Weird drifting in wind problem.

[AdvocateUK]

hi everyone,

I recently bought an Inspire 1 on eBay to go with an Osmo Pro that I own and it has a strange problem that I'm struggling to understand.

I already own and fly a Phantom 4 and had read and watched videos on how much better the Inspire 1 copes with windy conditions so was curious to fly it with a bit of a wind in the air. When I did I noticed that it randomly seemed to drift whilst in the air. After a few days (I only have one working battery so far) I managed to figure out that the Inspire only drifts when it is side on to the wind. I included some information about the drifting in a post on the DJI forums and was advised to calibrate the IMU and compass, which I have now done successfully.

Yesterday I went out with my father to fly our drones and we went down to the local beach, unfortunately it was too windy to fly his P3 or my P4 but I used the opportunity to test whether the Inspire 1 was still drifting, and it is.

Basically if the Inspire is facing into the wind it holds its position nicely and you can see it leaning into the wind to compensate. As soon as I turn it so it is side on to the wind it begins to drift immediately. If I leave it to drift it does seem to eventually notice that it is drifting and starts to compensate, or if I manually compensate and then leave go of the sticks it continues to hold its position against the wind, it just doesn't compensate automatically as I turn it like my P4 does.

If it was drifting and taking ages to compensate in all directions then I wouldn't be so confused by it, but the fact that it compensates perfectly and immediately when facing into the wind but not when side on is just strange.

Does anyone have any ideas what could cause this behaviour?

If I can't get to the bottom of it then I'll book the Inspire into my local(ish) dealer for a service and ask them to look into it, but I'd rather sort it out myself.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, and thanks in advance for your replies.

Alistair

 

[The Editor]

hi everyone,

I recently bought an Inspire 1 on eBay to go with an Osmo Pro that I own and it has a strange problem that I'm struggling to understand.

I already own and fly a Phantom 4 and had read and watched videos on how much better the Inspire 1 copes with windy conditions so was curious to fly it with a bit of a wind in the air. When I did I noticed that it randomly seemed to drift whilst in the air. After a few days (I only have one working battery so far) I managed to figure out that the Inspire only drifts when it is side on to the wind. I included some information about the drifting in a post on the DJI forums and was advised to calibrate the IMU and compass, which I have now done successfully.

Yesterday I went out with my father to fly our drones and we went down to the local beach, unfortunately it was too windy to fly his P3 or my P4 but I used the opportunity to test whether the Inspire 1 was still drifting, and it is.

Basically if the Inspire is facing into the wind it holds its position nicely and you can see it leaning into the wind to compensate. As soon as I turn it so it is side on to the wind it begins to drift immediately. If I leave it to drift it does seem to eventually notice that it is drifting and starts to compensate, or if I manually compensate and then leave go of the sticks it continues to hold its position against the wind, it just doesn't compensate automatically as I turn it like my P4 does.

If it was drifting and taking ages to compensate in all directions then I wouldn't be so confused by it, but the fact that it compensates perfectly and immediately when facing into the wind but not when side on is just strange.

Does anyone have any ideas what could cause this behaviour?

If I can't get to the bottom of it then I'll book the Inspire into my local(ish) dealer for a service and ask them to look into it, but I'd rather sort it out myself.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, and thanks in advance for your replies.

Alistair

Please try the search function on the forum......
Drifting in the wind
Not so stable in wind gusts...
Inspire 1 Drifting to the left side in ATTI Mode

 

[AdvocateUK]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply and the links. I had already searched and those links don't cover my problem. If my Inspire was drifting in winds generally then I wouldn't see it as a problem, it's the fact that it doesn't drift when facing into the wind, only when the craft is turned side on to the wind.
If it drifted equally in all directions then I'd assume it was an IMU calibration issue or a gain/brakes issue. The fact that it only does it when side on to the wind is why I created a new thread.

Alistair

 

[Mixchief]

There is a fundamental difference between the phantom and the inspire, the phantom is pretty much symmetrical in design therefore it will not matter what direction the wind is coming from aerodynamically the craft is identical, the inspire is not anywhere close to symmetrical, the front and back are narrow, with the front having a shape that will help it cut through the air, the rear will behave differently if running in reverse, because it has a flat surface like a bus fair comparison, a jet plane in the front a bus in the rear, now the profile of the inspire is like a billboard in the wind, it will be pushed even if the center is essentially an opening that allows air to flow. The inspire will absolutely be affected by crosswinds differently than the phantom.

 

[AdvocateUK]

Thanks for the reply

I kinda figured that was the case but I was / am surprised at how long it takes the Inspire to realise it is drifting and correct for it. I've seen it drift over 30 feet laterally before correcting and taking itself back the 30 feet without me touching the sticks. I thought the software would correct much quicker than that.