$250~3DPOWER Brushless Gimbal Mount DJI Phantom 2 Vision

[Brew]

Word of the day for me... I had to look it up: :roll:

Definition of AUTODIDACT
: a self-taught person
— au·to·di·dac·tic adjective
Origin of AUTODIDACT
Greek autodidaktos self-taught, from aut- + didaktos taught, from didaskein to teach

:lol:

 

[DKDarkness]

I just read through this entire thread... on one hand I am kind of chuckling, but on the other, I am feeling a little pain for you fellas.

Ok, so toss out all pretension, and I am going to gamble there is humility out here.

I will speculate what I think, and post what I know:

First off- this gimbal is basically just another version of all the other Chinese 2 axis gimbals out there albeit with some variations in order to fit your birds. (P2?) (Vision?)

I see that the board is Arduino, and it is standard BGC software driven... most likely one of the later versions.

The power is definitely as you have finally discovered- 3s, and you can solder a lead and route through from the main terminal as has been suggested to power the board- a small red female JST connector and it is removable for servicing.

Now- these gimbals are usually "tuned" to the camera they are to hold: placing a piece of garlic or lemon will not get the balance right as they are set up per weight- so whatever camera is supposed to go on there (DJI I imagine) is the weight to work with- otherwise some adjustments on the gimbal software will need to be performed.

The pitch wire is a 2 wire- and on the Naza it should be connected to F1- the top wire on F1 is signal (moves the gimbal) the middle wire is voltage (5V) and the bottom wire is ground. On my radio (stock with a Phantom v1.1.1 and NAza V2 like yours) I have smooth movement per the slider on the back of the radio with the signal and ground connected. I cut the middle wire out.

Now for the bad news (if that above wasn't scaring you, then this ain't so tough maybe?)

There is a port on the board to connect to a computer- basically, and this is my best guess, you need to first contact the vendor and find out which version of SimpleBGC firmware that thing is running. Then you need to download the gui and learn all you can about adjusting this booger here: http://www.basecamelectronics.com/downloads/

All firmware is on that page- there are a ton of youtube vids on pitch control for the, and here is where pride had better be pushed down deep, something called a "goodluckbuy" gimbal- they retail for about $80 and are balanced for gopro hero 2 or 3... but the platform can be tweaked to any weight once you understand the gui and software.

If you fellas are autodiacts like me- then you will wade through this and mod up something cool no doubt- if you are not, then you had better just shoot for a return.

There is one other option and possibility- I am totally wrong about everything I posted. I am not holding my breath though... I have spent a minute on this.

Best of luck.

That's a nice and to the point post

Just two minor issues: as far as I know, it is the F2 port, and the bottom wire (orange) that is signal on the DJI Phantom 2 Vision.

 

[Hiway]

...
That's a nice and to the point post

Just two minor issues: as far as I know, it is the F2 port, and the bottom wire (orange) that is signal on the DJI Phantom 2 Vision.

As I do not know the P2 or Vision specifically, then cool... but I was unaware that F2 was for pitch- though it was for roll or pan.

 

[Hiway]

...

That's autodidact... I know. 'Cause I are one... :lol:

-slinger

so my spell check shat on me... smart ain't always intelligent.

Word of the day for me... I had to look it up: :roll:

Definition of AUTODIDACT
: a self-taught person
— au·to·di·dac·tic adjective
Origin of AUTODIDACT
Greek autodidaktos self-taught, from aut- + didaktos taught, from didaskein to teach

:lol:

Glad to broaden your horizons...

 

[tizzl10]

Took it back to stock. It was fine while powered on and motors not running. Very smoothwhen I manually tilt it to simulate wind and flight pertibations, but once I took off, the gimbal starts to shake. I haven't the time nor patience to figure out what's wrong. Oh well, its a wash. At least I tried. Lol. I'm just happy I got it back to stock configuration without screwing something up. I hope you guys who got this have better luck.

 

[ocatcr]

Took it back to stock. It was fine while powered on and motors not running. Very smoothwhen I manually tilt it to simulate wind and flight pertibations, but once I took off, the gimbal starts to shake. I haven't the time nor patience to figure out what's wrong. Oh well, its a wash. At least I tried. Lol. I'm just happy I got it back to stock configuration without screwing something up. I hope you guys who got this have better luck.

it is normal. the gimbal will do self-calibration every time you turn it on. you should keep the gimbal steady and keep it as level as possible while gimbal self-calibrating.

