APM 2.6 Gimbal Setup

Posted by Samuel Arnold on December 20, 2013 at 9:57am

Hi. I have a question on how to install a Servo 2 axis gimbal with my APM 2.6 and am a bit confused about how and if I have to cut power lines from the servos? or get an external UBEC?! or can I bind them to Motor out 5 and 6? I didnt find a conclusion until now that satisfies me.
I would really appreciate some help :) Thanks a lot!

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Replies

  • Okan Önal August 21, 2014 at 7:16am

    I am trying to make a DIY servo gimbal by using two hextronik 9 gr servos. I have a 3DR Y6 2013 setup with APM 2.6. I have 3DR power distribution board. APM is powered by this unit. I also installed 5V and ground cables(Red and Black) to APM output ports (Red in the middle). Copter was a DIY kit and I personally installed everything myself. It flies rock stable. Everything on ardu wiki page was as explained and worked except camera gimbal servo setup.  

    First I installed only one servo to test only for roll stabilisation. However strange things happened. I get the signal from APM RC10  (A10) Pin and the power from output as seen in the picture. 

    My first problem is, the APM Planner is not saving my camera gimbal setup. 

    I configured roll for RC 10, checked stabilise and armed. Nothing happened. I disconnect APM, reconnect again,but the stabilise option was not checked. I tried both on Mac and Windows but I think APM Planner has some issues with camera gimbal setup.  

    I finally used Mission planner on Windows. It looks it saves the setup. However;

    Second issue; Although I configured roll to work with RC10, the tilt servo limits on RC11 on Mission Planner controlled the connected servo?. The signal wire is connected to RC10. However only the servo limits moved the servo arm. No stabilisation for tilt or roll. I think that the labels may be wrong on the APM. The input channel on THR CUT Knob also not controlled the servo either. 

    I guess that camera gimbal setup has some bugs with some ardupilot setups.

    Have anybody a suggestion for my problem?

    Thanks...

    ?ui=2&ik=6b09d9c1da&view=fimg&th=147f88f7d7e7ca58&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=1477049773395542016-local0&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ81Luv-XnaYA9vPZKm2bFf45RnFW89eZsLtGXzHgeip_UJkQeDekFUNQw5EigT7jEjXzOJzsj3G9fQPtGQJnleHgojleAtjmwLqUUCvj7ATQoMOOBGgzKIJUjY&ats=1408628905377&rm=147f88f7d7e7ca58&zw&sz=w1896-h843

  • Duncan J June 14, 2014 at 10:41am

    3701758671?profile=originalHey I am having some problems setting up my gimbal, hoping someone in here can help. 

    I have cut both red/black +/- wires from the servos for my 2 axis gimbal, and powered them thru 5 and 6 on the output rail. when I plug in my 3s lipo, it doesnt initialize and do its thing, it just sets the servos at a pretty firm lock (in position) but I can still move it around by hand and it will lock after 45 degrees or so again. any ideas how I can get it to stabilize and initialize? I have the 2 signal wires plugged into a10 and a11 (3 and 4 from the left) and have followed the directions on ardu as best I can. any help would be much appreciated! 

    • Developer
      Randy > Duncan J June 14, 2014 at 6:20pm

      Duncan,

           If it's a brushless gimbal you're using then the instructions on the wiki for the Tarot gimbal might work.  It might help to initially connect the gimbal directly to the receiver (if you have a receiver with individual channel outputs) or to a servo tester to help narrow down if the problem is in the gimbal or the APM.

    • Duncan J > Randy June 14, 2014 at 6:49pm

      Okay, thanks for the advice, Randy. It does have brushless motors, pic included. I'll plug the signal wires into the receiver (AR6210) which should be able to test it out and post again. I feel like after setting the RC outputs properly that when I plug in the lipo, it should just work... is that right? I must of wired something wrong though.

      quadcopter

    • Developer
      Randy > Duncan J June 14, 2014 at 7:03pm

      Yes.  I would have thought that even if you didn't plug in the RC to the gimbal it would start to stabilize.  I could be wrong, I've personally only ever used the tarot.

    • Duncan J > Randy June 14, 2014 at 8:03pm

      Randy, for good measure, I've included this pic of the wiring that I have. on the servo motors, unfortunuately they're all black, which makes it hard to ID the signal, power and ground order... one of the wires has a white line on the edge of it, so initially I thought that would be the signal wire, so I tried that, clipping the others and routing them to the rear output rail on APM 2.5 (each motor's wire) that didn't work. So I assumed that maybe I had it all reversed and the white was actually the ground, so I tried reverse order and that didn't yield anything positive either. 

      3702823386?profile=original

    • Jordan Schultz > Duncan J August 1, 2014 at 5:02pm

      You ever get this worked out?? I think I have the same frame and gimbal combo coming soon and am not super familiar with how to wire this up! I won't be looking to control the gimbal at all, just want the forward stabilization.

      Jordan

  • Samuel Arnold January 14, 2014 at 2:08pm

    Eh by the way... I figured out that i can take the power from M5 and 6 and just lug the signal line to the Axx gimbal ports. BUT the oscillation still appears...

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