IMU Calibration on P4P

RPP · Mar 24, 2017

Please see attached image. Do I have to keep the bird tilted on the floor for the IMU calibration of the P4P as the figure suggests? This would be a departure from the P4.

msinger · Mar 24, 2017

You should calibrate the IMU like this:

RPP · Mar 24, 2017

Thank you. This is a different procedure than that on the P4.

Do you have recommendations for the values in the Gimbal Settings menu? (Speed etc)

msinger · Mar 24, 2017

RPP said:
Do you have recommendations for the values in the Gimbal Settings menu? (Speed etc)

You should try out the various settings and see what works best for you personally. The following video explains what those settings do:

Bone4Drone · Dec 7, 2019

msinger said:
You should calibrate the IMU like this:

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I just bought a P4P v2 and it kept tipping over on takeoff so never got it in the air. From the articles I've read, the culprit is most likely the IMU needing calibration. Hope so. Very good video and thanks for posting.

Bone4Drone · Dec 7, 2019

msinger said:
You should try out the various settings and see what works best for you personally. The following video explains what those settings do:

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I'm a newbie to the P4P v2 so forgive my ignorance. On my old drone, pushing the left stick all the way left or right would likewise move the camera to it's full left or right position. On my Phantom, the camera only moves a small amount left and right. During flight, how would I look left and right to the full range of the camera without purchasing expensive goggles?

Oso · Dec 7, 2019

Bone4Drone said:
I just bought a P4P v2 and it kept tipping over on takeoff so never got it in the air. From the articles I've read, the culprit is most likely the IMU needing calibration. Hope so. Very good video and thanks for posting.

Welcome to the forum.

It is not unusual for a new drone owner to cause a tip over on launch if they are too tentative with the sticks. Could that be your issue?

Bone4Drone said:
During flight, how would I look left and right to the full range of the camera without purchasing expensive goggles?

By rotating the AC. If only the camera rotated, you’d see the landing gear in photos and video.

Bone4Drone · Dec 7, 2019

That could be the case, I suppose, but have been flying a drone for over 5 years and never had this issue. I tried 4 times using various speeds...slowly....smooth but quicker (twice)....then moved the drone over to softer earth and tried a fast takeoff. Result was the same. Tipped over and dug a trench in the ground with the props. It was a windy day but even my cheapo $300 drone would have handled the takeoff with no problem.

Bone4Drone · Dec 7, 2019

Oso said:
Welcome to the forum.

It is not unusual for a new drone owner to cause a tip over on launch if they are too tentative with the sticks. Could that be your issue?

By rotating the AC. If only the camera rotated, you’d see the landing gear in photos and video.

Forgive if I misunderstood but that sounds like you might be referring to up and down movement. That works fine. What I wanted to know is how to get the camera to move Side-to-Side at it's full range of movement to see if that is working...or is the P4P only capable of moving its camera 5 degrees or so left and right?

Oso · Dec 7, 2019

Bone4Drone said:
That could be the case, I suppose, but have been flying a drone for over 5 years and never had this issue. I tried 4 times using various speeds...slowly....smooth but quicker (twice)....then moved the drone over to softer earth and tried a fast takeoff. Result was the same. Tipped over and dug a trench in the ground with the props. It was a windy day but even my cheapo $300 drone would have handled the takeoff with no problem.

Have you tried to auto launch to eliminate pilot error as the cause?

Bone4Drone · Dec 7, 2019

Oso said:
Have you tried to auto launch to eliminate pilot error as the cause?

No, I haven't but that sure sounds like a good idea. After so many years of flying manually, it's hard to break old habits. Thanks!

Bone4Drone · Dec 7, 2019

Oso said:
Have you tried to auto launch to eliminate pilot error as the cause?

Many thanks for all your help. One quick question if y9ou don't mind. If I use the auto launch, is there any way to limit the height that the P4P rises to then hover stationary? I don't want it to liftoff and go 122 meters high and then hover but I see no setting for that. 6 feet would be fine for me.

Oso · Dec 7, 2019

Bone4Drone said:
Many thanks for all your help. One quick question if y9ou don't mind. If I use the auto launch, is there any way to limit the height that the P4P rises to then hover stationary? I don't want it to liftoff and go 122 meters high and then hover but I see no setting for that. 6 feet would be fine for me.

It will stop ascending and hover somewhere around 5-6 feet or so.

Bone4Drone · Dec 7, 2019

Everything I seem to read on IMU calibration says that the surface you use MUST be perfectly level. On one axis I have finally managed to get it perfect and showing a level reading of 0.0000. But the other axis is frustrating and the closest I can get it is +0.0012 so my surface is not actually "perfect". I've spent over 4 hours using shims to get it exact and about to give up and try again when my hair grows back. How can I get a perfectly level surface to do the IMU calibration? Any advise is greatly appreciated.

Oso · Dec 8, 2019

Bone4Drone said:
Everything I seem to read on IMU calibration says that the surface you use MUST be perfectly level. On one axis I have finally managed to get it perfect and showing a level reading of 0.0000. But the other axis is frustrating and the closest I can get it is +0.0012 so my surface is not actually "perfect". I've spent over 4 hours using shims to get it exact and about to give up and try again when my hair grows back. How can I get a perfectly level surface to do the IMU calibration? Any advise is greatly appreciated.

You already have it better than most people I’d venture to guess, and for sure better than I’ve had mine the rare times I’ve done an IMU cal.