If you find yourself pondering whether or not drone calibration is necessary and wondering about the frequency at which it should be done, you’ll discover a range of answers that apply to both brand-new drones and those you have owned for some time. Numerous factors can cause the sensors of a drone to slightly or significantly fall out of calibration, and drones come equipped with a variety of sensors to offer precise flight capabilities. This is why it’s important for a beginner to have knowledge about how to calibrate a drone.
In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the reasons behind drone calibration, the recommended frequency of calibration, and the step-by-step process of calibrating your drone. By understanding why calibration is essential and knowing how to perform it effectively, you can enhance your overall user experience with your drone. So, if you’re eager to uncover the secrets of maximizing your drone’s performance through calibration, stay tuned and let’s explore the world of drone calibration together.
What Is Drone Calibration?
Drone calibration refers to the meticulous adjustment and fine-tuning of a drone’s internal sensors and components to guarantee precise and dependable performance. Typically, drones rely on a variety of sensors and systems to uphold stability, control, and positioning during flight. However, factors like fluctuations in environmental conditions, electromagnetic interference, or even minor physical impacts can disrupt the accuracy and calibration of these sensors.
Calibration entails adhering to specific procedures outlined by the drone manufacturer to recalibrate the drone’s sensors, including the accelerometer, compass, gimbal, and IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit). By calibrating these components, you establish precise reference points and eliminate any potential deviations or errors in their measurements.
During the calibration process, a series of steps are typically followed, which may vary depending on the drone model and manufacturer. This may involve placing the drone on a level surface, rotating it along different axes, or following explicit instructions on the controller or mobile app. The drone’s calibration procedure is designed to ensure its stability, accurate response to control inputs, maintenance of a level horizon, and precise recording of its position using GPS.
Things You Need To Calibrate A Drone
For drone calibration, we will need some things that will help us with this calibration. It’s worth noting that many drone calibrations today don’t require all these things. Nowadays, drones are equipped with high-tech elements, and using those elements, you can calibrate the drone with just the dedicated application. Almost all drones have their dedicated app, made by the manufacturing company themselves. Though there are some drones that don’t come with a dedicated app, you can also calibrate them using 3rd party apps. But for the tutorial, we will mention everything so that everyone can get help by hook or cook. Here are the things you will need for calibrating a drone:
- Flat Surface: To calibrate a drone, you’ll need a flat surface. No specialized tools are required; plywood on sawhorses or stacked milk crates can suffice. A flat surface ensures level flight during testing, promoting safety and long-term maintenance. Commercial drones are often pre-calibrated, but adjusting performance in specific situations may necessitate calibration. Refer to the manufacturer’s documentation for guidance.
- Plumb Line or String: For accurate drone calibration, use a plumb line—a string with a weight—to ensure perfect levelness. It’s an affordable and effective tool to determine vertical or horizontal alignment. Place your drone on a level surface before using the plumb line for easier calibration.
- USB Cable: Use the USB cable provided with your drone to connect it to your PC. Newer drones have micro USB connectors, while the older models have mini USB. If your drone isn’t detected or visible in the system tray on Windows 10, ensure the port is enabled in Device Manager, It should appear as an Arduino or similar device without extra drivers.
How To Calibrate A Drone?
Properly calibrating the compass of your drone is crucial to ensure its optimal, safe, accurate, and efficient flight performance. It is highly recommended to allocate time for compass calibration when you initially acquire a new drone or if it has been a significant period since the last calibration.
Taking the necessary steps to calibrate your compass offers numerous advantages and helps you avoid potential issues during your flights. By calibrating the compass, you establish a reliable reference point, which significantly reduces the likelihood of encountering problems in the future. Moreover, this calibration process enhances the overall flight experience by enabling the drone to navigate accurately and respond appropriately to control inputs.
IMU Calibration
The IMU means inertial measurement unit which is a crucial component of a drone that consists of a combination of sensors like thermometer, gyroscope, barometer, and accelerometer. Those sensors work together to measure and monitor the drone’s motion, orientation, and acceleration. The IMU provides essential information to the flight controller, allowing it to make precise adjustments to maintain stability and control during flight. It helps the drone maintain a level position, accurately respond to control inputs, and stabilize its movements in various flight conditions.
