Gimbal won't stay level?

[CO_Mark]

I'm having trouble with my gimbal not staying level on my new X5. I'm new to Inspire's, but it sounds as though this isn't a new problem.

Has anyone updated to 1.05 successfully and had this issue fixed? Or is there some other way to fix it? FPV is not on, I've done several gimbal calibrations, even tried to adjust the gimbal roll. None of it works - do a few turns, and suddenly the horizon is off again.

 

[DaBone]

That wasn´t good, it´s the same I have on X3..
Works great, then after a few turns it´s off again.

 

[johnmont250]

do a cold and level imu calibration. leave it in the garage or a cool place for a while, then select imu calibration as soon as you power it on. then do a gimbal calibration. should fix it.

 

[CO_Mark]

Johnmont250, I hope that does it. I'll give it a shot in the morning.

Joola, is that with the X3 or the X5? Strange only some people seem to have troubles with this, while others are fine.

 

[Quadpilot]

The horizon drift seems to develop either when the craft is being yawed with the gimbal in follow mode of when the gimbal is being panned in free mode. Usually develops going through more than 90 degree arc. It fixes itself if you let it hover for 10-15 seconds. Or you can fix it yourself with gimbal correction. Or go through the hassle of what joola does and fix it in post. IMU cold calibration done twice, so that doesn't fix it for me. My X3 does it just as much as the X5. Find me a gimbal that has no horizon drift, and I'll start believing in unicorns.

Look, even commercial aircraft with ring laser gyros develop horizon drift when in a long continuous bank, so don't expect the FC sensors on the Inspire to be superior to their performance. It's called precession, and is a fact of life in the air.

 

[Alastair]

Just hover in place and adjust it in the app.

 

[skylabimaging]

you can adjust horizon manually in the app

 

[The Editor]

I'm having trouble with my gimbal not staying level on my new X5. I'm new to Inspire's, but it sounds as though this isn't a new problem.

Has anyone updated to 1.05 successfully and had this issue fixed? Or is there some other way to fix it? FPV is not on, I've done several gimbal calibrations, even tried to adjust the gimbal roll. None of it works - do a few turns, and suddenly the horizon is off again.

This is normal and I will try and explain why.
A three axis brushless gimbal dynamically adjusts in all three axis in real time irrespective of one particular plane of one axis - that's the whole point of it a being three axis gimbal.

How efficient the correction is will be totally dependent on the Proportional-Integral-Derivative or PID tuning of the gimbal control unit or GCU coupled with the weighting factor or 'trust' value given to the gyros over and above the accelerometers. If a high trust is put into the gyros, this will take less account of the accelerometers. This is good for slow, curved movements and will allow the gimbal to retain horizon level in those sort of maneuvers. However, if too much trust is put in the gyro then it can cause horizon drift during dynamic flight. This is why both PID and trust values are so critical. If you throw into the mix the fact that the Zenmuse X3 and X5 (like the other Zenmuse offerings) are feedback looped into the flight controller you have a very delicate balance that has to be fine tuned.
We do not know whether the algorithms within the Zenmuse are dynamically altering this 'trust' value or whether it is fixed.
In extremely high end gimbals the trust value can be set before a shot so that if the DOP is asking for a slow curving shot the parameters can be set differently to a shot that requires very fast tracking or speedy movement.

I hope that clarifies things a bit and explains why a little horizon drift is normal in use and unless DJI give us the ability to set trust weighting manually will always be there. You would have had it on your X3 but maybe were not so critical or did not notice so much. Now you are conscious of it you will be annoyed by it.

 

[CO_Mark]

Wow - thanks for the detailed explanations guys! I haven't had an X3 before, and my last gimbal was only 2-axis.

The X5 is my first 'real' platform. What you're saying makes sense - I know I can correct it in the app, but can I expect it to correct itself if I hold position for a few seconds, or should I just go in straight away & correct ?

 

[The Editor]

Wow - thanks for the detailed explanations guys! I haven't had an X3 before, and my last gimbal was only 2-axis.

The X5 is my first 'real' platform. What you're saying makes sense - I know I can correct it in the app, but can I expect it to correct itself if I hold position for a few seconds, or should I just go in straight away & correct ?

It will usually level out after a few seconds following 'energetic flight' or a long curved maneuver. I would always allow it to settle for around 10 seconds or so if it does not level itself after that then dial in a few steps of correction.

 

[Cyclops]

For me, and it's happened a couple of times now, one of the most confusing things can be when the gimbal slips from being in Follow Mode to Free mode. Until you realise what has happened it seems that the craft is not responding to your commands. I'm not sure how the mode gets changed but I'm now aware of the problem and am able to correct it quickly through watching what is happening up in the air and also resetting the view mode.

The Zenmuse H3-3D Gimbal on my Phantom 2 got damaged in a rough landing and the horizon was always at an angle. But easy to fix in the edit if at the loss of a small amount of resolution through zooming in and correcting the tilt.

 

[gruvpix]

For me, and it's happened a couple of times now, one of the most confusing things can be when the gimbal slips from being in Follow Mode to Free mode. Until you realise what has happened it seems that the craft is not responding to your commands. I'm not sure how the mode gets changed but I'm now aware of the problem and am able to correct it quickly through watching what is happening up in the air and also resetting the view mode.

The Zenmuse H3-3D Gimbal on my Phantom 2 got damaged in a rough landing and the horizon was always at an angle. But easy to fix in the edit if at the loss of a small amount of resolution through zooming in and correcting the tilt.

This happened to me (gimbal mode switched) with no input at all. Also I was involved in a complex maneuver with some obstacles around. Luckily I noticed something was up and looked up to see the Inspire heading straight for a lamp post.... Situation avoided but still a bit nerve wracking...

To answer the OP, yes I just adjust it manually in the app. This works well and if it gets out of whack again no big deal I just click it back.

 

[gray52]

Shame this has not been sorted or dji have not give the user to play around with it more via some special software. I find mine is better when there is no wind, much worse on a windy day. I won't be upgrading to the x5 now I know this. Would be seriously pi$$ed off if I had just spent £3800 on a new pro version.

 

[johnmont250]

not all of the gimbals are off. my x3 and x5 are next to perfect, with almost no drift at all. im amazed by how well they stay level. i can spin real fast and watch the horizon stay locked. i never have to manually adjust.

i also do a cold/level imu calibration then a gimbal calibration. my p3 gimbal is spot on also following this procedure.

 

[BMW4life]

you can adjust horizon manually in the app

HOW??? I have this same issue with the X3

 

[The Editor]

HOW??? I have this same issue with the X3

You can also simply adust it on the fly.
Long press of C2 button and hold it down will bring up a crosshair. Then adjust with gimbal wheel until level, then release C2.
Takes seconds.