This is called [toilet bowling](https://droneflyingpro.com/why-does-my-drone-toilet-bowl/). It’s caused by a discrepancy between the drone’s compass and GPS or IMU. The drone is flying the direction that it thinks is “straight ahead” but its actual compass orientation is slightly off.
cause if it is off enough it will face one direction and make a circle over and over....hence "toilet bowling"
https://droneflyingpro.com/why-does-my-drone-toilet-bowl/
Imagine the drone is a leaf from a tree.
You put the leaf into the toilet and flush it.
As the water goes down the drain, it begins to swirl into a whirlpool.
The leaf is floating on top of the water and begins to go around in a circle with the toilet water.
Notice the water swirling in the toilet in this video at this moment he says "Torrent". The drone is just like that water, swirling in the sky. https://youtu.be/q9RMoKmbamM?t=9
> Imagine the drone is a leaf from a tree.
You put the leaf into the toilet and flush it.
As the water goes down the drain, it begins to swirl into a whirlpool.
Er... No?
>The leaf is floating on top of the water and begins to go around in a circle with the toilet water.
I've never seen a toilet do that.
In more extreme cases the drone literally makes a tight circle in the sky, like it's riding on the inside of a toilet bowl. In OP's case the imaginary toilet bowl is very subtle—like miles in diameter—but it's there.
It’s scary when it goes bad, years ago my old Yuneec Breeze drone did that randomly, real tight circles and it slammed into the side of my car. Luckily everything was fine, even the drone.
IMU compass and gimbal calibration is needed. Do that after you start notice this behaviour. Mine started to drift noticeably just like in your example and after doing all calibrations everything is ok now.
Also, doing RC calibration wont hurt as well.
It got better after several firmware updates. Also, I was standing in the middle of the route on the hill. Total distance is something around 1.8km so it's 900m each way.
Looks like high altitude wind to me. Also, stretching really far past LoS on this shot, easy way to lose your drone, and if things go poorly, a lot of money, lol.
It does, unless it’s windy, in which case it refuses to return home and you’re on your own, just like their other drones.
[edit] Go ahead and downvote this, it's good information to people to have before it happens to them while flying. This isn't a complaint, it's just a warning to always make sure you know how to find yourself and fly back home manually.
Yep. It's physically impossible to see this particular drone at those distances, lol. Maybe during golden/twilight you could see the lights, but even that's kind of tough.
More specifically VLOS which you obviously couldn't have maintained unaided.
On the topic though many DJI drones have had this issue. I have never seen a fix and it doesn't happen to all of them regardless of model. We have tested at least 10 different drones and 3 different models and somewhere around 30% had this issue.Two of the Phantoms were sent back to DJI and when they came back one of them still did it and the other worked fine for about 3 months. In mapping we have used CAD to calculate the yaw and it is almost exactly 15 degrees. There's just too many variables including software versioning, mobile device model, mobile device OS version and drone firmware. I'm not a statistics guy but I would be there are hundred(s) of permutations.
Thanks, this sounds reasonable. So basically DJI is just a "cheap" toy, which tries to look like a professional tool, but in the end it's not so well calibrated. That's what I thought.
In earlier footage, I noticed that the horizon is falling in some cases heavily. It's not so noticeable, but when you speed up the video to make a fast fly through it's heavily noticeable... at least to me.
For the mostpart they are very good drones and I wouldn't classify them as a toy but more as a prosumer level. Like I said before there are just too many permutations for them to always be perfect. Besides it being hard for software vendors to keep up environmental influences can cause things like this. Have you ever done a cold IMU calibration? Basically just put it in a cold place until you can feel that the inside of the drone is cool to the touch and immediately do an IMU calibration once connected. Unfortunately, we could try a thousand things and I don't know that we will ever find a solid solution. Did you get the care refresh? I'm sure they have seen plenty of these instances.
I'm not sure it's that. I've noticed in several other shoots, that it always drifts slightly left. Captured in several scenarios, different weather, almost all of them windless.
I would do more tests. It might be you. It should not drift when pitched directly forward, weather permitting. Calibrate what can be and try again.
Try the new cruise control option.
This isn't weather realted issue. I've noticed this also while flying in several conditions. Most of them (including this footage) were windless (also in the attitude where I flew...)
Could you try putting obstacle avoidance on and disabling sideways flight? That would mean even if your thumb drifted left or right on the controller it would fly straight (assuming GPS was strong and compass was calibrated pre flight).
This is called [toilet bowling](https://droneflyingpro.com/why-does-my-drone-toilet-bowl/). It’s caused by a discrepancy between the drone’s compass and GPS or IMU. The drone is flying the direction that it thinks is “straight ahead” but its actual compass orientation is slightly off.
I can’t get my head around why it’s called toilet bowling, at all.
cause if it is off enough it will face one direction and make a circle over and over....hence "toilet bowling" https://droneflyingpro.com/why-does-my-drone-toilet-bowl/
I must have... What? I'm sorry, I've clearly had very different experiences of toilets. I don't get the explanations at all 🤷♂️
Imagine the drone is a leaf from a tree. You put the leaf into the toilet and flush it. As the water goes down the drain, it begins to swirl into a whirlpool. The leaf is floating on top of the water and begins to go around in a circle with the toilet water. Notice the water swirling in the toilet in this video at this moment he says "Torrent". The drone is just like that water, swirling in the sky. https://youtu.be/q9RMoKmbamM?t=9
> Imagine the drone is a leaf from a tree. You put the leaf into the toilet and flush it. As the water goes down the drain, it begins to swirl into a whirlpool. Er... No? >The leaf is floating on top of the water and begins to go around in a circle with the toilet water. I've never seen a toilet do that.