To calibrate the IMU, follow the steps below –
- Place the drone on a flat and completely level surface.
- Leave the drone for a while to cool down and match the room temperature.
- Check the battery level. The drone should have at least 50% battery level or more to perform this calibration.
- Open the drone application on your device and turn on the drone.
- Go to the main controller settings and then select the advanced setting, sensors, calibrate IMU and select start.
- Then follow the further instructions on the drone application and move the drone in the different directions as indicated on the screen.
- When the drone is done calibrating, restart it.
Compass Calibration
Compass calibration is essential for any drone because it determines the true north reference point. It becomes necessary to calibrate the compass in two scenarios: when flying the drone in a new location that is more than 6 miles away or when encountering an error message related to compass calibration.
To ensure accurate calibration, it’s crucial to select a calibration location away from any metal or magnetic object, concrete parking lots or cell phone/network towers. These things create interference with the compass calibration.
The process of compass calibration is generally similar for most drones. Here are the basic steps to follow:
- Turn on the drone’s transmitter or remote control.
- Ensure the drone is powered on and fully charged.
- Use the controller to initiate the compass calibration process. Typically, the lights on the drone and the remote controller will display a solid color, often yellow, depending on the drone brand.
- Hold the drone parallel to the ground, keeping it level. Rotate the drone horizontally (yaw) until a light indicator turns green, indicating the successful completion of the first calibration step.
- Next, rotate the drone vertically, perpendicular to the ground. Slowly spin the drone until a second light indicator turns green, confirming the completion of the second calibration step.
- If you make an error during the calibration process, a red flashing light will indicate the issue. In such cases, restart the calibration process, and ensure accuracy in following the steps.
Gimbal Calibration
Calibration of your drone’s gimbal is also very important because the drone’s gimbal plays an important role in providing us with balanced and scaled aerial images or footage. Therefore, before flying the drone, check that the camera gimbal of the drone is properly functioning. If not, problems with gimbal movement may be detected and the drone needs gimbal calibration.
Here is a step-by-step guide to the gimbal calibration of your drone –
- Connect the gimbal to your drone and power it up.
- Make sure your drone is properly connected to the controller and no object is around the gimbal (not even the grass). It’s better to perform this over a drone case. Also, do not move your drone while it’s calibrating.
- From your drone application, go to the camera view settings. Most DJI drones can be operated through the DJI Pilot application. Select the “Enter Camera View” option on that particular app and tap X in the top right corner. It will get you out of the pre-flight check.
- Enter into the drone settings and scroll down to the camera icon. Then, enter into the gimbal settings. From the Gimbal settings page, go all the way down to the Gimbal Calibration option, and start the calibration.
- The app will notify you once the calibration is complete. If the calibration fails, try calibrating again.
How To Calibrate A Mini Drone
Mini drones are equipped with a myriad of sensors, including gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers, which are instrumental in maintaining stability and accurate flight control. However, over time, these sensors can experience slight deviations and errors, resulting in compromised performance and reduced flight precision.
By undergoing regular calibration, mini drones can effectively counteract these discrepancies and restore optimal functionality.
Geomagnetic Calibration
The calibration process for mini drones is similar to the bigger ones. Since most mini drones come with a controller, it’s essential to pair up the drone with the controller. Then we can proceed to the calibration. For the calibration, follow the process mentioned below –
- Pull the left and right joysticks to the lower right corner. The drone will then emit a beeping sound, and the front green light on the drone should turn on.
- Calibration is now starting. Place the drone on a level surface and lift it up. Rotate the drone horizontally three times in a clockwise direction until it emits another beeping sound.
- When the front green lights turn off and the blue backlights turn on, it means that the horizontal calibration is complete.
- Now, hold the drone vertically with the nose pointing downward. Rotate it three times in a counterclockwise direction until you hear two beeping sounds.
- If the front green light is on and the back blue light is flashing, it means that the calibration is complete.
- Place the drone back on a level surface and allow it to search for the GPS2 satellite.
