I searched some discussions on this but nothing on Mavic Air.
I am seeing a slow YAW to the right when I try to capture sunrises and sets.

I have the latest firmware, refreshed firmware, calibrated controller,  calibrated compass, calibrated IMU and still have the slow yaw to the  right.
The following videos hshow the YAW issue in realtime engineers calculate rate of YAW with stationary lights in the lower middle of the video and 4X the speed to see the movement more pronounced.





Any ideas out there?

In my mind, problem in pros... Try to change it.

Hello and good day pmshop. I am sorry for the trouble and thank you for reaching out. Please check the propellers of your DJI Mavic Air if there are damages that might cause the yaw on your drone as stated by nilsonleow on post #2. In addition I would recommend re-linking the RC and aircraft then re-calibrate the IMU as well as the compass to see if there will be changes. Kindly ensure that the GPS is strong enough when flying your drones to avoid the incident. Please keep us posted on the latest progress. Thank you for continued support.

DJI Stephen Posted at 6-23 10:34
Hello and good day pmshop. I am sorry for the trouble and thank you for reaching out. Please check the propellers of your DJI Mavic Air if there are damages that might cause the yaw on your drone as stated by nilsonleow on post #2. In addition I would recommend re-linking the RC and aircraft then re-calibrate the IMU as well as the compass to see if there will be changes. Kindly ensure that the GPS is strong enough when flying your drones to avoid the incident. Please keep us posted on the latest progress. Thank you for continued support.

"In addition I would recommend re-linking the RC and aircraft then re-calibrate the IMU as well as the compass to see if there will be changes. Kindly ensure that the GPS is strong enough when flying your drones to avoid the incident."

As stated in my entry, I have done all of your suggestions.

Swapped out with known good propellers (never used/ new)
Still YAWs

Wind slight can create yaw compensate?
The flight controller compiles the inputs and commands the esc for propulsion assist by stick command referenced to gps navigate

cutis Posted at 6-23 13:47
Wind slight can create yaw compensate?

this is in zero to very light winds.
And, if the yaw was created by wind, the drone is not all that stable for a high quality drone.

pmshop Posted at 6-23 13:51
this is in zero to very light winds.
And, if the yaw was created by wind, the drone is not all that stable for a high quality drone.

you might reverse the path to see if wind fulcrums reverse yaw returning home?

cutis Posted at 6-23 13:57
you might reverse the path to see if wind fulcrums reverse yaw returning home?

YAWs to the right while stationary, not while moving.

That's a bug that existed for a long time on the MA. When I had my MA one year ago, it had the same problem. It wasn't consistent, sometimes you had that yaw problem,
sometimes now. I remember many threads of people complaining about that.

saviour Posted at 6-23 22:29
That's a bug that existed for a long time on the MA. When I had my MA one year ago, it had the same problem. It wasn't consistent, sometimes you had that yaw problem,
sometimes now. I remember many threads of people complaining about that.

Downvote for the bug, not your post

pmshop Posted at 6-23 16:53
YAWs to the right while stationary, not while moving.

So if you hover pure opti none gps (concrete basement large enough) it refuses to stay motionless hover? None wind in basement nor blowback prop wash?

cutis Posted at 6-24 17:18
So if you hover pure opti none gps (concrete basement large enough) it refuses to stay motionless hover? None wind in basement nor blowback prop wash?

That would be the theory since I do not have a basement, yes.
It stays in place but YAWs to the right as seen in the videos

I have a similar yawing issue, but my MA yaws a little faster, sometimes does it while flying forward, and sometimes does it right at take off, quickly yawing about 20 degrees, then stopping at initial hover of 5 or 6 ft off the ground. I've searched, and found many with a similar issue, but no resolution.

yes have same problem, slow yaw to right, no wind, no damage to props!!!

pmshop Posted at 6-25 01:37
That would be the theory since I do not have a basement, yes.
It stays in place but YAWs to the right as seen in the videos

take it anywhere none wind none gps plenty lighting and see for yourself flight control is not yawing by defect?
align vision off, less belly sensory, signal lost hover, desensitize the sticks, then hover
restore afterwards the changed set

cutis Posted at 6-25 19:53
take it anywhere none wind none gps plenty lighting and see for yourself flight control is not yawing by defect?
align vision off, less belly sensory, signal lost hover, desensitize the sticks, then hover
restore afterwards the changed set

That was little wind, 18 sats locked.
OA off, can't turn the bottom sensors off with a Mavic Air.
Sticks are expo'ed for more motion required for YAW.

