RCTimer Brushless Gimbal and Controller

It's amazing how quickly BLGs went from a novelty and costing thousands (zenmuse) to something you can get for $172 shipped!

I received my RCTimer Brushless Gimbal (BLG) and controller (Martinez v1) yesterday and of course had to try it immediately. Mark came over and helped with the build and documentation. The kit does not come with any instructions, so the RCGroups thread is the best source for build info.

Overall the quality of the RCTimer kit is not bad. There was one missing screw and a few things we had to alter to make it fit (see the build log link below for details). But the material is easy to work with. The default firmware and settings on the board seem to be pretty decent for a start. We initially had the IMU orientation and motor connections different, the result of that was shaking in the pitch axis. Once positioned and connected as shown above, it started to work fine without any parameter changes.

Build log with many detailed pictures:

http://eastbay-rc.blogspot.com/2013/05/rc-timer-brushless-gimbal-build-log.html

Video showing connections, start-up sequence and motion test:

Time lapse build video:

Next up: Connect to the GUI (no luck so far), connect the RC, fly...

Hi
Can some one give me a step by step instructions for dummies.
I am new in this and have got no idea, I just bought and assembeled my;
RCTIMER 2-Axis Brushless Gimbal For GoPro
RCTIMER 2-Axis Brushless Gimbal Controller & IMU v1.0

Loaded the driver (I think so)
CDM 2.08.28 WHQL Certified

Downloaded and used
Arduino 1.0.5
BruGi_049B_r161.zip
I selected Arduino Pro Mini (5v, 16MHz) w/ATmeg328

Tried to set it up and balance it from my understanding but I can see movments in the gimbel, but not balancing at all. Even when I move the gimbel the camera mount doesn't move!

Any idea what I should do and please some one give me a step by step instruction to what to do for a very biginer.

1- Do I connect that little part which comes with the board under the camera mount?
2- Can I just use double sided foam tape.
3- How do I do the tuning, Austo, manual, do I save it, or load it or save to board?

Thanks

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Comments

Ronald Verdier August 14, 2013 at 2:53pm

Ok, i'm stuck. What is the correct way of mounting the controllerboard and the small one? Everywhere i look i see something different. Anyone got a picture of the correct way? Pleaaaaaasssseee

Mitchell Yazdani July 30, 2013 at 5:31am

Mike T July 25, 2013 at 6:31pm

sounds like your IMU is on wrong.

Also i had a problem like this when i connected A1 to control pitch. you should disconnect this if you are using it.
John McGrath July 25, 2013 at 5:39pm

Tom first make sure it balances without the power to it. Second its a real PIA to program right I worked on it for 2 weeks but everyone has a different setup. When you program the board I assume you are using the supplied martinez board make sure you have the battery and usb hooked up when you are programing it. After you program the board unplug the usb and then unplug the battery and then plug it in again... See what happens.... Next plug in the usb and start gui again and make sure what you programmed is the same.. I had a issue with it not keeping what I told it. I am running ver 161 firmware and its as good as I think a 99 dollar gimbal will get.
Tom Barley July 25, 2013 at 3:58pm

I have the new RC timer brushless gimbal, the one without a cage - just a flat arm for the go pro and its coupled to the rc timer board. It is almost impossible to set up. I have used the examples shown in the GUI files - don't work, after hours of fiddling with the PID's in the GUI - the gimbal calms down and appears to work !. That is until you fly, then the thing twists and turns and tumbles and is just not useable.

Anyone have any ideas or any settings for the same gimbal/board set up i could try?

Tom
Roberto Bonfim July 15, 2013 at 6:54am

Exactly Jason, don't mix the power (+) from the RC and Gimbal Controller, only signal and ground.
Jason Ficklin July 14, 2013 at 12:55pm

Thanks Roberto! Just the info I needed, just in time!

I had to connect a signal wire AND a ground wire to get my setup to work, since I'm running two power sources. With a standard servo wire though I got interference with the duplicate power situation. Basically I don't need the + wire. Works great tho!
John McGrath July 14, 2013 at 7:39am

Vince I do have a separate cam with osd and such but I don't use it often because everything is mostly line of site for my video. I did not want a FPV setup for the go pro just felt like FPV should be separate just my opinion. And for sure a lock on the gimbal if you are going to FPV as I think it would mess me up being "balanced". Thanks for the info on the Pitch but that's what I was doing and still not working and yes I did check mark it in the GUI :-)
Roberto Bonfim July 14, 2013 at 6:46am

RCTimer Controller pinouts for remote control of the gimbal:

A2 =RC Roll - PWM
A1 =RC Pitch - PWM
A0 =Not used
Multi =Not used

GND is edge pins
Vince Hogg July 14, 2013 at 6:39am

My RC pitch works well. Think it was the second set of pins with gnd next to board. Im not sure what the other sets of pins are for though. Im hoping there is an RC 'lock gimbal' function to help with FPV but Im now getting used to FPVing through the gopro on the gimbal. I will get a video switch to use the other onboard camera again.

I seem to get much better results with more rigid fixings. Soft ones just seem to get into an oscillation.

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