Hiya, is it possible to use any gimbal to face downwards? I'd like to mount a raspberry pi or similar (like beagle bone with small camera) to face downwards to do survey/opencv work and it would be an awful lot more effective if it was stabilised picture.
Can anyone recommend a cheap and cheerful gimbal that would do this and hold a raspberry (in one of the standard cases)?
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Hi Dom,
you can use almost any gimbal. However, I designed my nadir gimbals from scratch. Two reasons: first most of the gimbals for cameras larger than a GoPro are too heavy and second, I needed one for two cameras (RGB and IR). I just assembled them so I have no video or photo so far. The versions for one camera weighs 265g (incl. motors and batteries) and the version for two cameras weighs 310g. They are made for cameras up to 200g each. I'll post some details within the next weeks.
Best regards,
Thorsten
Sample - my last "production" with heavy camera PhaseOne iXA180 - http://youtu.be/6eORTnID8G0
Yes.
I have the Tarot gimbal (with GoPro) that can be either set manually (in software) to default to pointing down, or controller from a spare radio channel to point where required.
The image remains stabilised regardless where it is pointing.
Hey Alan, thanks for the reply, that's great to know! Doing a bit of reading it looks like not all of the gimbals will do this range of movement so it's good to know one that will do this. Now I have to work out if it will take a raspberry. The case is 9cm x 6cm x 2.7cm.
Most gimbals have the little level-sensing board attached so it is parallel to the shelf upon which the camera sits. If you mount that board so it is at 90 degrees to that shelf, then "level" will have the camera pointing down. Should work with most gimbals.
Cool. It looks also like there are plenty of gimbals that just have a shelf that anything can be mounted to, rather than a specific casing for the gopros.
If you mount something other than the intended camera on some brushless gimbals you may need to pay attention to the balance. If your setup strays very far from neutral balance the motors may not be happy and will "stutter" in place rather than working as they should. Also some gimbals do the same thing when nothing is mounted on them, which can fool you into thinking something is wrong with them.