Please understand.
I shoot the Mavic Air up to 400ft AGL and point it to the sunrise area and for almost two minutes after that, the craft YAWS slowly to the right.
Not even holding the controller.

Same experience here.  Tried the time/hyperlapse with the Mavic Air and the frames show movement (yaw).  Did a hyperlapse with the Mavic 2 Pro, stayed pretty still.  The slight movement is definitely native to the Mavic Air, wind or no wind.  I thought it was my props as well, but changing them made no difference.

You should get a steadier response if using craft in tripod mode with good gps, also worth trying sport mode .

Drifting usually caused when IMU needs some refined calibration , calibration can move through time , a crash , hard landings etc , where we see very slight changes in attitude of the craft .

IMU "Inertial measurement unit" .

As far as I see it, IMU calibration on a level surface updates a table of values the flight controller software uses as a reference for a level stationary hover. From there the craft responds predictably to flight commands.  It also likely measures any sensor noise and thermal drift so that these technical imperfections are accounted for when using IMU sensor data in flight. - this is likely why there must be no vibrations during the calibration process.


Bad IMU calibration could cause drift and attitude issues as the flight controller fights to hold the craft in what it thinks is the correct attitude as opposed to the correct physical attitude.


The IMU usually has 2 types of sensors – angle and acceleration and in turn 3 sensors of each type measuring in the X,Y and Z axis. These sensors can, through vibration, aging, impact etc, drift in their response over time and thus an IMU calibration will establish a new reference for the IMU’s level/stationary state that the flight controller can work with to restore stable flight.


Think of calibration as the bringing back into line the measured craft attitude with the true physical craft attitude.


As to how often an IMU calibration is needed, Refer to your manual ; certainly after any impact or if there are suspicions the craft can’t hover in a level attitude in a windless environment.

Is this happening all the time when you fly or just sometimes? does it stop after a few minutes?

Fully understood hallmark

hallmark007 Posted at 6-26 11:09
You should get a steadier response if using craft in tripod mode with good gps, also worth trying sport mode .

Drifting usually caused when IMU needs some refined calibration , calibration can move through time , a crash , hard landings etc , where we see very slight changes in attitude of the craft .

You know the vibrations from actual flight are not accounted for during cal imu because props are not mounted although motors vibrate without props installed. Do rotating machinery vibrate during imu cal? Those rotating machinery vibrations during imu cal, are they equal vibrations during actual flights with propeller vibration noises added into vibration mix onto imu?

cutis Posted at 6-26 11:31
You know the vibrations from actual flight are not accounted for during cal imu because props are not mounted although motors vibrate without props installed. Do rotating machinery vibrate during imu cal? Those rotating machinery vibrations during imu cal, are they equal vibrations during actual flights with propeller vibration noises added into vibration mix onto imu?

Not to sure if this would work, it would probably mean changing to new props every time you calibrate, or calibrate everytime you change any prop.

I think if props effect the attitude of the craft then IMU should be capable of balancing this out, however if props ar damaged or ill fitted third party props or anything else added to props then IMU may have trouble compensating for this.
We seen some problems with so called quieter props causing IMU to set off warnings to show us something was not right on the craft.

If it was possible to calibrate with motors and props running Maybe! But I don’t think will happen anytime soon .

hallmark007 Posted at 6-26 12:00
Not to sure if this would work, it would probably mean changing to new props every time you calibrate, or calibrate everytime you change any prop.

I think if props effect the attitude of the craft then IMU should be capable of balancing this out, however if props ar damaged or ill fitted third party props or anything else added to props then IMU may have trouble compensating for this.

Guess it depends on how sensitive to vibration is resolution capability of imu to resolve fine detail vibration onboard.
You'd think imu is insensitive intrinsically to vibrations since the only cal trigger is incident momentum jolt, pretty hefty forceful vibrate.

cutis Posted at 6-26 12:39
Guess it depends on how sensitive to vibration is resolution capability of imu to resolve fine detail vibration onboard.
You'd think imu is insensitive intrinsically to vibrations since the only cal trigger is incident momentum jolt, pretty hefty forceful vibrate.

