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Gimbal affects compass accuracy
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53410 46 2017-4-13
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Xman1
Second Officer

United States
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Not one to be still and not examine everything about such a device, I have made a fairly startling discovery today.  

New emergency proceedure to add to my list:  In the future, if you are having poor control and possibly switching to ATTI mode, I think one of the first things you should probably do is move your gimbal straight forward to make sure both compasses are as accurate as possible.  Having your gimbal at a 45 degree downward slant puts a number on compass number 2:



Forward

Forward

45 degree

45 degree

Down

Down
2017-4-13
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fans1ea8dd2d
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Brazil
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Hi!

My mavic is having mag interference when the gimbal is looking down. When its looking forward there are no interference.

I already did everything I can to try to solve this problem, refreshed the firmware and factory restarted the mavic, but this weird issue keep happens everytime I move the gimbal.

Anyone can help me with this problem?
2017-4-14
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DroneFlying
Captain
Flight distance : 10774613 ft
United States
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Interesting; I just tried this with my Mavic and didn't get any significant compass fluctuations based on the angle of the gimbal, including the 45 degrees you mentioned. By any chance did you have some kind of filter attached when you tried this? I'm just wondering if maybe there's some metal there that might be affecting your compass.
2017-4-14
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Xman1
Second Officer

United States
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No filters are on my Mavic.  It is stock.
2017-4-14
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rnrnrn
Second Officer
Flight distance : 430932 ft
Germany
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Xman1 Posted at 2017-4-14 17:25
No filters are on my Mavic.  It is stock.

Do you get a firm value - so fluctuating around the 300 mark or does is subside after a moment? It is really strange and I have not observed it with my Mavic. Thanks for pointing out - let's try to research this. Maybe more people could double check on their devices.

Cheers!
2017-4-15
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DroneFlying
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rnrnrn Posted at 2017-4-15 06:37
Do you get a firm value - so fluctuating around the 300 mark or does is subside after a moment? It is really strange and I have not observed it with my Mavic. Thanks for pointing out - let's try to research this. Maybe more people could double check on their devices.

Cheers!

Maybe more people could double check on their devices.

I agree; it only takes a minute to try and it's possible that mine is the exception rather than the rule.
2017-4-15
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fans1ea8dd2d
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Brazil
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Mine has a serious problem with gimbal. Follow my pictures bellow. Ots the same problem and it completely affects the compass during the flight
2017-4-15
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Xman1
Second Officer

United States
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rnrnrn Posted at 2017-4-15 06:37
Do you get a firm value - so fluctuating around the 300 mark or does is subside after a moment? It is really strange and I have not observed it with my Mavic. Thanks for pointing out - let's try to research this. Maybe more people could double check on their devices.

Cheers!

It fluctuates between 250 to maybe 320.
2017-4-15
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WolfgangStiller
Captain
Flight distance : 599416 ft
United States
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We should get a large number of us to check so we know if this is common or an isolated issue. I'll check mine as soon as I get home.
2017-4-15
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WolfgangStiller
Captain
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United States
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No issue on mine.
2017-4-16
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Jason Lane
Second Officer
Flight distance : 260144 ft
Philippines
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I did a quick test last weekend, and I definitely noticed a change in the compass interference as I tilted the gimbal. In my case, it never got into the orange, but I think it got as high as around 150-200. I plan to do a more thorough test and post a video or screenshots (it started raining just after I started the testing).

One thing I did observe was that the orientation of the Mavic made a difference. eg. When the Mavic was oriented facing South, the gimbal seemed to cause more/less interference than when the Mavic was facing East. (I can't remember which orientation caused the increase, which is why I want to do more thorough testing)
2017-4-20
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Fractures
lvl.4
Flight distance : 635531 ft
United States
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Following this thread. I will also try this when I get home and see what results I get. It does seem odd to me that its only affecting the compass not in use. It seems to me like if it was actually causing interference that it would be occurring on both compass.
2017-4-20
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Xman1
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United States
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The second compass is in the nose, so that is probably why.  
2017-4-20
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Xman1
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Jason Lane Posted at 2017-4-20 09:58
I did a quick test last weekend, and I definitely noticed a change in the compass interference as I tilted the gimbal. In my case, it never got into the orange, but I think it got as high as around 150-200. I plan to do a more thorough test and post a video or screenshots (it started raining just after I started the testing).

