Hello all,

I'm seeking for any pointers / past experiences on the problem I have encountered and would be grateful for any help before I send the drone for repairs (perhaps I missed something?)

New Mavic 3 (non-cine) drone suddenly loses orientation during the flight and starts rotating intermittently in a clock-wise direction on its own. The RC (new paired DJI RC, not RC-N1) controls can't stop the rotation and it gets very difficult to fly back (see attached screnshot - I was very lucky to get the drone back - I had to fly forward when it faced in the direction of return and backwards when it was rotating away from me ; I also have footage of the situation when it occurs). It won't take any photos. I have tried IMU, Compass, GImbal and RC calibrations several times. It sometimes help and I can fly ok, but the problem described above pops up again. All statuses (IMU, Compass etc) show 'normal', GPS reception shows OK (~20 sattelites).

There were no collisions, damage or transportation defects, it is in a perfect condition otherwise. It happens with both RC-N1 and RC controllers. All components (drone, RC, batteries, DJY fly app etc) have latest firmware updates.

Any clues? Thanks in advance!


UPD: Flight log => https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/6MDTLHZHK0KMK7J85W80

Hi,

Best to get help/advice from the forum is to upload your flightlog.
Use this link > https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Post the uploaded link on here.

cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 9-4 11:34
Hi,

Best to get help/advice from the forum is to upload your flightlog.

Thanks a lot JJB* ,

Here we go => https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/6MDTLHZHK0KMK7J85W80

alex_tseli Posted at 9-4 12:18
Thanks a lot JJB* ,

Here we go => https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/6MDTLHZHK0KMK7J85W80

If the drone is unmodified and this happens every time you fly (including at different locations), there is a problem with the drone and it should be returned

I did have a rotation problem a few months ago on a cine version purchased 11/2021.  
I was not as drastic as yours, it just could not maintain the orientation while ascending/descending, as if the left stick was always a bit to the side.
Calibration could not resolve it.
I ended up sending the RC Pro back and DJI sending me a new one.

DarthSLR Posted at 9-4 14:28
I did have a rotation problem a few months ago on a cine version purchased 11/2021.  
I was not as drastic as yours, it just could not maintain the orientation while ascending/descending, as if the left stick was always a bit to the side.
Calibration could not resolve it.

Thanks! So it was the remote controller after all, interesting! The rotation I face includes discrete stuttering, it rotates a bit, then stops, then rotstes again, the cycle is 1-1.5 seconds.

Labroides Posted at 9-4 14:12
If the drone is unmodified and this happens every time you fly (including at different locations), there is a problem with the drone and it should be returned

Thank you! The drone is unmodified, it happens randomly. I only flew ~10 times in different locations and 4 flights ended up like that.

alex_tseli Posted at 9-4 14:34
Thanks! So it was the remote controller after all, interesting! The rotation I face includes discrete stuttering, it rotates a bit, then stops, then rotstes again, the cycle is 1-1.5 seconds.

So it was the remote controller after all.
Your recorded flight data does not support this.
It shows no indication of spurious input from the controller that would cause this.

Thank you for reaching out and we're sorry for the unpleasant experience. I'm afraid that you may consider sending the unit in for a proper diagnosis. You can contact our support team to start up a ticket at https://www.dji.com/support . Also, the warranty can be applied depending on the outcome of the damage assessment including the warranty period of your unit. Thank you for your kind and understanding.

alex_tseli Posted at 9-4 12:18
Thanks a lot JJB* ,

Here we go => https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/6MDTLHZHK0KMK7J85W80

Hi Alex,

wow, what a flightlog, must be stressfull to see this in flight. Happy you could bring this costly drone to a land.

Only out of the normal value in the log is a Gimbal warning wich reached its yaw limit, this after some right yaw input. (at 3m00.6s in flight)
See chart, so this warning before the rotating started. Question : did this uncontrolled rotating also happend with no PANO mode in flight?

Many more of this warning in PANO mode and further in flight.

As 1 + 1 = 2; looks like the gimbal could become offset wich has somehow effect on the rotating of your drone. But never saw this before in a log.
No other signs like weird RC inputs etc.

Must be a warranty issue for DJI.

cheers
JJB

Thank you Labroides, DJI Paladin - I've started the warranty case with the retailer!

JBB*, thank you so much for the analysis. Yes, indeed, my hair turned gray in these 15 minutes. I had the same issue several days ago but it popped up seconds after the take off, so I assumed that if I could fly some 1000m it is all fine. When it started rotating I thought - that is it, it will drain the battery and fall from the sky as I won't be able to fly it back. However, I had some 30 minutes left to experiment and tried to use all my flying experience and managed to alternate between reverse flying and acceleration based on where the camera was pointing and flew back

alex_tseli Posted at 9-5 02:25
Thank you Labroides, DJI Paladin - I've started the warranty case with the retailer!