 

[tizzl10]

Took it back to stock. It was fine while powered on and motors not running. Very smoothwhen I manually tilt it to simulate wind and flight pertibations, but once I took off, the gimbal starts to shake. I haven't the time nor patience to figure out what's wrong. Oh well, its a wash. At least I tried. Lol. I'm just happy I got it back to stock configuration without screwing something up. I hope you guys who got this have better luck.

it is normal. the gimbal will do self-calibration every time you turn it on. you should keep the gimbal steady and keep it as level as possible while gimbal self-calibrating.

nah, its not that..i should have taken video because its hard to explain. I could power on the unit and it does its self calibration thing. I could pick it up and move the vision all around..the gimbal would counteract the movements as expected..very smooth. I thought it was good to go. I went outside to do a test flight and once I got it off the ground, the gimbal just started shaking like crazy..so much that it causes flight disturbances. I went back to stock and im sending this unit back. it was a rushed, crappy design.

 

[ocatcr]

Took it back to stock. It was fine while powered on and motors not running. Very smoothwhen I manually tilt it to simulate wind and flight pertibations, but once I took off, the gimbal starts to shake. I haven't the time nor patience to figure out what's wrong. Oh well, its a wash. At least I tried. Lol. I'm just happy I got it back to stock configuration without screwing something up. I hope you guys who got this have better luck.

it is normal. the gimbal will do self-calibration every time you turn it on. you should keep the gimbal steady and keep it as level as possible while gimbal self-calibrating.

nah, its not that..i should have taken video because its hard to explain. I could power on the unit and it does its self calibration thing. I could pick it up and move the vision all around..the gimbal would counteract the movements as expected..very smooth. I thought it was good to go. I went outside to do a test flight and once I got it off the ground, the gimbal just started shaking like crazy..so much that it causes flight disturbances. I went back to stock and im sending this unit back. it was a rushed, crappy design.

I want to know more about the problem. If I have the same problem, I could know how to deal with it. Could I know what your setup is?

 

[Hiway]

...
That's a nice and to the point post

Just two minor issues: as far as I know, it is the F2 port, and the bottom wire (orange) that is signal on the DJI Phantom 2 Vision.

As I do not know the P2 or Vision specifically, then cool... but I was unaware that F2 was for pitch- though it was for roll or pan.

I need to make an apology, and correction on this point. I assumed I was correct about the F1 and F2... but that was because I assumed F1 was the first from the left row of pins and never looked closely at the label (bad eyes mates) so I was very wrong.

F2 is the pitch as everyone has pointed out and I stupidly disagreed on.

 

[DKDarkness]

...
That's a nice and to the point post

Just two minor issues: as far as I know, it is the F2 port, and the bottom wire (orange) that is signal on the DJI Phantom 2 Vision.

As I do not know the P2 or Vision specifically, then cool... but I was unaware that F2 was for pitch- though it was for roll or pan.

I need to make an apology, and correction on this point. I assumed I was correct about the F1 and F2... but that was because I assumed F1 was the first from the left row of pins and never looked closely at the label (bad eyes mates) so I was very wrong.

F2 is the pitch as everyone has pointed out and I stupidly disagreed on.

I took the liberty to do a short diagram, since this is an ongoing issue: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid= ... EwNDE4ZDk0

 

[Skipholiday]

I took the liberty to do a short diagram, since this is an ongoing issue: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid= ... EwNDE4ZDk0

perfect thank you

 

[Mattkaine]

I couldn't wait for Rotorpixel and wasn't going to pay the DE price so I built my own.

http://youtu.be/buw0i9dfbU4

Going to buy this one just because it looks cleaner. I've got same board running mine so here is what I did.

1. Tapped the battery terminals where the battery connects to the board. Soldered a JST connector that matched what the gimbal controller came with. This way I could easily remove it later. Ran the power wire up the existing hole.

2. The servo plug. I figured out stock P2V plug is a micro JTS motor connector. Wow hobbies sells them 10 for under $4. I have servo connector crimpers so I just attached signal and ground and plugged the pitch control into where the Camera servo normally goes. You can easily connect a standard servo type cable from gyro control board to F2 to achieve same thing.

3. Adjusted gyro setting via gyro software. IMPORTANT in the Phantom Software under camera settings you must turn gains to ZERO. You want the gyro controller doing all the controlling. Otherwise you can cause a feedback loop causing occilations.

4. Occilations: I figured out the stock dampers are TOO soft to carry the extra weight of the gimbal. To fix get some regular ear plugs roll them as tight as you can get them and slide one down inside each of the dampers. Will fix the violent occilations. I believe it is a feedback loop between what the phantom is doing and the slight delay of when the Gyro senses and responds. Needless to say a few ear plugs fixes it.

