DJI Mavic Pro: When and How to Calibrate The IMU 

Oh man! I was filming a wedding yesterday in the mountains with no phone service. Before I could fly my drone required me to do an IMU calibration. I didn’t realize it was asking me to turn the drone on its sides and ends. Man I sure wished I could of watched your video yesterday! Looks like I’ll be making a 6 hour round trip tomorrow to get the drone footage that I was wanting.

I know you probably get told this enough, but I wanted to take a moment out of my time to thank you for the work you put into making these videos. Much appreciated. Oh and by the way, dude go get your Part 107 already! I got mine it ain't that hard. I did it and you know way more about these drones than I do for sure. Also, I wish more drone hobbyists would get their Part 107 as I think it shows the FAA that we drone users and this community as a whole take our hobby seriously and following the rules.

Should have watched this instead of wasting a few hours of my life. Thanks Billy!

Super thanks for this and for showing the exact orientations as, for me, the images were not communicating just how the drone was to be "oriented". THANKS Again!

Your the 1st video out of many that I can understand. Just brought a mavic will be calibrating when I get out with it.

I know it's years after the fact but Thanks Billy for your concise, informative videos. Inertia Movement Unit! Every so often when I fire my Mavic up the screen will say its doing an IMU calibration and not to move the Quad but that must be a light version as it only takes seconds before the message disappears. I've also noticed my "Grey Bird" drifting when hovering and not quite flying straight so I thought I'd give this Full Calibration a try. Thanks again Bud!

Oh my gosh, even DJI couldn't fix my problem and this video did. Thank you!

Great video. Fast and to the point. This video earned you a sub from me. I hate having a problem and watching 20 minutes of video that I don’t need to see the two to three minutes I DO NEED!!! Thanks again. Subbed.

Thank you so much for this Vid. I really battled to do the IMU calibration for some time. Without your elaboration I would not have succeeded. The blue bar just stayed frozen and I had no IDEA to rotate the Mavic as you showed. And then all was cool. And yes you do speak very fast and it needed a few pauses to do what you sayed. Thank you again. All good from Down Under.

This was a good presentation. After my failed attempt to properly calibrate the MIU, and viewing your presentation it simplified the process. Thanks for sharing!

Don't forget to do an IMU calibration after a crash even if minor

I was sitting there like an idiot waiting for it to move onto the next step. Didn't realise I'm supposed to turn it. Thanks! xD

Hey Billy, hope you don't mind, I've linked to this video as I had a major IMU issue and recorded it but then explain it in my video I'd rather push people to other RU-vidrs if there's already something out there and I found you'd done this so linked to it in the description and mentioned it in my video. Thanks for making a good, concise and informative video mate.

Thanks for doing these. Sometimes I just need help finding things in the settings. I dug around in DJI Fly for several minutes before I just thought, "Hey, Billy can tell me in a few seconds where the calibration function is located!" Thanks Billy!

Thanks man! She’s steady as a rock again!

Thanku so much man for this video...you helped my 2 weeks long problem.... God bless you bro

Thanks heaps! Went through almost 2 batteries waiting for it to DIY; never took notice of the on the side and rear positions required! LOL👍

VERY PROFESSIONAL VIDEO. VERY EDUCATONAL AND USEFUL PRESENTATION. I REALY APPRECIATE YOU SHARING YOUR PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE, MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO FLY AND ENJOY MY MAVIC PRO.THANKS BILLY KYLE.

As a first time user, this was beneficial. However I had to listen to it about 6 times to catch exactly what you were saying. Suggest you talk at half-speed and physically point to the areas you are touching to activate this and that so we first timers know where they are located. Thank you - valuable information!

Hi Bill, thank you for presenting this video - it is very helpful in visualizing the instruction !

One quick side note... I'm not sure how long DJI has had this in their own IMU calibration video, but I noticed at the end of theirs they have a note saying "Make sure not to start the motors with the Combination Stick Command". I'm assuming this is only immediately following calibration.

