What happened here?

[John235]

I got a calm window and decided to get some shots of the snow on the ground. After takeoff and climbing to a safe height, I started out. Suddenly, the camera when crazy and even at one point seemed to flip upside down. There were no trees or obstructions. I immediately dropped down and returned home. The MP showed no signs of any damage, and subsequently, I took it out in the same area for over 20 minutes with no issues. Did I get hit by a gust of wind or a bird? I don't believe I bumped anything on the controller, although that I guess is possible. Does anybody recognize this event? If the MP was really upside down, why did the motors not shut off, causing a crash? Attached is the video I was shooting at the time. Since the incident happened just after takeoff, it is not very large. I live in the mountains of PA. The temperature today was 34 degrees when this happened.

My craft is a Mavic Pro, but I believe this incident may not be particular to the drone model.

Any help that would ease my mind is greatly appreciated.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

I've had this happen before, I don't think anything hit you. More likely some glitch happened which reset the gimbal, causing it to do the little "calibration dance" it does.

That's what I put it down to anyways and it hasn't happened since.

So my guess, glitch in the Matrix

 

[Cptrman]

No Attachment!

 

[John235]

I've had this happen before, I don't think anything hit you. More likely some glitch happened which reset the gimbal, causing it to do the little "calibration dance" it does.

That's what I put it down to anyways and it hasn't happened since.

So my guess, glitch in the Matrix

That I guess makes me feel a bit better. At least, it doesn't appear it affected flight. Thanks. Do you others agree?

 

[Mossiback]

I haven't experienced it yet, but it sounds like the classic Gimbal Freakout.
Search results for query: gimbal freakout

 

[Johnmcl7]

I've had the gimbal reset a handful of times on the Mavic 1 although never been able to trace down what causes it, the drone has seemed completely fine otherwise although when it was quite alarming when I saw it happen the first time.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

I haven't experienced it yet, but it sounds like the classic Gimbal Freakout.
Search results for query: gimbal freakout

Oh so it's called the gimbal freakout, I still prefer mine

 

[Mossiback]

I am guessing someone came up with freakout because that's what the pilot would do when it happens.

 

[John235]

I am guessing someone came up with freakout because that's what the pilot would do when it happens.

I certainly did!

Guess today is my day for glitches. The original MOV file is too big, and after I opened in Windows, trimmed it an saved it (it saved as mp4) it was not an allowed extension.. How can I upload it?

 

[Johnmcl7]

I certainly did!

Guess today is my day for glitches. The original MOV file is too big, and after I opened in Windows, trimmed it an saved it (it saved as mp4) it was not an allowed extension.. How can I upload it?

If you've a Google account you could stick it on Youtube?

 

[Mossiback]

I certainly did!

Guess today is my day for glitches. The original MOV file is too big, and after I opened in Windows, trimmed it an saved it (it saved as mp4) it was not an allowed extension.. How can I upload it?

I believe you need to convert that mov file to mp4 for it to work with Windows. VLC media player is a very good and free open source app that can do it. A fairly short video showing how to do it is here:

You will still need to deal with the length but this should make it view-able.

 

[John235]

If you've a Google account you could stick it on Youtube?

I uploaded to YouTube:

The freakout is about 30 seconds in.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

I uploaded to YouTube:

The freakout is about 30 seconds in.

Yeah, that's the gimbal freakout for sure, it does scare ya when it happens!

 

[Denny G]

Yeah, that's the gimbal freakout for sure, it does scare ya when it happens!

Scary! I had the same thing happen this past summer with my Mavic Pro
I was flying over a lake! Had to change my underwear! Lol

 

[Aussie Oldtimer]

Aliens?
i haven't had that occur to me (yet). I would have rth asap after that but ....

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

Aliens?
i haven't had that occur to me (yet). I would have rth asap after that but ....

It is a trouser changing moment!

 

[John235]

Aliens?
i haven't had that occur to me (yet). I would have rth asap after that but ....

Thinking of a wind gust, I waited until the image turned upright, just a split second, then descended 50 ft or so, while being careful not to drop too far. Then thinking of hawks, I spun it around and zoomed toward home before hitting RTH. Upon landing, I inspected the props and drone in minute detail. Seeing nothing, I took off again, but stayed close and flew around a bit before heading out again. All told, it probably cost me half my flight time on that battery.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

Thinking of a wind gust, I waited until the image turned upright, just a split second, then descended 50 ft or so, while being careful not to drop too far. Then thinking of hawks, I spun it around and zoomed toward home before hitting RTH. Upon landing, I inspected the props and drone in minute detail. Seeing nothing, I took off again, but stayed close and flew around a bit before heading out again. All told, it probably cost me half my flight time on that battery.

Yeah, you can see by the video you took evasive action, I've had it happen to me, I immediately landed and that was me done for the day!

 

[Bradwheat]

That's happened to me 2 or 3 times with my MP1 and it scared the pee-diddly out of me each time. I've had mine for a little over a year.

I think the best thing to do is just let go of the sticks and wait it out. It's not too long, but certainly feels like a VERY long 20 seconds or so.