Any Ideas? New Phantom 3 hovers in circles

[CaptainDrone798]

I received a replacement Phantom 3 Professional from DJI China (drone only). I did the binding thing to my RC. Upgraded the firmware to version 1.08. Did the compass calibration.

Took it out for a test flight. Brought it to a 3 foot hover and it began to drift to the right, and then faster so brought it down quick and it tipped over.

Put it on my concrete basement floor and ran the IMU Calibration. Went back outside, redid the compass calibration. Took off to a hover of 3 feet. It seems to hover for a second, then drop 6 inchs. Then it begins to drift as if it's tracing the outline of a circle. Small at first but the circle increases. Bringing it down while it's moving of course causes it to tip over.

Any thoughts on what the issue could be?

 

[Oso]

I received a replacement Phantom 3 Professional from DJI China (drone only). I did the binding thing to my RC. Upgraded the firmware to version 1.08. Did the compass calibration.

Took it out for a test flight. Brought it to a 3 foot hover and it began to drift to the right, and then faster so brought it down quick and it tipped over.

Put it on my concrete basement floor and ran the IMU Calibration. Went back outside, redid the compass calibration. Took off to a hover of 3 feet. It seems to hover for a second, then drop 6 inchs. Then it begins to drift as if it's tracing the outline of a circle. Small at first but the circle increases. Bringing it down while it's moving of course causes it to tip over.

Any thoughts on what the issue could be?

I would normally say compass cal, but if you are sure you've done a good compass calibration in a good area, then perhaps you need to do an RC calibration.

 

[flpholt]

perhaps there is metal in concrete where you did your imu

 

[Multicoptertec]

Where did you calibrate the compass? Inside? Outside? Near any metal, etc?

 

[flpholt]

he did it on concrete basement floor

 

[Mako79]

perhaps there is metal in concrete where you did your imu

IMU isn't affected by metal.
Just to clarify:
IMU - Phantom needs to be cold and on flat surface. You can do this indoors.
Compass - in an open grassy field. You can do this outdoors.

You are getting TBE (toilet bowl effect). Redo your compass dance in an open field.

 

[flpholt]

IMU isn't affected by metal.
Just to clarify:
IMU - Phantom needs to be cold and on flat surface. You can do this indoors.
Compass - in an open grassy field. You can do this outdoors.

You are getting TBE (toilet bowl effect). Redo your compass dance in an open field.

your wrong there metal will affect a imu

 

[Oso]

Where did you calibrate the compass? Inside? Outside? Near any metal, etc?

he did it on concrete basement floor

Put it on my concrete basement floor and ran the IMU Calibration. Went back outside, redid the compass calibration.

He did the IMU on the basement floor which is fine. He went outside to do the compass calibration. @CaptainDrone798 is not a newbie. I have confidence he knows where to do a good compass calibration.

 

[flpholt]

He did the IMU on the basement floor which is fine. He went outside to do the compass calibration. @CaptainDrone798 is not a newbie. I have confidence he knows where to do a good compass calibration.

but some concrete floors are full of metal which would affect the imu

 

[Oso]

but some concrete floors are full of metal which would affect the imu

IMU does not care about metal.

 

[CaptainDrone798]

Where did you calibrate the compass? Inside? Outside? Near any metal, etc?

Outside, same place I've calibrated the compass on other drones. The location has not been an issue in the past.

 

[CaptainDrone798]

IMU isn't affected by metal.


You are getting TBE (toilet bowl effect). Redo your compass dance in an open field.

Never had that happen before with other Phantoms. Will try a large open field tomorrow for compass calibration.

 

[Mako79]

your wrong there metal will affect a imu

Ahh.. No.
The IMU has gyro and accelerometer and barometric sensors which none will be affected by magnetic influences.

 

[nix240z]

IMU does not care about metal.

I did a IMU calibration on a level tile floor and got a bad Imu calibration with numbers out of range. There was an metal air duct right under the tile floor, which was causing the high range of numbers.... moved a few feet away and all good.

 

[Oso]

I did a IMU calibration on a level tile floor and got a bad Imu calibration with numbers out of range. There was an metal air duct right under the tile floor, which was causing the high range of numbers.... moved a few feet away and all good.

Thats awesome, but IMU doesn't care about metal.

 

[nix240z]

Thats awesome, but IMU doesn't care about metal.

ok thats great news guy

 

[HWCM]

ok thats great news guy

He is right. There is nothing in the IMU to detect or care about metal or the influence of metal. It just wants flat and level. You could do it on the steel structure of a skyscraper if you wanted to, as long as it is flat and level.

 

[HWCM]

Never had that happen before with other Phantoms. Will try a large open field tomorrow for compass calibration.

Do it a couple more times in a row. If it still acts wonky, you may have a bad compass or the compass orientation is not correct. The compass physically needs to face magnetic north. I have seen compass chips on builds I have done where the compass was put on backwards to the way it was supposed to be. But usually this will cause the quad to quickly shoot off in a random direction and keep going.

 

[CaptainDrone798]

He did the IMU on the basement floor which is fine. He went outside to do the compass calibration. @CaptainDrone798 is not a newbie. I have confidence he knows where to do a good compass calibration.

Thanks buds!

 

[CaptainDrone798]

Since I'm perplexed by this, I'm now grasping at straws.... So, I downloaded the new DJI GO App (the one released today), placed the Phantom on a wooden table, levelled it to perfection, redid the IMU calibration & the results came out spot on (zeros across the top line). Tomorrow I'll take it to a larger field (larger than my backyard) and calibrate the compass. If it still flys toilet bowl wonky after all that, then I've got a defective unit.