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3D Robotics

Testing heading-hold gyros

Posted by Chris Anderson on August 16, 2007 at 12:01am
After building the gyro-stabilized camera mount and seeing the problem of gyro drift, I bought two drift-cancelling heading-hold gyros, which arrived today. I tested them both and am pleased to report that the cheaper one won!

The first is a generic gyro called the "Zoom Super Micro Heading Hold Gyro (TLB)", which cost $74. Its instructions were the usual incomprehensible mess, but once I got the gain on the tranmitter set properly, it worked very well.

A note on gain: I recommend that you use a transmitter that has a knob for one of its accessory channels (5&6), rather than just a switch. You'll need to fiddle with the setting to get it right, and a simple on and off just won't do.


The second was the JR 500 T, which costs $150. It's a "ring gyro" which is supposed to be inherently drift-proof. But I just couldn't get the gain set right and it was oversensitive and jittery at any heading hold gain setting. I'm sure it has more to do with my particular radio setup than a failing in the gyro design, but since it cost more than twice as much as the other gyro and worked less well for me, it's going back.



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Comments

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson April 27, 2008 at 8:17pm
    They output PWM. If you want to read the data it's best to use a regular gyro and do the heading math yourself in the processor.
  • Wyliest April 27, 2008 at 6:54pm
    What is the way these gyro output and dos any one copy of a demo code for BASIC Stamp or Propeller
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