RCLogger, the company who brought one of the least expensive mini brushless quads to market with the EYE One Xtreme, is now working on a micro-brushless gimbal for 200 sized quads. The gimbal will be capable of carrying the 1080p capable Mobius camera, a favorite among hobbyists for its size, quality, and price. The entire setup, including aluminum-framed brushless gimbal, dampened mount, control board, JST connector for power, AND camera is expected to weigh in between 100 and 110 grams. Early production models tipped the scales at 108 grams with camera mounted, and 70 grams without, according to RCLogger.
The gimbal can auto-detect power from a 2s or 3s power source, which can be provided from a separate battery or a split lead from a flight battery. Out of the box the gimbal will be pre-tuned for the Mobius camera, but does provide a USB port to allow users the opportunity to change parameters, or upgrade firmware. It will also allow the user to manually adjust the pitch and roll of the gimbal in-flight, if the users radio system is capable of such control. The mount is designed to work with most 200 sized brushless quads.
Price and release date have not been officially set, but an April release has been hinted. RCLogger has also hinted pricing will make it extremely competitive in the 2D gimbal market, especially considering its small size.
Comments
I suppose I should say, FROM people, not FOR people.
Projects like Zano, and others, show that there is a strong desire for people to have portable camera carrying quads. The next logical step for these systems will be somehow stabilizing the videos and the photos, as well as changing perspective.
The Bebop does the equivalent of three axis stabilization, as I understand it, so there is a compensation for roll, pitch and yaw. The other thing about the fisheye lens is it allows the camera to act as not just a stabilizing gimbal, but a movable gimbal as well. I looked at some videos from the Sony camera, and I see what you are talking about. I think that it is extremely plausible that the technology for the, "solid state," gimbal could be miniaturized to the point of being on a quad the size of a Hubsan X4. The idea of a pocket carried quad that would have stabilized video is so very appealing to me.
Hi HeliStorm,
Yes I have the Sony AS100V, it is also somewhat fisheye (and showing some fisheye distortion).
It uses a stabilization techniques as I have described.
In stabilize mode, the picture is centered in the middle 2/3 of the sensor.
And the sensor is till large enough to extract a 1080P picture from four sensor pixels = one 1080P pixel.
This allows them to do quite good (and fast) all electronic stabilization with some limitations.
Moving the image area up or down or sideways it can actually compensate quite well (motorcycle, bicycle and jogging are excellent examples.)
But it does not do as well in rotation, if the image is rotated around the camera lens axis it does not compensate very well.
This is equivalent to the multicopter rolling to the left or right in our application (lens yaw) and something it does constantly to maintain position or in normal maneuvering.
Interestingly and something I have not tried, it might actually work better with the camera pointing straight down as in a mapping operation for instance, because then, neither pitch nor roll would actually yaw the image around the camera lens center.
It is better than other cameras, including most of them with even optical stabilization (which are not fast enough),But it is still not good enough.
And I am pretty sure the BeBop uses exactly the same type of stabilization as my Sony.
(Sony does make a semi-pro and a pro video camera with very highly effective gyroscopically controlled optical stabilization (Balanced Optical Steady Shot) that actually does work, but it is big, heavy and quite expensive.)
@MultiR-Concepts...Curious as to the AUW on that gimbal?
@Gary...you and I were thinking the same about moving the sensor. I actually had a dream (yes, I occasionally dream about this stuff) once where I had a small camera system on a mini quad of mine that looked like an eyeball, and was about the same size even. In my dream, it actually functioned similar to an eyeball, with small actuators behind the unit and a pulley system moving it around, with a sensor along the back, and an "optic nerve," going off to the processor behind the scenes. I have thought about that a quite a bit. My Dad was a biologist, and I have an emergency medicine background as part of my emergency response background, so I guess its not a surprise I would think in might conceive of biological systems.
Do you have the Bebop, or the Sony cam, when you say, "as has been evident in my camera?" The Bebop uses a fisheye lens to help give it a wider angle, as I seem to understand. What they are doing is a concept I suggested awhile back on here, but I wasn't really in a spot to further any progress on my own ideas. Maybe that is why I like the idea so much.
Mine arleady available for almost a year ! in two version, front or suspended mounting
Hi HeliStorm,
I actually think that the chip/lens itself should be direct controlled by the gimbal and the rest moved off board.
You could actually build an entire camera that had the gimbal built into it (moving only the sensor /chip, lens and gyro).
And I agree that the micro linear actuators might be a better way to go.
At the small mass we are talking about their reduced efficiency is made up for by lack of mass and ease of construction (they can also be treated like one phase of a brushless gimbal motor and balanced with the gyro) so not requiring servo feedback pots.
That is the way brushless linear motors work.
I am afraid that DLP - micro mirrors would be quite tricky, they are piezo operated and generally have a VERY limited range of motion also motion resolution is very low.
Also they have comparatively high power requirements. DLP may be possible, but there are a lot of hurdles.
Many of the actual cameras we are using now in Mobious and GoPro actually were designed to be used in cell phones, so the base camera components are actually tiny.
The battery, SD card slot, user interaction buttons, LCD screen and case are way bigger than the cameras themselves.
It really doesn't make much sense to be moving all that around when all you really have to move is the camera chip, lens and gyro.
The BeBop is a really interesting quadcopter, I think it is probably one of the best small things you can buy right now.
The stabilization in their camera works the same way it does in my Sony SV100 Sport Cam.
They use a greatly oversize camera sensor and then sample to the middle of it (still with a 4 pixel square = to 1 output pixel).
This permits them to basically pan on the chip itself and use the 4 to one pixel ratio for antailiasing.
However as has been evident in my camera, this works fairly well for straight horizontal or vertical panning / stabilization, however, angle (both motions simultaneously) results in some aliasing and blurring.
And you still get jello.
I think they still have work to do to perfect this system.
Best Regards,
Gary
Gary...If I read correct, you suggest that only the sensor chip move? Or, are you stating you would like to see the entire setup (processor, memory/storage, etc be condensed down into a camera.
The former, I have considered as an option. I have actually wondered (on several occasions) if a micro linear servo (think the type used on Blade MSR, etc) would be capable of moving a chip around with enough speed to be effective. Then, all the other components could be kept behind the scenes so to speak. Put the whole, "chip gimbal," in a plexi-dome no bigger than a plastic easter egg, and let micro UAS builders find find their uses.
The latter I think will eventually happen. I could imagine 1080p full HD cameras being not much bigger than a button, in total size. Its just a matter of building smaller control circuitry.
One thing I have also wondered, and this is given my limited knowledge of how DLP chips work, is if something akin to the chips used on DLP projectors could be used to create a chip sized gimbal. Instead of moving the camera, or image sensor, move the light to the sensor. DLP chips are relatively small, and low-powered, in comparison to mechanical systems.
Of course, there is also the Bebop. Interesting camera system. Not so sure about the implementation. Parrot could have a hit if they built a stand-alone action camera.
Great to see somebody finally building a serious small gimbal.
Till now, they have all used gimbal motors that were way to big and bulky.
I would actually like to see one with a small chip level 1080P+ camera at 1/4 to 1/10th this size.
Best,
Gary
Hein du Plessis...I will try to get a more accurate date as it comes closer to potential release. Like I said, I am not affiliated (directly) with RCLogger. I know a couple people who work there, and they can sometimes give me a little better insight. Like you, I am waiting for this product. I love the idea of a full HD capable stabilized camera quad that I can comfortably fly indoors, or in tight spaces. I have been an advocate for smaller, lighter, more portable systems, if for no other reason than safety.
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