Hey everyone this is a short intro on a project
I've been working on for the past month or so.
Canon S100 - 3D Printed Mount
Based on a craigslist ad, I found a reliable,
honest, and skilled individual with experience in
auto cad and a 3D printer.
Ryan, the guy who designed the mount, was
meticulous about measurements and got straight
to work from my quick pencil sketch. His attention to
detail paid off because on the first flight with the mount
the center of gravity was dead on.
The Canon S100 with battery and SD card, 3D mount and
necessary hardware all comes in at 245g.
DIY Iris+ tall legs
For the tall legs I took inspiration from Iris+, but made
it my own by sourcing the hardware and carbon fiber rod
from the local hobby shop.
A $10 investment in parts, and a quick 30min garage sesh
turned 4 stock short legs into tall legs. Total weight for all 4 legs is
36g. That's 11g less than the new Iris+ legs.
Next steps
1. Put together the cable based on flight riot's tutorial for triggering camera.
2. Call 3DR verify whether Iris+ arms can accommodate 11" props.
3. Set up & install CHDK firmware hack with necessary scripts.
4. Finalize pre-flight checklist
5. Test the finalized bird w/ camera in manual flight and evaluate for optimum mission duration.
6. Research & design first mission, test run with camera.
7. Evaluate imagery & refine post-production workflow.
Replies
Awesome. I'm also working on a custom mount and case for the Canon S100 and similarly shaped cameras for the IRIS. Will post pictures when ready, hopefully by next week.
Hi Pascal
Photos look of good quality! It seems that your “high tech’ gimbal work well.
Its seems very straightforward to build such as gimbal, i might give it a try and see.
Does your camera sit tight and secure with the Velcro,I would be afraid that it would come lose and fall off during a hard landing or song winds?
Thanks Jaco,
This is by no way a gimbal, the Iris + is flying so stable that for nadir photos you barely do not need a roll correction. So far I have no windy conditions, so I am happy with this.
The Iris is for me a semi-testing platform and I should go to more "serious" stuff if I can get some bucks from it. Gimbal will be a part of that stuff.
On my first trials I secured the velcro with tie-raps. Than I noticed it is almost impossible to remove the velcro by pulling perpendicular to it. Sony is only 200 grams or so, can't remove itself by it only weight.
But I may add some extra security if needed., at least to make people (clients) more comfortable.
By the way, I am in Cameroon. I saw you are in SA.
Cheers !
Hi Oscar + Pascal am going to try the trigger cable setup that I found on FlightRiot youtube videos:
Pixhawk and camera configuration.
The trigger method for PixHawk also requires a USB cable and one of the aforementioned EFlite LED light controllers (EFLA600) as well as a 5V step up board since PixHawk only puts out 3V from its RC outs and CHDK needs 5V to utilize the remote trigger function.
I should get the part on Monday and would let you know how its works .
Do you know if you can use the GentWire USB with the pixhawk? Will this need the same 5v step up boards?
It would be nice to have the function of controlling when the camera shoots as well as being able to retract the lens prior to landing.
I also do mapping with my Iris+. So far very good results, I am still in the validation process for accuracy.
On the operational point of view, I work with a Sony RX100 2, triggered by Pixhawk through Gentles cable. The camera is fixed on a home made frame, with a foam layer to avoid any vibration. Pictures are good enough for orthophotos and DEM creation.
Still evaluating Pix4D against Photoscan. I found a slight advantage in using the last.
Hi Pascal,
I bought an Iris+ and a Sony rx100 III to my "beginning kit for mapping". Now I'm bulding a camera mount.
When I finish I'll send some pictures and results.
My second step will be mount an Tarot T960 with RcTimmer 2 axis gimbal.
Regards from Brazil
I am using a 3dr x8 (2013, APM2.6), Canon 260sx and 5000 ma 4c battery for mapping. My missions usually are at 100m altitude and 6m/s, and the máximum distance that it can cover before going to failsafe is 800m, that is about 2ha per battery. I am surprised with your iris+ performance.
What distance and time can the iris+ flight (with Sony rx100 and the original battery) ? Could you post a screenshot of a mapping mission grid, i would like to know if i am doing something wrong, because my x8 is not even close to your iris+ flight times.
Having only 800m max distance is definitely a problem on your side.
I do between 2 and 3km with one battery and my RX100.
Nice! Pascal when you have a chance can you document your set up? I'd love to see it.
I'm tempted at the idea of moving up to larger sensor and that sony sounds about right.
Also, is Gentles cable the same as Marco's?
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