Anafi Gimbal failure

[brackit]

Hi, my Anafi dropped from 2 meters while flying over a frozen field and now my gimbal is not calibrating completely. After the gimbal dance the camera is hanging down.

I've read much about it and tried a few things.

After removing the white case from the camera the calibration succeeded, but if i put it back on it does not work.

I have a few pictures and videos attached.
I don't know what to do next.

Spoiler: Attachment

Gimbal from underneath


Gimbal dance fail

Gimbal danca succeeded

 

[Liger 1956]

I assume that you have either dislodged the gimbal mount or the L-shaped bracket that holds the camera is bent. With the white cover on can you see or hear it touching the Anafi main body during it's calibration dance? If so then something is dislodged or bent.

From the photo it looks like there is an uneven gap between the camera mount and the gimbal motor that controls the vertical movement. Is the camera pointing exactly forward?

 

[Gipsz Jakab]

Hi, my Anafi dropped from 2 meters while flying over a frozen field and now my gimbal is not calibrating completely. After the gimbal dance the camera is hanging down.

I've read much about it and tried a few things.

After removing the white case from the camera the calibration succeeded, but if i put it back on it does not work.

I have a few pictures and videos attached.
I don't know what to do next.

Spoiler: Attachment

Gimbal from underneath
View attachment 5378

Gimbal dance fail

Gimbal danca succeeded

The impact was damaged somewhere and there could be two things:
1. Mechanically a little friction somewhere and the parts come together somewhere and due to the torque jump the electronics turn off the gimbal (it hangs from this)
2. The bearing or shaft is damaged and the current consumption of the magnetic motor is increased due to the increased torque, which causes the electronics to turn off. Without the cover, the torque is within limits.

 

[brackit]

It seems to touch the round metal thing behind the camera while the "dance". Video is uploading. What are my options in this case? Is there a way without disassemble it and buy new things?

edit:

 

[Gipsz Jakab]

It seems to touch the round metal thing behind the camera while the "dance". Video is uploading. What are my options in this case? Is there a way without disassemble it and buy new things?

edit:

I think it can be improved. I haven't disassembled gimbal yet, but there are others here on the board.
It appears to be bent a few mm from the gimbal axis. This should be carefully restored. If the plastic is cracked, it should be glued with a drop of moment glue and kept in good condition until set.
It must be replaced if it cannot be repaired permanently.
The replacement, on the other hand, is macerate, because it seems that some gimbal only work with certain versions of the motherboard ...

 

[LogiComm]

I wish I had better news for those of you wanting to fix a ANAFI UAS.

I had a similar problem with the camera going nuts and giving an error a month ago when I was dusting it off to fly in the back yard in preparation for the COVID lockdown to be over soon. The ANAFI had no crashes, little flight time and was out of warranty due to no flying during COVID lockdown. I emailed Parrot and they stated they have no repair facilities in the USA. They also stated they would not repair a ANAFI out of warranty. They told me to use a third party repair shop like Drone Nerds. I just received a reply from Drone Nerds:

Joshua E (DroneNerds)
Mar 17, 2021, 5:05 PM EDT
Hi Lloyd,
We have finished diagnosing your Parrot Anafi and this is what we found.
After diagnosing this drone we have come to the conclusion that this Parrot Anafi will need a new camera/gimbal. The camera/gimbal is not responding to commands from the remote and will not complete calibrations, the camera/gimbal is damaged and will need to be replaced. The repairs/labor will be $499 and $35 for return shipping, please let us know how you would like to move forward with this drone. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at (786)708-7807 #EXT 8332 or reply to this email.
Please either respond to this email or call us at 786-708-7807. We will begin repairs once we have your authorization.
Thanks,
Joshua
Drone Nerds Service Team

I told Drone Nerds to send the drone back due to the ridiculous repair price. It still will cost $100 for the diagnosis and $35 to ship it back.

Since the gimbal is hardware locked to the main board, there seems to be no way to repair it. This experience aids me in my decision to order a Skydio 2 and never use Parrot products again. I want a company to stand behind their products, produce a well engineered product, and appreciate the customer.

