraft, it's not a toy, if the FAA is making guidelines for the operation of UAV's then we need to respect it as an Aircraft class vehicle and not a toy.

Regardless of the situation if you are flying for fun or profit this class of UAV needs to be treated as a real aircraft and real aircraft need compass swings for correct operation. The Mavic compass can be calibrated 100 times a day if need be, there is no limitation on that. All I am saying is that the tools are there for us to use, I hope this helps

Where do you have this information from? The Mavic Pro Guide says (page 52, Mavic Pro Guide):

Only calibrate the compass when the DJI GO 4 app or the status indicator prompt you to do so.

Also, when you do calibrate the compass, it says the following:

DO NOT calibrate your compass where there is a chance of strong magnetic interference, such
as magnetite, parking structures, and steel reinforcements underground.
DO NOT carry ferromagnetic materials with you during calibration such as cellular phones.
The DJI GO 4 app will prompt you to resolve the compass issue if the compass is affected by
strong interference after calibration is complete. Follow the prompted instructions to resolve the
compass issue.

I think you should not calibrate the compass in a non-nature environment, as I said in my previous post. If there is a small interference when calibrating, you take off, go to a high altitude and the interference is now 100m away, so your compass is now wrong since it was calibrated with the interference. I don't know much about this but this is my view and as I said before the Guide says you should only calibrate the compass if the app tells you to do so (or if you experience that something is wrong of course, this happened to me before and the calibration in a PURE nature environment (no RC & phone, I even took my belt off to be sure) solved this, but I never calibrated again and except this bug here everything works 100% fine).

 

[Former Member]

FW version v01.03.1000 took care of alot of the random gimbal resets, as will all subsequent versions.

 

[Swing4TheRing]

I've had several of those gimbal resets happen during mid flight as well. I usually land, power down and start back up and it works fine. It is annoying and does scare the heck out of you though as you watch on your screen.

 

[Aerial West]

That was the gimbal resetting. sometimes that can happen because the gimbal is overwhelmed by the wind in the area. I have flown right where you are.