I've been reading the article at https://code.google.com/p/ardupirates/wiki/StabilizedCameraMount and I'm planning to build a mount similar to this.
I'm a newbie at flying, and do not have all the knowledge about RC equipment as a lot of you guys seems to have.
So my question is: Which servo is suitable to use in the build in the mentioned article?
It's only specified as a 12 gram servo - well, two servos.
What model should I go for? Should I use a analog or digital servo?
I have a 3D Robotics quad with APM 2.5. My TX is a Graupner MX-20 with a GR-24 HoTT receiver.
Have read around on all kind of forums, but can't seem to find a good answer in my pursuit for a good and smooth working servo.
Replies
Metal gear servo's while strong, have more gear backlash than nylon geared servo's, personally I would choose a ball-raced, high torque, LOW speed, nylon gear servo. Look for around 0.2 sec or more for 60° @ 4.8V.
Hi Gunnar
I have been doing some research in this for some time now myself and unfortunately i have not come up with any clear servo to use. From what i can see, it really depends on the servo you get in terms of play on the gears/ compatibility with APM etc.
What i can tell you however is to use analog, metal gear servos and use the 50Hz output pins on the APM and not the higher frequency (400Hz i think) as this will make the servos jitter constantly. Also, stay away from the cheapies, i tried two of them just to test my gimbal and they were a complete waste!
It seems that servo gimbals connected to APM have a tendancy to jitter in any case apparently due to the way they correct themselves so be prepared to have some even after buying good servos, what really helps is to add some silicon tubing between the servo arm and the attachment point to the gimbal instead of a fixed linkage, this will absorb most, if not all of the jitter. I did so with mine and it works like a bomb! It does however create a slight delay with correcting the angle due to the flexibility but it is well worth it. Google super simple gimble to give you a better understanding otherwise i will send you a photo of mine. You can also get some Moongel (RTOM) to absorb the vibrations of the multirotor frame which will also work great to stabilize the camera. Just remember to balance your motors and props first, otherwise it is not really going to work very well.
Hope this helps, let me know how it goes!