One thing I did observe was that the orientation of the Mavic made a difference. eg. When the Mavic was oriented facing South, the gimbal seemed to cause more/less interference than when the Mavic was facing East. (I can't remember which orientation caused the increase, which is why I want to do more thorough testing)

I have to try pretty hard to get it to read 300.  Change the gimbal position slightly and it will drop to 200 again.
2017-4-20
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fansf6c8e515
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Flight distance : 302802 ft
Norway
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just tested this and it increases when i tilt the gimbal to around 200
2017-5-7
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SkunkWerxs
Second Officer
Flight distance : 231217 ft
United States
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Hi Xman1,  I just noticed your post -- this is a good observation catch on your part Kudo's to you
                 I can explain why this is happening to some and not others :
In the gimbal for the camera you have two (2)  no actually three (3) small motors one for L/R on top
one on the side for U/D and one within the back of the actual camera for horizontal roll L/R these small motors use permanent magnets for there operation -- when you move the gimbal into a 45 degree
angle the compass 2 value will go up because you are changing the positioning of the top L/R gimbal
motor and that changes the motors magnetic flux field lines to point up into the nose where the compass is and if the gimbal is trying to correct your manual movement of it , the Values will go higher ---- a poor compass calibration can cause the values to be high ---- if you were to point the camera straight down in a 90 degree angle the
values will probably decrees and those that are in the YELLOW it's still within the acceptable values --- for those that are experiencing interference warnings in the RED when this manual procedure is done make sure your not forcing the gimbal against it's will into the 45 degree angle Try to do a good compass Recalibration.
For those that have minimal value flocculation and are in the GREEN, don't do any thing your compass is perfect      
I hope I explained this to where it can be understood
FlySafe-FlyFree

The motor in the pic is of a Phantom gimbal motor, the magnets are the Dark Ring inside the round housing on the side with the camera The Mavic's motor's are basically the same But half the size of the Phantom's

Phantom gimbal motor

Phantom gimbal motor
2017-5-7
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SkunkWerxs
Second Officer
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Has anybody rechecked to confirm my post ???????
2017-5-8
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Xman1
Second Officer

United States
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Note that I understand what is happening.  Mine rarely leave the green, but if it is at the perfect angle, sometimes it will push it into the yellow briefly.  It is nothing to be worried about in my book unless it was going into the red.  Note that if I move it slightly away from the exact area, it will not affect the compass much.
2017-5-9
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Toro_1977
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Flight distance : 9541 ft
Argentina
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Hi there,

Mine is going red as soon as I tilt it completely down, and it becomes green as soon as I get it straight forward."Compass error, calibrate" is displayed on screen in consecuense so I'm forced to Land or Move the gimbal position. I'll try to post a Video later today.

A user from another forum posted a possible explanation of the issue " This is happening because of the Top motor of the gimbal that is used for the Left / Right direction of the camera ---- The permanent
magnets area part of the gimbal motor -- What is happening is when you pan the camera down, is that the magnetic flux lines of the top gimbal motor are being redirected and as the camera continues to move down the magnetic interference will increase to a point, then decrease when the top motor of the gimbal is returned to the "neural" forward looking camera position, all this is because the #2 Compass is in the Nose of the Mavic above the gimbal motor --- This has to do the design and placement of the Mavic components
As long as it is not causing a compass error , I would not worry to much about it ."

As mine is causing Compass error I get worried

DJI Customer Support recommended to make sure that I have the latest firmware (Done) and there is no signal interference in the location where I fly the drone (Done). If this issue happen in the future, calibrate the IMU and the compass, try in three (3) different location.(Will do) but I dont think it fixes the issue)
2017-5-22
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Xman1
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Yeah, you got it bad.  This is odd to me as I need to ask why yours is so much worse than the default sample?

Have you tried a compass recal?
2017-5-22
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Toro_1977
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Argentina
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Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-22 06:33
Yeah, you got it bad.  This is odd to me as I need to ask why yours is so much worse than the default sample?

Have you tried a compass recal?

I tried calibrating compass several times, in fact if i calibrate the compass with the gimbal loking down, it will result in a fail.As soon as I get the gimbal looking forward again and recalibrate it success.

I'm researching all over the web in order to find a solution.Otherwise, i think Ill need a new one
2017-5-22
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Xman1
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United States
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Based on what you state, I am thinking a new one is your only option.
2017-5-22
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Toro_1977
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Flight distance : 9541 ft
Argentina
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I tried calibrating the compass several times, in fact if I calibrate the compass with the gimbal looking down, it will result in a fail, however as soon as I get the gimbal looking forward again and recalibrate it success.

I'm researching all over the web in order to find a solution.Otherwise, i think Ill need a new one
2017-5-22
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Toro_1977
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Argentina
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Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-22 07:34
Based on what you state, I am thinking a new one is your only option.

