Yes, that's right, I called my P3P a "drone." Since the last firmware update, my P3P seems to be more and more unstable. My P3P doesn't fly straight. It doesn't look straight. It doesn't even float straight.
1. I took off, flew straight up about 15 feet, then hovered. Almost immediately the P3P started floating away. I let it go about 15 feet before I took control. This one might have been because I hadn't calibrated. (I usually calibrate before every flight)

2. 95% of the time, if I point the P3P at a target with the crosshairs on my display and fly towards a target it never makes it there. It always flies left of target.
3. If I take off and fly backwards 100ft (away from me).. then "straight" back towards me, the P3P is easily 5-10ft copter-left of initial starting point.
4. If I take off and hover. Many times the P3P starts to rotate on its own
5. If I fly crosswind then let go of controls, the P3P will drift downwind a substantial amount before stopping (or crashing into the tallest flagpole in North America, flipping over repeatedly and crashing to the concrete ground. WHichever happens first)
6. Like many others, I have an uneven horizon, but I've figured out how to fix that. If the horizon is leaning to the left, I just spin the quad to the left and lo and behold the left-leaning horizon is gone, because its then leaning right.



Yes, I have calibrated the IMU and everything else that can be calibrated.
Yes, I have the current most up-to-date firmware

Is this just what we are to expect from the P3P from now on? Do I just have to fly high enough to mask all of these flaws? Will the next firmware actually address issues like this? I'm curious to hear (more) from others.

Lawrence

Aloha Lawrence,

     When you calibrated the IMU, did you use a level to create a truly flat platform for the P3P to sit on?  The sensors are so sensitive that it really makes a big difference.  Also, when you calibrate your compass, do you make the P3 turn on its own axis?  Imagine suspending the P3 from a string and letting it spin.  The least amount of variation off of that axis makes the P3 fly much more accurately.  I fixate now on a spot on the ground and rotate the P3 as if it is on a string, but I actually do have a string rig for extreme accuracy.  There is no wobble at all.  I have also seen videos of people pointing the side of the P3 down, instead of pointing the camera straight down for the second half of the calibration.  That will really screw things up!  And sometimes, I have to do two rotations of both halves of the calibration procedure and that also increases the accuracy.

     What do I get out of this anal approach to calibration?  I once had to get footage from a location that was 150 feet from a new microwave repeater tower (for police, fire and civil defense use).  Well, it turns out the new technology included a jammer inside the tower.  After my P3P went straight up well over 200 feet and I had gotten a few pans of footage, the P3 got totally jammed.  Lost control but not video (although I could not turn off the recording video).  The P3 went into Failsafe RTH and landed in the same square foot it took off from.  I have no desire to do that again and I have never seen that level of accuracy since then, but I did a double-take anyway!  I also stay far away from that tower!

Aloha and Drone On!

I did a 20min flight today and my P3s is also not going straight forward. It goes heavily left when wanna go straight! Didn't have any of these problems before. Not looking good at all!

My P3P flies perfectly straight, and I only calibrated the compass when it was first started about 60 flights ago. I also did the advanced IMU calibration, make sure you do the advanced, and be on a truly level surface. It has survived 3 FW updates and 2 IOS and GO app updates with no ill effects.

I have flown lots of MRs some big some small with WKM and NAZA controllers. Typically you only calibrate the compass if you have moved a big distance as magnetic north changes with location.

What you are  describing, not flying straight seems to indicate that the compass is not properly calibrated. Make sure when you calibrate you are in an area free of metal objects and no overhead or underground power lines. Make sure you are not carrying your cellphone or any metals like a keychain or large metal belt buckle. Don't be close to a car. Even metal water or sewer pipes you can't see can cause a problem, so try different spots, middle of a big lawn usually works well. I have seen problems when done in parking lots and drive ways.

On all my MRs once I get a good calibration. I don't recalibrate unless I notice a problem.

If a FW update causes problems like this, just do a careful recalibration of compass, IMU (advanced) and gimbal.

If that does not fix the problem contact your dealer or DJI.

Yep not flying straight is known issue and has been talked about by DJI Dave or Tim  and was introduced in the 1 4 10. Firmware release.  I have this problem at times but not the drift you talk about.

