Calibration issue?

[TonyNI2013]

Hi guys

Had my P3A out this evening across a local lake and have a few questions - I was sending it out straight over the lake and it was veering off to its left when I was accelerating forward in a straight line. There was little to no wind so don't think it was being blown, could this be the controller?

Thanks for any help

 

[TonyNI2013]

Also I am using a Samsung Tab S 8.4 on my controller and the live feed is dreadful looking (blocky and looks terribly low res) is this because of the Tab S screen res?

 

[msinger]

It sounds more like a bad compass calibration. I'd recommend you calibrate the compass just to be safe. If you have never calibrated the remote controller, then it wouldn't hurt to do that either.

 

[TonyNI2013]

Thanks pal. I did calibrate the compass before flying it though. Will give it another spin when out tomorrow. Thank you for the reply pal

 

[souldronedlyer]

Tab s have good screen resolution and beautiful oled panel


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[TonyNI2013]

I thought maybe because the resolution of the tablet was so high in relation to the live feed. Tbh it doesn't look even close to 720p

 

[TonyNI2013]

I was out again today and the phantom was definitely veering off when I was trying to send it in a straight line. Anyone else experience this ?

 

[PrecisionAeroworks]

I was out again today and the phantom was definitely veering off when I was trying to send it in a straight line. Anyone else experience this ?

I can only think of 2 things that could cause the symptom you describe:
1) A wonky compass calibration (for whatever reason). i.e. the Phantom is improperly interpreting magnetic north. A slight disagreement between the compass and GPS in the direction of north *could* result in what you are seeing. I will admit that I haven't seen this type of issue with a P3 though. If the compass calibration is wonky, it's generally really wonky.

2) Controller stick calibration. If this is out, you could be pushing straight up on the right stick, but the aircraft sees that as something other than exactly straight. Recalibrate the controller through the DJI GO app.

 

[TonyNI2013]

I think I calibrated the compass properly though I will have a look at the remote calibration. Cheers

 

[Oso]

I'll add a couple of other thoughts to go with the most likely culprits already posted above...

Check your flight logs to see if you are simply giving it some left stick as you go forward. Sometimes people don't realize that they are not perfectly straight with the stick until they see their stick inputs in the flight log.

Perhaps your camera is not pointing perfectly straight ahead.

Again, just a couple of additional items to check since my first couple of thoughts were already mentioned several times above.

 

[Oso]

I think I calibrated the compass properly though I will have a look at the remote calibration. Cheers

If you do the RC cal, don't forget the scroll wheels. It is common to forget them and then think the RC cal is not completing.

 

[TonyNI2013]

Also in attitude mode the phantom will drift dramatically to the left even with next to no breeze. I know this mode doesn't have GPS lock etc and can move about like.

I'll get out and test it more tomorrow but I definitely don't want a drone that can't go in a straight line.

 

[PrecisionAeroworks]

^^That sounds like bad IMU calibration.

 

[TonyNI2013]

I thought the surface I done it on was completely flat. Is there a way to hard reset the drone back to factory defaults?

 

[TonyNI2013]

In attitude mode when it hovers just with no input from the RC it is drifting dramatically to the left. Not quite sure it is happening when flying about normally in this mode. Sorry for nagging on about it I'd just prefer it was going in straight lines before trying to fly along the coast

 

[jonebk12]

Hm mine tends to not fly dead straight either. I haven't really played around in atti mode, so I don't know how it'll behave but I'll try it next weekend and report back.

 

[yakangler10]

I dont mean to hijack this thread, but my question is related.
How long after flying do you have to let P3P sit before doing a cold IMU calibration?

 

[TonyNI2013]

Anytime I have calibrated the IMU was a big gap from flying or at least a number of hours.

I'm just dreading if I can't get it sorted in time for next week !

 

[PrecisionAeroworks]

In attitude mode when it hovers just with no input from the RC it is drifting dramatically to the left. Not quite sure it is happening when flying about normally in this mode. Sorry for nagging on about it I'd just prefer it was going in straight lines before trying to fly along the coast

I suppose it's possible a bad prop could cause this? But it seems like the IMU should compensate for that.

If it doesn't stay basically in place (accounting for wind, of course) and shows a drift in a particular axis in ATTI mode, that sounds like a funky IMU cal.

 

[flyNfrank]

I agree with the R/C needing calibrated this time around. Especially if you did a "proper" compass calibration prior to.