 

[oneeyedparrot]

Totally agree, it's such a shame though as the Anafi is a fantastic drone when working, quick to connect and easy to use.
What on earth are Parrot thinking of?

 

[Gipsz Jakab]

Totally agree, it's such a shame though as the Anafi is a fantastic drone when working, quick to connect and easy to use.
What on earth are Parrot thinking of?

It is unfortunate that such a well done product gets such poor support. It is possible that this is intentional. Parrot has realised that America has become China-phobic and has started selling this well-done design, after minimal reworking, as a military, government drone for huge sums. It has so much income from this that it is not worth its while to deal with commercial drones. It would cost a lot of money to replace damaged drones, as the last few had faulty firmware and many drones have had accidents.

 

[Dark Knight Flyer]

After so many repair attempts involving the same gimbal problem, I think parrot Anafi is a very poorly engineered product. Unlike the former Bebop2, Anafi limits your DIY flexibility which most of us Drone Flyers are capable of. I don't know what they are thinking in regards to pairing components to work, this is ridiculous and very greedy I might say. If this is where they are heading from hereon, then at least Engineer it to last and unbreakable, not so flimsy and ridiculously sensitive that stops working from just a 2m fall.

 

[*inspiring quote*]

Hi, my Anafi dropped from 2 meters while flying over a frozen field and now my gimbal is not calibrating completely. After the gimbal dance the camera is hanging down.

I've read much about it and tried a few things.

After removing the white case from the camera the calibration succeeded, but if i put it back on it does not work.

I have a few pictures and videos attached.
I don't know what to do next.

Spoiler: Attachment

Gimbal from underneath
View attachment 5378

Gimbal dance fail

Gimbal danca succeeded

Hey there. Late, I know, but here's my two cents.

I had the same problem and, after MUCH trial and error, I isolated the problem: when the white housing was on, the main video feed cable was too taught and so the gimbal thought that there was an obstruction and wouldn't boot up. When I did it with the housing off, it worked, just as you've experienced.
The fix is to install the housing whilst maintaining enough slack in the cable. At the end, you need to be able to roll the camera manually and feel ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL in terms of obstruction, tightness, or friction.

Hope this helps

 

[Andy B]

Any Tips on Removing the gimbal back cover on an Anafi Thermal it is different than the regular bebop of anafi-work gimbal assembly

 

[13ils4nt013]

Hi, my Anafi dropped from 2 meters while flying over a frozen field and now my gimbal is not calibrating completely. After the gimbal dance the camera is hanging down.

I've read much about it and tried a few things.

After removing the white case from the camera the calibration succeeded, but if i put it back on it does not work.

I have a few pictures and videos attached.
I don't know what to do next.

Spoiler: Attachment

Gimbal from underneath
View attachment 5378

Gimbal dance fail

Gimbal danca succeeded

But this is a thermal version??? i see a black and white different retro cap. mine is all white. I'm in in trouble like you and dont' wanna dace and sing. ;-(

 

[anomaddev]

Hey there. Late, I know, but here's my two cents.

I had the same problem and, after MUCH trial and error, I isolated the problem: when the white housing was on, the main video feed cable was too taught and so the gimbal thought that there was an obstruction and wouldn't boot up. When I did it with the housing off, it worked, just as you've experienced.
The fix is to install the housing whilst maintaining enough slack in the cable. At the end, you need to be able to roll the camera manually and feel ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL in terms of obstruction, tightness, or friction.

Hope this helps

Can confirm this is my problem too. Gimbal error after trying to hand launch and failed. Tried everything. Took off the white cover to the front and boom. Gimbal works again. Even more intriguing, I saw there was a weight in the inside of the cover. Mine was broke and rattling. AH HA! I'll remove that and put the light cover back on without the weight and it will work just like it does with the cover removed......

NOPE! So not just the weight.

I haven't got the clue as to why this is, but taking off the cover fixed my issue. I'll probably be keeping 1 screw in at all times to make sure I can put the cover on for transport.