Sudden vibration during flight

aenbacka · May 24, 2016

Hello,

I was flying with my P3A today, and shooting some video. I used nd4 filter with 50fps and shutter 1/100. At one point during the flight I noticed short shaking in the video. The shaking happed twice, most of the 15 min flight everything was fine, however.

Any ideas what could be the reason? Could some setting cause the issue? It is definitely not an issue that occurs constantly.

bernek · May 24, 2016

Wind ?

alokbhargava · May 24, 2016

Video may not be smooth during yaws. Any small bird hit?

I don't think wind will shake it that much but yes sudden brakes shakes it.

aenbacka · May 25, 2016

Thanks for the info. Yes it was slightly windy. I will upload a small clip showing the vibrations.

aenbacka · May 25, 2016

Below find the link to poisition in the youtube video which shows the vibrations. Does this give some more ideas what could have happended at that moment?

Edit: The vibrations start at around 0:15.

Trackman1 · May 25, 2016

I had something similar. One of the 4 gimbal cushions had become loose.

aenbacka · May 25, 2016

Trackman1 said:
I had something similar. One of the 4 gimbal cushions had become loose.

What is the easiest fix for that? Does it require replacement?

alokbhargava · May 25, 2016

Trackman1 said:
I had something similar. One of the 4 gimbal cushions had become loose.

Gimbal vibration pads should be free to hold the gimbal. Two diagonal pins also should not restrict the motion. Check if all the 4 pads are properly sitting.

Also check if any external material is restricting the yaw motor free movements.

DennyBoBenny · May 25, 2016

My P3A does the exact same thing, very random. I've had it do it when it was windy, no wind, flying forward not yawing. I've checked the pads and they look good to me. I wonder if it's an electrical problem causing the gimbal motor to twitch. It doesn't do it enough to concern me...it's nothing to do with the a/c, just the gimbal.

aenbacka · May 25, 2016

DennyBoBenny said:
My P3A does the exact same thing, very random. I've had it do it when it was windy, no wind, flying forward not yawing. I've checked the pads and they look good to me. I wonder if it's an electrical problem causing the gimbal motor to twitch. It doesn't do it enough to concern me...it's nothing to do with the a/c, just the gimbal.

Yes it is indeed very random. I did another video yesterday using Autopilot waypoints, and that video does not show any vibrations.

DUIEUMERCI · May 25, 2016

If it' s not caused by wind, bird hit ,...you should try recalibrating your IMU
But first be sure you turned your Dji P3 OFF , at least 5 minutes before doing recalibration

Best are yours

SnoozeDoggyDog · May 25, 2016

alokbhargava said:
Video may not be smooth during yaws. Any small bird hit?

I don't think wind will shake it that much but yes sudden brakes shakes it.

I always have my brakes set to 70%

WetDog · May 25, 2016

DUIEUMERCI said:
If it' s not caused by wind, bird hit ,...you should try recalibrating your IMU
But first be sure you turned your Dji P3 OFF , at least 5 minutes before doing recalibration

Best are yours

What is with this 'recalibrate the IMU' meme that is popping up? No, this NOT AN IMU ISSUE. If you get an "IMU error", recalibrate it. If your Phantom takes forever to warm up, calibrate the IMU in a colder environment. Otherwise leave it alone.

band318 · May 25, 2016

aenbacka said:
Hello,

I was flying with my P3A today, and shooting some video. I used nd4 filter with 50fps and shutter 1/100. At one point during the flight I noticed short shaking in the video. The shaking happed twice, most of the 15 min flight everything was fine, however.

Any ideas what could be the reason? Could some setting cause the issue? It is definitely not an issue that occurs constantly.

I have had similar due to a sudden gust of wind.. Another reason could be props hitting a big bug/insect in flight..

Did you notice any tiny red dots of blood on the props or body?

aenbacka · May 25, 2016

band318 said:
I have had similar due to a sudden gust of wind.. Another reason could be props hitting a big bug/insect in flight..

Did you notice any tiny red dots of blood on the props or body?

I did not notice any blood dots, just checked. It was slightly windy so it could have impacted.

SteveAikens · May 25, 2016

As noted earlier - looks like dampers issue. Use only two pins, make sure the ones on the gimbal are seated properly.

aenbacka · May 26, 2016

Took some photos of my dampers setup, did not seem to be too loose.

Anything strange?

SteveAikens · May 26, 2016

Not that I see - other than a little dirt that you can blow off it.

No idea now.

Not A Speck Of Cereal · May 26, 2016

Don't use 4 dampers! The design is for using only 2. You get an extra 2 with your bird, but that's only to replace the installed ones if they wear or get stiff.

Also: the gimbal only works for so many degrees. The wind can knock it past that tolerance. However, if you're using 4 dampers, my advice is to try it with 2 before worrying about wind.

aenbacka · May 26, 2016

Not A Speck Of Cereal said:
Don't use 4 dampers! The design is for using only 2. You get an extra 2 with your bird, but that's only to replace the installed ones if they wear or get stiff.

Also: the gimbal only works for so many degrees. The wind can knock it past that tolerance. However, if you're using 4 dampers, my advice is to try it with 2 before worrying about wind.

All four were mounted upon purchase, you mean that I should remove two of them? There were also spare dampers included in addition to the mounted ones.