JBB*, thank you so much for the analysis. Yes, indeed, my hair turned gray in these 15 minutes. I had the same issue several days ago but it popped up seconds after the take off, so I assumed that if I could fly some 1000m it is all fine. When it started rotating I thought - that is it, it will drain the battery and fall from the sky as I won't be able to fly it back. However, I had some 30 minutes left to experiment and tried to use all my flying experience and managed to alternate between reverse flying and acceleration based on where the camera was pointing and flew back

Hi Alex / Folks,

  I had this "drone dance" rotation issue clock wise or counter clockwise sorry can't recall exactly which one it was. It was due to gimbal , IMU and compass miscalibration.  Once I re-calibrated gimbal, IMU and compass, the issue went away.  I actually observed this issue while the drone was near me and I can describe the symptoms of this and how it happens. The gimbal would try to center itself, but due to miscallibaration of gimbal / IMU / compass, the gimbal would drift to either left or right, it would then hit its limit either left or right and the drone would do a jerky yaw move in the same direction where gimbal had drifted to, the gimbal would then get kind of centered after that jerky yaw move and would drift again in the same direction (left or right) , the drone would once more would do a jerky yaw move and it would continue forever. I noticed this happens when the drone is hovering, if you force the drone to move forward or backward, this does not seem to happen as much, but imho it's best to land asap and perform calibaration of all 3 - gimbal, iMU , compass on a flat surface. Hope this helps.
Thanks, Mike.

Mzp Posted at 9-5 16:29
Hi Alex / Folks,

  I had this "drone dance" rotation issue clock wise or counter clockwise sorry can't recall exactly which one it was. It was due to gimbal , IMU and compass miscalibration.  Once I re-calibrated gimbal, IMU and compass, the issue went away.  I actually observed this issue while the drone was near me and I can describe the symptoms of this and how it happens. The gimbal would try to center itself, but due to miscallibaration of gimbal / IMU / compass, the gimbal would drift to either left or right, it would then hit its limit either left or right and the drone would do a jerky yaw move in the same direction where gimbal had drifted to, the gimbal would then get kind of centered after that jerky yaw move and would drift again in the same direction (left or right) , the drone would once more would do a jerky yaw move and it would continue forever. I noticed this happens when the drone is hovering, if you force the drone to move forward or backward, this does not seem to happen as much, but imho it's best to land asap and perform calibaration of all 3 - gimbal, iMU , compass on a flat surface. Hope this helps.

Yay, this describes my exact nightmare Indeed, I now realize that it is the gimbal that goes to the right and 'drags' the drone with it for an endless dance. Did it permanently stop dancing after just one triple calibration for you?

alex_tseli Posted at 9-5 23:17
Yay, this describes my exact nightmare  Indeed, I now realize that it is the gimbal that goes to the right and 'drags' the drone with it for an endless dance. Did it permanently stop dancing after just one triple calibration for you?

Hi Ales,

     Sorry you had the same exact nightmare I did Yes once I did that triple calibration - gimbal, IMU , compass, the gimbal became centered and the issue completelly went away for me and never reappeared. I think the trick is to calibrate IMU and Gimbal on a really flat surface to ensure to get good calibrationn and that your camera ends up exactly in the center after this calibartion (also  compass calibration away from metal objects).

Thanks, Mike.

Mzp Posted at 9-6 04:30
Hi Ales,

     Sorry you had the same exact nightmare I did  Yes once I did that triple calibration - gimbal, IMU , compass, the gimbal became centered and the issue completelly went away for me and never reappeared. I think the trick is to calibrate IMU and Gimbal on a really flat surface to ensure to get good calibrationn and that your camera ends up exactly in the center after this calibartion (also  compass calibration away from metal objects).

Thanks Mike!

I might try calibrating three in different sequences to see if the issue disappears.

Cheers, Alex

alex_tseli Posted at 9-7 01:58
Thanks Mike!

I might try calibrating three in different sequences to see if the issue disappears.

You are welcome Alex, hope it works for you just like it did for me

Cheers, Mike.

Dear all,

Just a quick update on this one - after an extended diagnostics in the warranty service this issue was considered as a manufacturing fault and I have received a new drone, that flies without any issues

Cheers, Alex

Good resolution!  Sounds like it took some real time though for turn-around to get a fresh one off the line.    Glad you are flying in straight lines again!  : )