Drifting

jonathnsmith · Jan 17, 2015

Forgive me for my ignorance if someone else has posted a thread similar to this. I'm a fairly new and inexperienced pilot. I've had less than 5 flights on a Phantom 2 and 2 flights on the inspire. I get that I'll learn how it handles the more I fly it but I'm trying to figure out what's to be expected in the different modes.

I've read some people talking about how the inspire the inspire stays completely still for them but mine seems to drift slightly. I've only used the default P GPS mode. Is this just something that drones do or am I doing something wrong?

Tahoe Ed · Jan 17, 2015

What version of the firmware are you on. You need to upgrade to v.16 if you are not there yet.

jonathnsmith · Jan 17, 2015

I'm using the latest firmware and app. I did the IMU calibration before I flew.

DaBone · Jan 17, 2015

Did you have a compass calibration before also?

If you do a compas calibration on a leaning table, you can get a drifting drone.
Make sure you have a table, that are level.

lrwskyfilms · Jan 17, 2015

The IMU calibration needs a flat and level surface, the compass calibration is 2 x 360 degree rotations.

DaBone · Jan 17, 2015

lrwskyfilms said:
The IMU calibration needs a flat and level surface, the compass calibration is 2 x 360 degree rotations.

That´s right. My fault.

Doing bookkeeping at the same time, so it's a bit much in my head right now.

lrwskyfilms · Jan 17, 2015

jonathnsmith · Jan 17, 2015

Isn't the compass calibration mandatory before each flight? I do it each time because I thought that's what I was supposed to do.

A friend of mine is building a web site for a church and wanted me to grab some footage for them. This was the first time that the inspire pretty significantly drifted. I took control as it started to drift towards that lamp post but otherwise all i did was do the auto take off. Also despite it being less than 150 feet up and within line of sight, it just freaked out on me at some point and lost all GPS even though I had full bars. It recovered and acted like nothing happened. I'm not sure if the gimbal moved or the entire drone moved but you can see it just jerking suddenly. Is this normal?

Edit: I should also note that there was basically no wind. It was very minimal so its not cause of wind.

shockwave199 · Jan 17, 2015

No, that is not normal compared to many other smooth flights I've seen.

jonathnsmith · Jan 17, 2015

shockwave199 said:
No, that is not normal compared to many other smooth flights I've seen.

Well that's no good. Any suggestions @Tahoe Ed or anyone else? Should i calibrate the IMU again?

Quadpilot · Jan 18, 2015

jonathnsmith said:
Well that's no good. Any suggestions @Tahoe Ed or anyone else? Should i calibrate the IMU again?

Calibrate the IMU on completely level surface. After cal check the sensor values for confirmation: From top to bottom should be 0.00 (0.01 var) 1.00 (0.01 var) 1400-1600. Do the compass calibration away fro any known magnetic disturbances, like rebar in cement. Even your cell phone in your pocket can be a problem. Do the compass dance every time you change flying location. IMU cal, once good, doesn't need to be repeated unless app tells you.

jonathnsmith · Jan 18, 2015

I recalibrate the IMU in my closet last night and just took a screen shot of the settings. In theory this is good?

Quadpilot · Jan 18, 2015

jonathnsmith said:
I recalibrate the IMU in my closet last night and just took a screen shot of the settings. In theory this is good?

It's all good! Don't forget compass cal. Happy Flying. Let me know how it turns out.

jonathnsmith · Jan 18, 2015

Will do. I'm on a (non-aerial) shoot all day so I won't get a chance to fly it til tomorrow. I do remember when I was calibrating the IMU last night it was definitely showing in the 1300s for the mod for the compass so maybe that was the problem.

jonathnsmith · Jan 19, 2015

I still find it drifting or rotating some on its own. Not nearly as bad as it was in that video though. Is that normal?

Tahoe Ed · Jan 19, 2015

jonathnsmith said:
Isn't the compass calibration mandatory before each flight? I do it each time because I thought that's what I was supposed to do.

A friend of mine is building a web site for a church and wanted me to grab some footage for them. This was the first time that the inspire pretty significantly drifted. I took control as it started to drift towards that lamp post but otherwise all i did was do the auto take off. Also despite it being less than 150 feet up and within line of sight, it just freaked out on me at some point and lost all GPS even though I had full bars. It recovered and acted like nothing happened. I'm not sure if the gimbal moved or the entire drone moved but you can see it just jerking suddenly. Is this normal?

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Edit: I should also note that there was basically no wind. It was very minimal so its not cause of wind.

Tahoe Ed · Jan 19, 2015

jonathnsmith said:
Isn't the compass calibration mandatory before each flight? I do it each time because I thought that's what I was supposed to do.

A friend of mine is building a web site for a church and wanted me to grab some footage for them. This was the first time that the inspire pretty significantly drifted. I took control as it started to drift towards that lamp post but otherwise all i did was do the auto take off. Also despite it being less than 150 feet up and within line of sight, it just freaked out on me at some point and lost all GPS even though I had full bars. It recovered and acted like nothing happened. I'm not sure if the gimbal moved or the entire drone moved but you can see it just jerking suddenly. Is this normal?

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Edit: I should also note that there was basically no wind. It was very minimal so its not cause of wind.

That is not normal but what I am seeing that you are getting some TBE in your flight. I have been able to fly out of that and have the FC correct the situation. Do your IMU calibration again and then do the compass calibration before you fly. I am assuming that you already did your Tx calibration.