Testing a Mavic Pro 2 and Controller without a battery

[dave_n_s]

I volunteer for the thrift store that supports our local hospice, preparing the more complex electronics for sale.

A Mavic 2 Pro and controller, minus drone battery and charger has got to the front of my queue.

The controller charges via USB and powers on.

I've figured out how to power up the drone from a bench power supply set to 16.2V - as the drone is powering up it draws about 0.8A - by connecting to terminals 3 and 7.

The drone's behavior is some initial small movements of the motors, then the camera servoes to straight ahead. Then the lights at each corner do some flashing, red at the front and red / green at the back.

All promising at that stage, but the controller stays displaying "connecting".

As a charity, I have to work within rules that say I shouldn't buy parts unless I can prove that they will make the item saleable, so until I've got a little further with this, I'm not allowed to buy a battery and charger.

Although I won't be able to do any flying captive, I suspect, even a hover, I need to establish communications and grabs some images from the camera.

What do you all advise please?

And thank you for helping me support our hospice.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

BTW the gimbal should do a dance during the drone's boot, does it ?

Go to

Mavic 2 - Download Center - DJI

At DJI Download Center, Learn aboutMavic 2

www.dji.com

download the Go4 app and install it on a phone, Android or IOS but choose the correct version.

If you were lucky you got between 1 and 3 very short cables designed to connect the side port of the controller to a phone or tablet, if so use the correct cable to connect the controller and phone.
BE CAREFUL to connect the cable to the controller in the correct direction/orientation, that side port is fragile. If its a DJI cable it will really fit in only one way but better forewarned.

If you got no such cables then ensure that NOTHING is connected to that side port and connect the phone to the controller via the normal USB socket that lies between the controller's arms.

Download the drone's manual

https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic_2/Mavic+2+Pro+Zoom+User+Manual+V1.4.pdf

Go to page 48 and read the linking section.
Trigger linking on the drone, it times out after something like 60 sec.
Trigger linking in the controller, see

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there are two methods of doing this
1) via the Go4 app
2) via a button sequence on the controller, the latter is shown in the youtube from 0:44 onwards.

If linking is successful you should get the camera's view on the phone.

Read the drone's manual and remove the propellors.

Go to page 59 of the manual and use the CSC to try to start the drones motors.

DO NOT allow the motors to run for more that a few seconds, I am not sure how well the drone's electonics will like all the current flowing through just two terminals
To stop the motors either use a second CSC or hold the throttle closed.

If the motors will not start, touch any red warning messages that run across the top of the phone's screen and see where they lead you.

It may not start because of battery communication errors and only two current passing contacts but there are other possible reasons .

 

[dave_n_s]

@Yorkshire_Pud, thank you for all that detail.

Yes, the camera gimballed to its position with a little dance.

I got no cables.

I was worried that the center battery data terminals not being connected would cause a logic fault.

I can connect more of the terminals to my power supply if that would help. I used 3&7 based on a combination of a post that said 3&4 and 7&8 should be connected and the pin out of a charger.

And thank you for helping out someone from the other side of the Pennines, although I exported myself rather further west 20+ years ago.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

@Yorkshire_Pud, thank you for all that detail.

Yes, the camera gimballed to its position with a little dance.

I got no cables.

I was worried that the center battery data terminals not being connected would cause a logic fault.

I can connect more of the terminals to my power supply if that would help. I used 3&7 based on a combination of a post that said 3&4 and 7&8 should be connected and the pin out of a charger.

And thank you for helping out someone from the other side of the Pennines, although I exported myself rather further west 20+ years ago.

Can't comment of additional connections as I don't know sorry, I assume there is one pair of contacts per cell but whether they all supply heavy load current or what, I haven't a clue.
I am actually somewhat surprised it worked with just two connections.
I assume you have the battery's pinout, if not it is readily available on the www

 

[Kilrah]

4 are +, 4 are - (each set in parallel), the center connections are data, definitely do not apply power to them.



You need to connect a phone running the go4 app to the controller and go through the pairing procedure to see if they'll connect then.

 

[dave_n_s]

4 are +, 4 are - (each set in parallel), the center connections are data, definitely do not apply power to them.

View attachment 176137

You need to connect a phone running the go4 app to the controller and go through the pairing procedure to see if they'll connect then.

Thank you. What I didn't know was if there is some current limiting circuitry behind certain pins on the drone side to separate motor and computing supplies for instance. Each of those connections is good for a couple of amps otherwise.

 

[Kilrah]

No it's all common, and yeah there are 4 pins per pole precisely to be able to handle the total current.

 

[Clipper707]

I have an extra Mavic 2 battery I do not use and wouldn't trust for long flights, but would be fine for powering up a Mavic 2 for systems checks and basic flight tests.

With long flights, the battery heats up and gets puffy on the bottom and I worry about it self-ejecting.

It's yours if you want to pay the postage.