Yes Sr. I think the same as you do!
2017-5-22
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Griffith
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It would be interesting to examine the DAT file.   Hover if you like, but I think you can probably just stay on the ground.  In the DAT file, look at the RAW compass data to see if it deviates or just gets really noisy.
2017-5-22
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Toro_1977
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Argentina
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Griffith Posted at 2017-5-22 10:56
It would be interesting to examine the DAT file.   Hover if you like, but I think you can probably just stay on the ground.  In the DAT file, look at the RAW compass data to see if it deviates or just gets really noisy.

I will try that as well, and see if i can gather some extra important Data. In case, If you allow me ill contact you!! thanks in advance!
2017-5-22
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Griffith
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Toro_1977 Posted at 2017-5-22 11:12
I will try that as well, and see if i can gather some extra important Data. In case, If you allow me ill contact you!! thanks in advance!

Sure thing.  Looking forward to seeing the outcome.
2017-5-22
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Toro_1977
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Flight distance : 9541 ft
Argentina
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Griffith Posted at 2017-5-22 11:40
Sure thing.  Looking forward to seeing the outcome.

[img]https://forum44.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/%5Bimg%5Dhttp://imageshack.com/a/img922/4884/6bhWUW.png[/img][/img]Could  you please letme know the fileds we need? thanks a lot!!
2017-5-22
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Griffith
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Toro_1977 Posted at 2017-5-22 16:25
[view_image][/img]Could  you please letme know the fileds we need? thanks a lot!!

Rats! My office firewall is blocking that site.  I'll take a look when I'm home at lunch
2017-5-23
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Toro_1977
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Argentina
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Griffith Posted at 2017-5-23 05:11
Rats! My office firewall is blocking that site.  I'll take a look when I'm home at lunch

Sure mate. Thanks a lot!!
2017-5-23
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Griffith
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Flight distance : 98537 ft
United States
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Griffith Posted at 2017-5-23 05:11
Rats! My office firewall is blocking that site.  I'll take a look when I'm home at lunch

magx, magy, magz  Front mags likely effected, but lets check the back too
2017-5-23
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Griffith
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If you can, upload the whole DAT file to a DropBox (or something like that).  It shouldn't be too large if it just contains the experiment.
2017-5-23
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ftmonjardim
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Flight distance : 330807 ft
Brazil
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I'm facing this same issue..
I recorded a video, it's in portuguese tho, but I think you guys could understand what's happening..




2017-8-1
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Xman1
Second Officer

United States
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Yours is way worse than mine.
2017-8-5
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Fish fligh
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ftmonjardim Posted at 2017-8-1 14:21
I'm facing this same issue..
I recorded a video, it's in portuguese tho, but I think you guys could understand what's happening..

Eu tenho o mesmo problema... Você conseguiu resolver? Obrigado!
2018-3-11
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djiuser_UGBZeRryDOAE
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Brazil
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The same thing here. The gimbal must be the problem! The weird thing is: how come, some gimbals interfere and others don't. Maybe motor components(permanent magnets) used to manufacture some Mavic came to strong? BTW It would be great to collect some data about which mavic if fronting this issue. For example, mine is a Combo version. I saw another guy here that have the same issue and also bough his drone on a combo version. Is there anyone that bought the non combo version and also have the same issue?
2018-3-17
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Cobani
Second Officer
Flight distance : 612503 ft
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Argentina
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I have the same problem in my Mavic Pro, I have flown only 3 times and when I put the camera facing down, the DJI APP says in RED calibrate compass. When i check into the sensors, when more angle facing down i have with the camera, more interference i see in the compass 2 bar. I dont have DJI warranty because i bought them in EEUU but i live in Argentina.

I will try with a downgrade, reset to factory defaults, upgrade to the latest firmware, reset to factory defaults again, calibrate IMU, gimbal and a good compass calibration. Maybe will try with the demagnetizer tool into the gimbal too. I hope that these things resolve the problem, because i dont have problem if the deviation stays in green... the problem is that when start to facing down, the compass interference bar don't stop until the red zone.

It's strange... the drone fly well because use the compass 1 and these don't have problem with interference. But i dont like the red sign only for facing down the camera...
2018-4-9
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Kevin36
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Flight distance : 356476 ft
South Africa
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I have the same issue, was there a fix for it? My MP is 5 days old. My previous one did not have this issue at all.




2018-4-13
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Kevin36
lvl.3
Flight distance : 356476 ft
South Africa
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My DJI shop just exchanged my MP and RC. Fantastic service but the replacement one does the same thing
2018-4-13
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SparksBird
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United States
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Kevin36 Posted at 2018-4-13 06:42
My DJI shop just exchanged my MP and RC. Fantastic service  but the replacement one does the same thing

Guess they didnt even verify before sending to you.
2018-4-13
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