Thanks. I note: you seem to have the same Bose PC speakers as I do.. in Minute 4:13 the DJI image of the drone shows the drone facing towards left, and in the next image, where it is put on the side, the drone is facing right, so has been turned. You however keep the drone facing in the same direction (forward). Is that direction of any importance, or are the important orientations "on its feet", "sideways both ways" and "upright" - regardless to where the front is pointing?

Thanks Billy ! Glad I waited on this vid, as I was going to take my propellers off like with the P4P. Now they are both IMU calibrated. Thanks man for another great video !!

"Inertial Measurement Unit". It's basically accelerometer (G's, to measure acceleration ) and a gyroscope (degrees per second,which measures rotation).

Subscribed simply because of this video. Excellent walk thru.

Thanks heaps Billy! I don't think I've done a IMU calibration. Better get onto doing it ASAP

I didn’t do an IMU calibration when I first unboxed my brand new mavic. I did do compass calibration. It works fine. No errors. Should I do the calibration ?

I so need to do this. wow why didn't Dji tell me this. no wonder it's been so hard to get steady shots. thank you

Very nice work. Factual, technically competent and !! NO fluff, no tiresome bling intro. I'm subscribing as I can see these videos will truly be !!

awesome video man!! explains why my beast drifts alot!! will use this video to fix that problem when i get home... thanks again!!

I believe I read somewhere the reason for calibrating the IMU at a colder temperature is because the bird will have a memory of what temperature you calibrated at and that is when it allows you to fly after warming up before every flight. Never tested it to see if it was true or not. Just FYI.

Hi Billy. When I do the calibration and it tells me to put the drone upright, my gimbal starts to shake. Is this normal?

Just a note - If you're using an app for level, you'll need to calibrate your device's sensors as well first, or the level could be off.

Nice video I really enjoyed! Thumbs up and greetings from the netherlands

Ditto on the speed of your presentation, I’m a newbie and also had to pause and rewind quite a few times, mind you, some video presentations are so slow where i can take a nap until they get to the point. So a middle ground would be perfect. Loved your information though. How long is the calibration meant to last? Its been stuck on the third button for over 10 minutes now

On the app my camera settings are grayed out and I cant change anything its N/A for everything. I did the firmware updates on both the controller and drone. My app is up to date. Camera wont focus either. Camera is unresponsive. I have 2 Mavics and they are both like this? What to do?

Just got a new mavic pro 2 was trying to calibrate the imu and it keeps saying ACC2 Error.. tried many times and still doesn’t work.. can you please help?

Many thanks. This ended weeks of frustration for me. The on-screen instructions while doing the IMU calibration are not clear, at all. First, I didn't realize you had to close the rotors. Second, hardly any indication that you need to place the drone in different positions, and third, hard to understand what positions are wanted. I hope Google SEO for DJI Phantom IMU Callibration finds this video more quickly. The DJI Forum was even hard to navigate/discover your video.

Hi! Just wanted to say thinks for the vid. A small correcting, the " I " in IMU stands for "Internal" not "Inertia".

Great Vid BK, Some replies said you speek to fast, I'd rather rewind then indure long videos. Reminds me of that 50 cent song, " Do I have to slow down when I talk or can you keep up lol I wonder what an Apple Drone with Apple software would be like, one can dream....

Thank you very much for the explanation but you took very quick

Billy. You are making great & informative videos; however, please talk a little slower so one can follow and absorb the new information you are presenting.

Just picked up a used Mavic Pro but I'm having trouble connecting controller and with mag interf. Can I calibrate the IMU while disconnected? Yes I did the reset trick.

Thanks for the video, but back to my days working in the avionics industry, IMU stands for Inertial Measurement Unit. I know it’s picking at nits. Call me OCD.

Calibrating the IMU and compass FIXED my wavy videos and stills on my brand new Mavic Pro!! Thanks a bunch! I looked all over to find a solution. Great video. Of course I subscribed.!