- When the blue light remains on and you hear two beeping sounds, it means that the search for the GPS2 satellite was successful.
Gyroscope Calibration
A gyroscope in a drone is a sensor that measures angular velocity or rotation. It helps the drone maintain stability and orientation in flight by providing feedback to the flight controller. By calibrating the gyroscope, you are essentially telling the drone what its neutral or level position is. This allows the flight controller to accurately interpret the drone’s movements and make necessary adjustments to keep it stable and responsive during flight. To calibrate the gyroscope in a drone, you need to –
- To calibrate the gyroscope, pull the controller joystick inward and diagonally. While doing the movement, hold the joysticks for 2 seconds for at least 2 seconds.
- You will hear a beeping sound and see that the light on the drone will turn on.
However, once the calibration is complete, the drone’s light will turn off.
When Should You Calibrate Drones?
There are multiple reasons for calibrating drones. Calibrating a drone not only ensures optimal performance, but also helps the drone function properly in adverse weather. Here are some of the main reasons for calibrating your drone –
- Relocation: When you move from one location to another, it’s important to calibrate the drone. Different environments can affect the drone’s performance, and recalibrating helps it adapt to new surroundings.
- Sensor Alignment: Light bumps or hard landings can cause the sensors in the drone to shift slightly. Regular calibration ensures that the sensors are properly aligned, enabling accurate flight and stability.
- Flight Performance: If you notice that the drone is not flying as smoothly as it should or is not responding promptly to your commands, calibration can help rectify any inaccuracies or inconsistencies in its flight performance.
- Altitude Control: If the drone is losing altitude while flying even though you’re not commanding it to descend, calibration can reset the drone’s altitude settings and improve its stability during flight.
- Drifting or Instability: When the drone drifts in one direction or exhibits instability during flight, recalibration can correct any drift or instability issues, allowing for smoother and more controlled flight.
- Hovering Issues: If the drone struggles to hover at a specific altitude, especially in calm weather conditions, calibration becomes necessary to adjust the drone’s hovering capabilities and ensure it maintains a steady position.
- Firmware Updates: After updating the drone’s firmware to newer versions, calibration is recommended. Firmware updates can introduce changes to the drone’s internal parameters, and calibration helps ensure that these values are correctly synchronized and optimized.
- Vibrations and Temperature Changes: Excessive vibrations during transportation or significant changes in temperature can impact the drone’s internal components and sensors. Regular calibration helps counteract any irregularities caused by these factors and restores optimal performance.
- Magnetic Interference: Proximity to magnets, such as those found in speakers or other electronic devices, can disrupt the drone’s calibration. Recalibrating the drone after being near magnets helps restore accurate sensor readings and flight performance.
Remember, the specific calibration process can vary depending on the drone model, so it’s important to refer to the manufacturer’s instructions or guidelines for precise calibration procedures.
What If Your Drone Still Drifts After Calibration?
Suppose you have successfully calibrated your drone but discover that it is still experiencing drift. In such a situation, you can employ trim controls to rectify the issue. Adjusting the trim controls can only be done while the drone is in mid-flight. If your drone is hovering towards the left, simply press the trim button and release it towards the right side. Conversely, if your drone is drifting to the right, press the trim button and release it towards the left side.
Similarly, if your drone is drifting forward or backward, follow the same steps. When your drone is drifting forward, apply pressure to the trim button, and release it towards the backside. Conversely, if your drone is hovering towards the rear, press the trim button and release it towards the front of the controller.
Fine-tuning the trim controls for your specific drone requires patience and a meticulous approach. Take your time during this process and avoid excessive adjustments.
Wrapping Up
We hope that this article has provided valuable insights on how to calibrate a drone that will enhance your flying experience. Whether you are a novice in the realm of drones or simply looking to ensure safer flights, it is crucial to understand the process of calibrating a drone. If you find yourself unsure about the cause of your aircraft drifting, which can make adjusting the flight path unnecessarily challenging, contact your drone manufacturer for assistance. By doing so, you will be able to enjoy a safer and more satisfying flight experience.