I hope these tips help. I am pretty happy with my results so far.

 

[Mattkaine]

DO NOT turn camera Off inside phantom software just turn Camera Gains to Zero. I have heard of turning it off via software bricking the camera.

 

[DKDarkness]

I couldn't wait for Rotorpixel and wasn't going to pay the DE price so I built my own.

http://youtu.be/buw0i9dfbU4

Going to buy this one just because it looks cleaner. I've got same board running mine so here is what I did.

1. Tapped the battery terminals where the battery connects to the board. Soldered a JST connector that matched what the gimbal controller came with. This way I could easily remove it later. Ran the power wire up the existing hole.

2. The servo plug. I figured out stock P2V plug is a micro JTS motor connector. Wow hobbies sells them 10 for under $4. I have servo connector crimpers so I just attached signal and ground and plugged the pitch control into where the Camera servo normally goes. You can easily connect a standard servo type cable from gyro control board to F2 to achieve same thing.

3. Adjusted gyro setting via gyro software. IMPORTANT in the Phantom Software under camera settings you must turn gains to ZERO. You want the gyro controller doing all the controlling. Otherwise you can cause a feedback loop causing occilations.

4. Occilations: I figured out the stock dampers are TOO soft to carry the extra weight of the gimbal. To fix get some regular ear plugs roll them as tight as you can get them and slide one down inside each of the dampers. Will fix the violent occilations. I believe it is a feedback loop between what the phantom is doing and the slight delay of when the Gyro senses and responds. Needless to say a few ear plugs fixes it.

I hope these tips help. I am pretty happy with my results so far.

Nicely done, and thank you for sharing your findings! I have been trying to find the micro JTS motor connectors, but without luck. Could you by any chance provide a link?

 

[wklee]

I couldn't wait for Rotorpixel and wasn't going to pay the DE price so I built my own.

http://youtu.be/buw0i9dfbU4

Going to buy this one just because it looks cleaner. I've got same board running mine so here is what I did.

1. Tapped the battery terminals where the battery connects to the board. Soldered a JST connector that matched what the gimbal controller came with. This way I could easily remove it later. Ran the power wire up the existing hole.

2. The servo plug. I figured out stock P2V plug is a micro JTS motor connector. Wow hobbies sells them 10 for under $4. I have servo connector crimpers so I just attached signal and ground and plugged the pitch control into where the Camera servo normally goes. You can easily connect a standard servo type cable from gyro control board to F2 to achieve same thing.

3. Adjusted gyro setting via gyro software. IMPORTANT in the Phantom Software under camera settings you must turn gains to ZERO. You want the gyro controller doing all the controlling. Otherwise you can cause a feedback loop causing occilations.

4. Occilations: I figured out the stock dampers are TOO soft to carry the extra weight of the gimbal. To fix get some regular ear plugs roll them as tight as you can get them and slide one down inside each of the dampers. Will fix the violent occilations. I believe it is a feedback loop between what the phantom is doing and the slight delay of when the Gyro senses and responds. Needless to say a few ear plugs fixes it.

I hope these tips help. I am pretty happy with my results so far.

Very Comprehesive. I added the damper protector to fix the oscillation. Two rushed video test:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8EgaVzmuIM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZTw0HvJ2H4[/youtube]

 

[Noël]

I'm kind of lost here! Are the above recordings with the Taco-RC gimbal??

 

[wklee]

I'm kind of lost here! Are the above recordings with the Taco-RC gimbal??

Yes it is their gimbal.

 

[Noël]

Well in that case it does look promising..

 

[DKDarkness]

Do you have a link for the micro JTS motor connectors?

 

[Mattkaine]

http://www.wowhobbies.com/wwa-mc101moto ... e130x.aspx

Looks like they are out of stock at the moment and have changed from 10x to 5x for the $3. They were the only place I could find them but I didn't look hard as they are local to me. I just crimped a regular servo connector on to the wiring on this plug. It was perfect length for my set up. Probably will need a longer cable, in which case I would just cut off a connector from an bad servo and solder it on at the right length.

Also I remembered you need to adjust camera endpoint adjustment. I did mine inside the Phantom Software. Each Phantom will be different so giving numbers is pointless. Just play with the end points till you get what you want. I went just over horizontal for one and straight down for the other. The gimbal would have moved it much more than that. For theother number is start up position. I actually set it up that it was just below horizontal, because that is where I want the camera to be when I first start flying.