One thing I'm confused about it says it right in the software IMU you calibrate without the propellers on why didn't you do it the correct way?

Is it normal for the Mavic to shake a bit when it's descending? It only descends fluidly when it's close enough to detect the ground with the bottom sensors. Would calibrating the IMU affect this?

Is it necessary to remove the Gimbal Clamp and the Gimbal Cover during the calibration?

Nice and simple Billy, thanks! I will definitely try this out.

Okay why didn't you take the propellers off when it says it right in the tutorial do you think that you should or should not take the propellers off?

Regarding the restart process, I though clicking on the screen restart 5:10 is the normal, but you turn off and on the drone to restart ?

Great, no-nonsense video....very clear and concise description and visuals...I just upgraded firmware on my Mavic...I'm assuming I should do an IMU calibration after doing this? Thanks for this video. Mike Meyer, Columbus, Ohio.

Thanks, Billy. On a somewhat related note...after upgrading, I'm noticing the active track/trace screen is a bit different...I see a slider dealing with speed, etc. Do you know if there is anything out there that covers these changes? Or maybe I was hallucinating while flying this afternoon. Thanks.

Hot damn, I didn't realize the drone first needs to be completely flat, then turned on its side, and rotated upward. I put it on a flat surfaced and waited and waited. I haven't used this thing in 4 months.

Restart the drone as in hit the restart button on the app, or powering off the drone and then back on? Or hitting restart after physically shutting it down and restarting?

My mavic wont callibrate when facing down, it works in the first step but then the magnetic sign show that was not able to do it even in a open field in the Woods I cant get this done. But when I check compass status, shows green on a open field, can you help me out with this? Thanks

Have you ever had issues with your camera tilting sideways? I calibrated but nothing.

Thank youuuuu Billy, you are awesome! My mavic is not moving anymore when hovering!!!!t

Thank you did my Mavic very easy hadn't any idea need to be done 😳 also did my phantom 4 had a little accident so did this flys much better ty

DJI Mavic-2 Zoom I was taking pictures of the sunset last evening when I noticed the horizon was tilted. One side of the horizon was higher than the other. What do I do to calibrate so the horizon is level?

He Billy Thanks for the video. I was wondering do i need te do a IMU and a Compass calibration when i will travel for The Netherlands to Palawan (the Philipines) or is a Compass calibration enough? Thanks for the help Marc

I'm here bc my card won't format and it's giving me a IMU Calibration error. Also my lens won't focus. It's weird but this video at least help me help me understand the drone needs to be off at first

Great video as always Billy....quick question...When I instruct the Mavic to RTH...its always off by 5 ft or more.....will this fix that problem or do I need to do dsomething else? Thanks.

Great to se old videos becose i can no properly calibrate IMU on my Mavic Mini...it is same procedure,butt i was interestsed did i do it right so i foud your old video :)

Hi Billy is this the way to do if you get the error message Sys Warning and in the dji app it says (Abnormal in the Vision Sensor settings)?

Hi can l calibrate the imu in my mavic pro even when display indicates ther is magnetic interference. I was atempting this indoors

Hi billy..I have Mavic pro.. I'm using it here in Hong Kong...now I'm planning to go to Philippines..do I need to calibrate IMU and compass? thanks

I had an Osprey knock my Mavic Pro out of the air yesterday. Fortunately, the only damage was one of the props got broken near the tip. I managed to get it on the ground after some really weird flight characters and was concerned when it hit the ground quite hard. I decided I better do a IMU calibration even after I flew it and it seemed to be OK. I notice there is no notice prior to doing the calibration to remove the gimbal clamp. I didn't do this the first attempt and realized it was still on and trying to go through all of the startup routines includes the gimbal calibration! Why is it not mentioned to remove the clamp before doing the IMU calibration? I see even DJI doesn't mention this? Am I wrong in seeing this error? I did notice the IMU calibration was successful. All I can say is the Mavic is one robust and tough to kill little flyer!

same on this one.. you do not follow the directions only the angle, your 90 degrees from the first 3 stages but then on stahe 3 you are same as the display, it may be looking up but its looking the wrong direction.. and last stage well... maybe it does not matter, maybe it does.. but the thing is your confusing people, if the follw the display as it it then no problem

I can't get it to work. And it says to unplug the 8 pin and plug it back in and I don't know what that is

Hello when I try to calibrate the IMU of Mavic Pro appears that message: IMU 1: Calibrated. IMU 2: Calibration Failed. Sample TimeOut (error code -27). How can I do?