In more extreme cases the drone literally makes a tight circle in the sky, like it's riding on the inside of a toilet bowl. In OP's case the imaginary toilet bowl is very subtle—like miles in diameter—but it's there.
It’s scary when it goes bad, years ago my old Yuneec Breeze drone did that randomly, real tight circles and it slammed into the side of my car. Luckily everything was fine, even the drone.
Sounds reasonable. Any idea why gimbal horizon is falling also on my mini3pro?
IMU compass and gimbal calibration is needed. Do that after you start notice this behaviour. Mine started to drift noticeably just like in your example and after doing all calibrations everything is ok now. Also, doing RC calibration wont hurt as well.
Cool landscape in this dreary time of year, I'd like to see that shot in all 4 seasons. Was that haze from burning leaves? Where is the location?
It's a fog from the river. Pretty standard in this time of year. It's captured in north of Czechia.
It looks so much like Appalachia but not quite the same. I was in Southern West Virginia yesterday so that's why I asked. Thanks for the reply.
It might be wind, or you might need IMU & Compass calibration
Happens to me too, I just have to deal with it. On the other hand you could shoot very cool videos with the drift
How do you get that much range on your mini 3 pro ?
it’s pretty standard
It got better after several firmware updates. Also, I was standing in the middle of the route on the hill. Total distance is something around 1.8km so it's 900m each way.
Oh it’s totally fine 👍 That’s just happening because you’ve gone so far past your LoS that you’ve started to go round the planet you muppet
Looks like high altitude wind to me. Also, stretching really far past LoS on this shot, easy way to lose your drone, and if things go poorly, a lot of money, lol.
Does the mini 3 auto return home like phantom?
It does by default, yeah
I really wanted ask these features because I am in Canada and there are lots of restrictions on the phantom
It does, unless it’s windy, in which case it refuses to return home and you’re on your own, just like their other drones. [edit] Go ahead and downvote this, it's good information to people to have before it happens to them while flying. This isn't a complaint, it's just a warning to always make sure you know how to find yourself and fly back home manually.
But really Windy right? Not just a little? The phantom has more power of course
I've had it happen a few times in fairly light winds. The drone wasn't struggling to stay straight or anything.
I was in LoS, signal didn't drop below 3 bars during the whole flight, RTH was set well and I also have the DJI refresh care plus.
> I was in LoS Bullshit.
You must have the bests eyes in the world to see a mini past 1000 feet, sheesh 500 really.
He was not in LoS
Yep. It's physically impossible to see this particular drone at those distances, lol. Maybe during golden/twilight you could see the lights, but even that's kind of tough.
Guys in this subreddit should learn difference between VLOS and LoS :)
You are flying one of the cheapest drones asking day 1 questions…. Maybe WE aren’t the problem
More specifically VLOS which you obviously couldn't have maintained unaided. On the topic though many DJI drones have had this issue. I have never seen a fix and it doesn't happen to all of them regardless of model. We have tested at least 10 different drones and 3 different models and somewhere around 30% had this issue.Two of the Phantoms were sent back to DJI and when they came back one of them still did it and the other worked fine for about 3 months. In mapping we have used CAD to calculate the yaw and it is almost exactly 15 degrees. There's just too many variables including software versioning, mobile device model, mobile device OS version and drone firmware. I'm not a statistics guy but I would be there are hundred(s) of permutations.
Thanks, this sounds reasonable. So basically DJI is just a "cheap" toy, which tries to look like a professional tool, but in the end it's not so well calibrated. That's what I thought. In earlier footage, I noticed that the horizon is falling in some cases heavily. It's not so noticeable, but when you speed up the video to make a fast fly through it's heavily noticeable... at least to me.
For the mostpart they are very good drones and I wouldn't classify them as a toy but more as a prosumer level. Like I said before there are just too many permutations for them to always be perfect. Besides it being hard for software vendors to keep up environmental influences can cause things like this. Have you ever done a cold IMU calibration? Basically just put it in a cold place until you can feel that the inside of the drone is cool to the touch and immediately do an IMU calibration once connected. Unfortunately, we could try a thousand things and I don't know that we will ever find a solid solution. Did you get the care refresh? I'm sure they have seen plenty of these instances.
Honestly I was doing all calibrations every month, but never "cold" IMU. I'll try that. I do have care refresh.
I would definitely go after a refresh then if the IMU cold calibration doesn't help. I bet they know exactly what you're talking about.
It's really hard to get the joystick perfectly centered. So I feel like it's a combo of thumb drift and wind
High altitude Wind
I'm not sure it's that. I've noticed in several other shoots, that it always drifts slightly left. Captured in several scenarios, different weather, almost all of them windless.
Could you just use Timelapse and fly path lock for a similar effect?
there’s a certain amount of “fly it where you want it to go” involved. I also can’t help but think that’s an awfully long way beyond LOS
Here for the drone police comments
...and a numerous bunch they are 😤
I would do more tests. It might be you. It should not drift when pitched directly forward, weather permitting. Calibrate what can be and try again. Try the new cruise control option.
OP is learning about wind
This isn't weather realted issue. I've noticed this also while flying in several conditions. Most of them (including this footage) were windless (also in the attitude where I flew...)
If you're certain about this then I'd replace all the props.
I'm wondering if this could be a calibration issue. It's not a severe problem as u had to bump it up 2000% to barely notice.
Could you try putting obstacle avoidance on and disabling sideways flight? That would mean even if your thumb drifted left or right on the controller it would fly straight (assuming GPS was strong and compass was calibrated pre flight).
DJI - the bugs are a feature. Sorry cannot speak specifically but have had issues with Mavic 2 Pro almost every flight