Aloha levreault & Tomppa,

     Westside Osprey is providing real good advice.  Like he said, "If that does not fix the problem contact your dealer or DJI."

Aloha and Drone On!

Sir Edward K Posted at 2015-10-24 14:57
Yep not flying straight is known issue and has been talked about by DJI Dave or Tim  and was introdu ...

That's when I first started noticing it, a little while after updating to 1.4.10

Ok thanks for the advice! Will try to carefully calibrate and do a test flight if anything changes!
Btw, what is that big distance when you have to recalibrate the compass? I calibrate before every flight...

I magnetic declination has changed significantly, you may want to recalibrate.

Check locations by using this search:
https://www.google.com/search?cl ... =UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Find your area.

I have actually flown at home Northern  New England and in Texas and a bunch of locations in between w/o doing the compass calibration with my S800 and it was fine all the time.

I would say though that you are generally OK within a few hundred miles. Having said that there are a few places in Maine that actually varies 5 degrees in a few miles.

So I would say calibrate if you notice a problem. And flying in a new location, fly carefully at first make sure MR flies straight, if not calibrate.

I would also add that the first time I fly my MRs anywhere even if it is in the same place as before, but a new day, I do a test flight first, start with a hover at 10' or so switch into GPS (I always T/O and land in Atti) check stability of the hover, with my P3P it is usually within 3' or so depending on wind. The climb up a bit higher and fly some straight lines out and back and, left and right, check camera control and then fly a couple circuits like a model plane at first ¼ throttle or so, faster ¾ is really as fast as I ever fly. If every thing checks out OK (this is all within 100-200') then I will fly my "mission". This procedure only takes a minute or 2  and is always done over a safe area with no one even close. I see this a part of the Pre flight check you should also do before every flight (Props tight and no cracks or dents, check all screws tight, no cracks, gimbal is free and function with power on).

You might find this a stupid question - but what mode are you flying in? P-GPS, P-OPTI, P-ATTI, A or F (see User Manual v1.4 page 11)?

Phuglie Posted at 2015-10-25 08:39
You might find this a stupid question - but what mode are you flying in? P-GPS, P-OPTI, P-ATTI, A or ...

i fly in P mode with 12++ sats locked in, unless I'm doing any of the new "trick modes" in which case its "F" of course.

levreault Posted at 2015-10-26 06:40
i fly in P mode with 12++ sats locked in, unless I'm doing any of the new "trick modes" in which c ...

Then I suggest you talk to technical support on the on-line chat. They may ask you to upload a full flight log and will walk you through the process. They will quickly see if it needs to be sent in for repair. There are no quick fire answers to suggest - sorry

I also have this problem. When the drone is going forward there is a noticeable drift to the left. Also when going to the left, the drone drifts to the front.

I do not notice this drift, at least it is not quite so noticeable, when moving towards the back and/or to the right.  Like the OP I've calibrated all the items IMU, Gimbal, compass that I can.  I notice this in p mode as well as f mode in the course lock function.  I do not notice this problem in atti mode.

I take it my error is due to the compass not being calibrated correctly. I've noticed for the phantom 2 the process was to use a magnet to reset the compass on the phantom 2. Is this procedure also reccomended for the phantom 3?
Here is video explaining the procedure for the phantom 2:

I did everything on a flat surface....level and I get drifting now after the previous update.  Never had it before.  Mine will hover and stay put but when I go throttle ahead mine veers right slightly and I have to compensate for this with the controller which can become frustrating.  

Ok. So i carefully calibrated everything today. Calibrated the IMU on a flat surface and i put on top of the motors wooden board and on top of that i put on a bubble level and tried to get it as level as possible. Also when the P3 was cold, so cold IMU calibrated. Right after that i calibrated the gimbal. Then i went outside and tried to find a place where there was not any metal objects etc and did a compass calibration. It seemed to work. I did notice slight drifting while i was hovering (probably 'cause only 7 satellites), but i got a fairly straight line now when going forward. Everyone that has the same problems, try to do the above same way and hopefully your P3 will fly straight again.

Thanks.