Excellent Info... Thanks.... In another topic, I used my Mavic Pro with Android Phone and the smartphone is discharging the Remote Control's battery power. Is this normal? I chatted with DJI Support and it seems like they are not aware of this problem.. I also read on Online forums that IOS phones don't behave this way (but I haven't tested it)... As a result, the RC battery is discharged very quickly (faster than the drone's battery power)... Any solution to this would be so much appreciated... Note: I don't like to change my Android phone to IOS....

Awesome Thanks!

Mine will go to the calibrate menu and won’t let me start it do u know why?

Thank you, that was painless.

IMU 2: Calibration Fail. Automatic Orientation Error. (error Code -17)... Back story, I crashed the drone and had to replace the Camera. After the replacement of the Camera. I get this Error when trying to calibrate my IMU. It will not go past the first part before you start to turn it. Please help!!!!

Props on or off - does it matter? --- It does say Props Off in instructions. Look at the Prop Screws with and without Props when in inverted position.

I never calibrated my IMU , you but it's all the way down to the left were supposed to be I always do the Compass is there any reason why I should do that I am ill if it's reading fine

i fixed the situation by rebinding my drone with the controller then sped up my gimbal movements in set up

Thanks Billy. You do such a great job helping fellow drone pilot with problems...plus, you keep it down to less than 10 minutes and don't drone on and on and on:).

Got mag mavic interference Every flight repeatedly and lost brief rc signal, home return activated; since march 2017, calibration imu, compass update to last firmware May 2017 and also use new second rc purchased recently, still the same. Played in the large field though...

Billy mavic continue to go up on a to take off.pull down on stick drone comes down let go of stick to center drone goes up.any Help?

Even if my IMU lights are green I still need to do this? I just got the drone today.

Thanks! I wonder if we need to install propellers on when calibrating IMU and vision system. And Why? Thanks.

Thanks for this video... Does it matter if the props are on or not? Should they be on?

hi, I have 'aircraft disconnected on the app, and the only fault I can see is that the gimbal is disconnected...I got as far as pressing 'calibrate IMU, and got a message 'aircraft disconnected, cannot calibrate IMU. Hmm, what now, I wonder?

Hi Billy, Can the IMU Calibration be completed indoors ? Does it need an outdoor reason? As sometimes mobiles don’t get a clear signal! Thanks Dave In the UK.

Thanks for the video you shared

excellent video. helped me out. Thank you sir

Billy, how can we tell if the imu is not calibrated for the future?

i just got my drone and when i try to fly it for the first time it says to turn my drone 360 horizontally so how do i do that?

But the unit doesn't sit level or square ,leans on every position

Does anyone have an idea why when my drone is an upright position it clicks and grinds when setting the IMU??

What about a failed constant IMU and barometer disconnect

Do you find the fan making a significant amount of noise after the drone has been in use for a while?

Hi, i cant to calibrate my IMU, apperars always "ERROR CODE 13". can you help me?

When I set my drone facing upwards it makes a weird vibrating noise

Billy,I have an issue that I can not find an answer for. Maybe you would have an answer, or put on a clip to cover this..I was flying today with the controller only (no phone connected) and all was well. Then about 10 min in with the Mavic Pro in my area it started to act strange. Meaning it would not go forward. The controller read MAX RADIUS.. what does that mean? I had 50% Battery left. Is it possible you might cover this?

Do you take the plastic cover and gimbal cover off? The picture instructions have it on and you have it off.

Thank you, BK.