Bad Gimbal?

[Ddrone]

Folks,

I've been flying my Skydio for six or so weeks, now, and I am wondering if anyone else has seen the terribly unstable video that I do. I've seen this from day one and it bothered me but it was a bit windy when flying (~15 mph winds) but this happens when calm and when flying in any direction and it's terrible. Here's a short clip of my drone hovering at about 50 feet on a relatively calm day:

I see this when flying, too... all of my videos make you a bit seasick.

I've asked Skydio about this, but no answer, yet. Just seeing if anyone else has experienced anything this bad.

 

[skydioconvert]

Folks,

I've been flying my Skydio for six or so weeks, now, and I am wondering if anyone else has seen the terribly unstable video that I do. I've seen this from day one and it bothered me but it was a bit windy when flying (~15 mph winds) but this happens when calm and when flying in any direction and it's terrible. Here's a short clip of my drone hovering at about 50 feet on a relatively calm day:

I see this when flying, too... all of my videos make you a bit seasick.

I've asked Skydio about this, but no answer, yet. Just seeing if anyone else has experienced anything this bad.

That oscillation definitely seems to be a gimbal and not a wind related problem.

How long has it been since you contacted Skydio asking for help?

 

[Ddrone]

That oscillation definitely seems to be a gimbal and not a wind related problem.

How long has it been since you contacted Skydio asking for help?

It's only been a day or two... over the weekend. I suspect they don't work over the weekend I'm just checking in to see if this has been a serial problem or just me.

 

[skydioconvert]

It's only been a day or two... over the weekend. I suspect they don't work over the weekend I'm just checking in to see if this has been a serial problem or just me.

Your particular problem was the first I've seen reported on either of the S2 forums.

Hopefully some of the other S2 owners here can chime in and report whether or not they've had a similar problem.

If possible please let us know what Skydio says when they respond.

 

[OldBlueHeron]

I can confirm that mine doesn’t do that.

 

[Jim]

I can confirm that mine doesn’t do that.

Me neither.

 

[Ridefreak]

It's an unanticipated feature.

 

[Ddrone]

So I've had a bit of back and forth with support... they got my logs and say the engineers found a bug that will be fixed in a software update later this month. But if I'm needing a solution sooner, they can swap my drone.

So when I pressed them about the fact that if this was a software issue, how will swapping drones fix it and also that if it's software why am I the only one with the issue, they responded with a non-response.

I can wait for a couple of weeks. If there's a software update that fixes this, great. If the next software update does not fix it, I'll go back with a bit more force.

Frankly, I'll be surprised if software fixes this, but maybe there is some parameter for tuning that didn't allow enough range or something, and I'm out of that range. Who knows...

 

[Lifeisfun]

So I've had a bit of back and forth with support... they got my logs and say the engineers found a bug that will be fixed in a software update later this month. But if I'm needing a solution sooner, they can swap my drone.

So when I pressed them about the fact that if this was a software issue, how will swapping drones fix it and also that if it's software why am I the only one with the issue, they responded with a non-response.

I can wait for a couple of weeks. If there's a software update that fixes this, great. If the next software update does not fix it, I'll go back with a bit more force.

Frankly, I'll be surprised if software fixes this, but maybe there is some parameter for tuning that didn't allow enough range or something, and I'm out of that range. Who knows...

Seen 2 videos on YouTube where gimbal is acting very strange

 

[skydioconvert]

So I've had a bit of back and forth with support... they got my logs and say the engineers found a bug that will be fixed in a software update later this month. But if I'm needing a solution sooner, they can swap my drone.

So when I pressed them about the fact that if this was a software issue, how will swapping drones fix it and also that if it's software why am I the only one with the issue, they responded with a non-response.

I can wait for a couple of weeks. If there's a software update that fixes this, great. If the next software update does not fix it, I'll go back with a bit more force.

Frankly, I'll be surprised if software fixes this, but maybe there is some parameter for tuning that didn't allow enough range or something, and I'm out of that range. Who knows...

Not sure why you'd press them (Skydio engineers) regarding their analysis of the problem when they gave you the option of sending you a completely new S2 as an alternative.

Unless your a design engineer on the S2 development team I doubt anyone really has ability to accurately troubleshoot an S2 performance problem.

 

[Lon Denard]

So I've had a bit of back and forth with support... they got my logs and say the engineers found a bug that will be fixed in a software update later this month. But if I'm needing a solution sooner, they can swap my drone.

So when I pressed them about the fact that if this was a software issue, how will swapping drones fix it and also that if it's software why am I the only one with the issue, they responded with a non-response.

I can wait for a couple of weeks. If there's a software update that fixes this, great. If the next software update does not fix it, I'll go back with a bit more force.

Frankly, I'll be surprised if software fixes this, but maybe there is some parameter for tuning that didn't allow enough range or something, and I'm out of that range. Who knows...

Did you ask them if you'd be getting an advance replacement (they send a new one before you send yours back) since Billy Kyle is telling everyone that's the standard procedure?

 

[Lon Denard]

Not sure why you'd press them (Skydio engineers) regarding their analysis of the problem when they gave you the option of sending you a completely new S2 as an alternative.

Unless your a design engineer on the S2 development team I doubt anyone really has ability to accurately troubleshoot an S2 performance problem.

Yea I have to agree with that. Once a company decides to send a new replacement product, I'm done complaining.

 

[skydioconvert]

Seen 2 videos on YouTube where gimbal is acting very strange

First video
Obviously a gimbal problem exists... it's a very delicate piece of equipment that will occasionally fail.

2nd video
Gimbal only reacted unusually when the the pilot first engaged sport mode. After that I saw no gimbal problems. After that and for the remainder of the video the pilot even commented on happy he was with the S2's performance,

 

[Lifeisfun]

First video
Obviously a gimbal problem exists... it's a very delicate piece of equipment that will occasionally fail.

2nd video
Gimbal only reacted unusually when the the pilot first engaged sport mode. After that I saw no gimbal problems. After that and for the remainder of the video the pilot even commented on happy he was with the S2's performance,

In the 2nd video it reacted like that for second time , it was well after the sport mode hiccup. Same tilting down as in the firs video.

 

[skydioconvert]

In the 2nd video it reacted like that for second time , it was well after the sport mode hiccup. Same tilting down as in the firs video.

... and yet the pilot seemed happy with how the S2 performed.

Could be a gimbal beginning to malfunction or something that may never show up again.

 

[Lifeisfun]

... and yet the pilot seemed happy with how the S2 performed.

Could be a gimbal beginning to malfunction or something that may never show up again.

Yeah, he is very relaxed
It actually did show up again

 

[skydioconvert]

Yeah, he is very relaxed
It actually did show up again

Probably very relaxed because he wasn't worried about running into any thing...

 

[Lon Denard]

In the 2nd video it reacted like that for second time , it was well after the sport mode hiccup. Same tilting down as in the firs video.

"Sport Mode"?

 

[Jim]

"Sport Mode"?

I was wondering about this too...

 

[Lon Denard]

I was wondering about this too...

I many times wished it had Sport Mode. Holding the the boost button, controlling the left stick and gimbal at the same time can be tricky and ruin your shot!