Does anyone have a recommendation for a 3-axis gimbal for an Iris+?
The only option I have found out there is the DYS 3 Axis. Are there any others that work with a GoPro Hero 4 Black?
Thanks, erik
p.s.
If someone who owns a DYS and an Iris sees this, I have a few questions:
- Does the DYS integrate with pixhawk?
- Meaning in auto missions or follow me, will the Iris+ be able to tilt the camera up and down to keep the subject in frame?
- Is there an interface plate, or do I have to find someone to 3D print one for me?
- Does the DYS work with a GoPro 4 black?
- How are the vibration levels?
- Is it difficult to install
- Complicated software config I can handle, but on the hardware side I'm pretty awful at soldering and tend to really mess things up.
Replies
oops. Sorry Joe, I didn't see this post until today. Let me see if I can answer your questions:
I fly in Loiter very often. I also fly in Alt-Hold (which is labeled STD by default on the Iris+ controller). Alt-hold is smoother than Loiter. But Loiter can be very smooth if the Iris is properly tuned. If there is a lot of wind, you basically have to fly in Loiter (or an Auto Mission). The only exception is when the wind happens to be moving in the direction you want the copter to go. Then you can just put the Iris at the start position, switch to Alt-hold, and let the wind drift it to the end position. For me, nature rarely cooperates, so I have to use Loiter or an Auto mission to get those shots.
Its hard for me to answer that. I really didn't want to mess with configuration or tuning, so I went with xproheli. I've been happy with the results. I was able to install it and fly. I don't know how much trouble I would have had with a stock DYS. From what I've read though, it sounds like people have a lot of problems getting them configured and tuned. And yes, they add the brass standoffs for you.
Just a few tip for anyone using DYS 3 axis gimbals.
The standard gray dampers are not great. You can make them much better by stuffing them with earplugs until they are firmer. Or get the Tarot dampers used in the 2 axis Tarot- they are better. This is the main cause of jitter in wind and fast movements.
These all leave the factory with inconsistent motor polarity. Just use the GUI auto polarity to establish motor polarity. This is usually why they spin wildly
Do the six point calibration!
When they work well they work well. Manufacturing quality is spotty and some DYS go pro gimbals seems to be off balance as holes are not centered well. I suspect this is the main cause of frustration....I think there is some info on the large RC Groups thread on this. Some mounting holes in particular can be off and this can be fixed.
Joe B,
You know, the movement isn't that noticeable until you play that video full screen.
Before getting into the gimbal / jitters, let me just say that if you want to shoot professional looking video you really do need to use a decent editor. I use Adobe or Final Cut X. Actually I pretty much just use Final Cut now. It's easier to use. Final Cut's little brother, iMovie, is good too (especially if you avoid overusing effects and transitions). Anyway, almost all decent quality editors include some kind of stabilization feature. Any of these could totally dial in your footage. If I took your clip into Final Cut, I would probably end up using "inertia cam" stabilization. (I'd also letterbox and color grade it).
The other thing, is that I see some yaw movements that feel like they are coming from your hands on the controller. Those need to be more gentle and soft. Same goes for tilt up and down. I have the same issue with tilt and I'm thinking about going into settings and seeing if I can soften up the tilt response. Anyway, sometimes you can salvage a clumsy tilt or yaw by slightly slowing down the clip during those motions. If you shot at 30fps, you'll need a professional editor with something like Final Cuts "optical flow" to interpolate frames during the slowed down portion of the clip.
Now, as to your jitters.... The high frequency vibration is not too bad, but there is something off for sure. When you play the video full screen, it feels like its rocking back and forth. I almost get the feeling that the rubber dampers are too soft. Its as if they are sloshing around. I've never flown in warm weather. Maybe the black Tarot dampers that they recommend are not good for a climate like yours. Have you tried the grey DYS dampeners that came in the box?
I do get that kind of rocking when I first take off, but then it settles in a few seconds. I think its just the gimbal/camera shaking/sloshing around from the initial force of the launch.
It guess it is kinda windy in that video, but not very - certainly the palm trees are blowing a bit. Still, it doesn't seem like enough to cause the rocking/sloshing motion in your video.
You've done the props, but other things you can try:
IMU calibration - every 8 hours of flight time or 2 days.
ESC calibration
Compass calibration
No worries Erik. I went ahead and purchased the gimbal from xproheli. while the gimbal does work better than the Tarot 2d it still exhibits some jitter at all times. I've flown it out of loiter in standard mode and even let it go were the wind takes it and it still has jitter - see link below. I've balanced the props
I emailed xproheli several times about this and while they replied they were't really much help basically saying it was the wind causing the jitter and that was that. Now I've had it up with very little wind and it still has the jitter. I've had dozens of "test" flights and they all have the same jitter.I've experimented with different PID settings I've seen on the net and none of them work as well as the xproheli setting - which are the same as Erik's. I intend to experiment more but just haven't had the time and have settled for the jittery video. I really wanted to do some high quality video but the jitter makes it mediocre at best
With the Solo coming out I may cut my loses and sell my iris
https://vimeo.com/124783111
password; "gimbal"
As Erik said, and I can attest to. The extra $100 is well worth it, however it is a moot point now as Xproheli is now out of the DYS. I copied all of Erik's setting and my DYS still wouldn't cooperate and kept spinning around the yaw axis.... Someone on another forum told me to reverse the polarity of the Yaw motor and it worked. I still have some jello so will try swapping out the dampening balls next.
Erik:
Thanks a million. I had a decent flight today with settings I experimented with from "bench-top" testing. I think one problem I am noticing is that some movement (like end-point jerky-ness) in my video is due to the super flexible grey dampers. I think they are too weak. On my DJI H3-3D gimbal I use the white dampers that are quite a bit more rigid. I'm going to look for a firmer set of dampers (my DJI ones don't fit the DYS holes, and I'm not risking drilling holes for something that might not work).
I did re-do my 6-axis acceleration calibration, along with a Gyro calibration. My YAW offset during forward flight appears to be quite a bit less than it was before. I will try your settings and see how my gimbal responds. I had gone back to Firmware 2.3b5, but maybe I will try 2.4b7 like yours (since the firmware has to match the settings, I'm told).
Thanks again!
How heavy is the whole setup?
Embarrassed to say that I don't know.
It is definitely heavier than a Tarot 2D gimbal.
I have had one flight in cold weather that lasted 11 minutes and about 45 seconds. I've had other flights longer than 11 minutes. For the kind of filming I do, its fine. I usually plan the shoots ahead of time. I send it out, get what I need, bring it back within 6 or 7 minutes, swap the battery and send it back out for additional takes. I expect to get longer flight times when the weather warms up.
Feiyu G3 gimbal
http://droneblog.com/2015/02/03/interview-with-todd-harper/
-
3
-
4
-
5
-
6
-
7
of 8 Next