IMU is strong but sensitive to small movements, you can visibly notice this if craft is hovering in wind IMU is continually working to maintain craft attitude.

hallmark007 Posted at 6-26 12:48
IMU is strong but sensitive to small movements, you can visibly notice this if craft is hovering in wind IMU is continually working to maintain craft attitude.

Inboard drone vibration is the sum of all rotating machinery, 4motors, 1blower, 4propellers.
They range in frequencies, assuming rpm directly relates to frequencies, say 200-3000rpm, and, their oscillatory movement, called displacement range, say fractional millimeter oscillation. Now when pilot transients flight path, those properties change on the fly, since motors are not all same rpm. The imu must "ignore" such inboard mechanical motions, though tiny, though fluctuating frequencies, within predictable range?

cutis Posted at 6-26 13:03
Inboard drone vibration is the sum of all rotating machinery, 4motors, 1blower, 4propellers.
They range in frequencies, assuming rpm directly relates to frequencies, say 200-3000rpm, and, their oscillatory movement, called displacement range, say fractional millimeter oscillation. Now when pilot transients flight path, those properties change on the fly, since motors are not all same rpm. The imu must "ignore" such inboard mechanical motions, though tiny, though fluctuating frequencies, within predictable range?

Best way I can explain my thinking around IMU.

An example should make it clearer.
Imagine an X shaped quadcopter, if the desired tilt is horizontal to the ground and the nose of the quad tilts forward, the IMU will recognize this, the IMU will feed this error to the flight controller. The flight controller will send an instruction to the motors on the front of the quad to speed up and so lift the quad back to horizontal. As the error is being corrected the IMU is monitoring and registering the reducing error, the reduced error message is sent to the flight controller and the speed of the motors is adjusted accordingly until the quad is back at its desired tilt. Millions of these instructions are sent per second .

Yes, I understand IMU calibration.
Odd thing is I started with home made drones.

According to others, this is a known glitch.
Like I said, I have seen lots of comments about, but no solutions.

The one in question has been sent in for other issues.
Can't stabelize video in little to no wind, said YAW issue and 360° panos come out with different exposures throughout the shot while on manual exposure.

pmshop Posted at 6-26 14:40
Yes, I understand IMU calibration.
Odd thing is I started with home made drones.

You will always get different exposures with 360 if you use manual to expose, so if you start away from the sun and expose for that as soon as you reach the sun your pic will be seriously over exposed.

hallmark007 Posted at 6-26 15:33
You will always get different exposures with 360 if you use manual to expose, so if you start away from the sun and expose for that as soon as you reach the sun your pic will be seriously over exposed.

That is not what other posters said elsewhere - first part of your comment.
They even said to use manual in the DJI Photo Academy I attended.
Never the less, I get different exposures with manual or automatic.

And I try to get the sun but guess where the first photo is captured?
-12°below horizon or more, lighter exposure that washes out the surrounding areas of the sun.

pmshop Posted at 6-27 07:38
That is not what other posters said elsewhere - first part of your comment.
They even said to use manual in the DJI Photo Academy I attended.
Never the less, I get different exposures with manual or automatic.

You cannot manually set a drone camera for an auto 360 and expect it to expose differently as it turns away from and into the sun, your best chance will be auto, but is the auto good enough for getting correct exposure, it will do its best .
If it’s a cloudy day auto should work or manual just fine .

That is what I got...

Both in Auto and Manual and, on two different Mavic Air.
Been this way since I first shot a 360.

pmshop Posted at 6-27 09:33
[view_image]

That is what I got...

I suppose standards are at question here, I think your expectations are to much , but your expectations maybe higher than mine, I hope you reach your goals .

hallmark007 Posted at 6-27 15:38
I suppose standards are at question here, I think your expectations are to much , but your expectations maybe higher than mine, I hope you reach your goals .

Really? Here is a 360 pano from a Spark:


And my expectations are too high?
Mavic Air Flymore is $1,000 compared to a $700 Spark Flymore.
3 axis gimbal, better camera etc and it takes 360 panos like I attached?

No my expectations are not high...they are not met.