Building Custom Quadcopter

[CityZen]

Well, but a Naza Lite is about $80, while a Naza V2 is about $230 (and a Chinese APM2.6 is about $40).
You can build an entire 450-style quad for the price of the Naza V2.

 

[mrbones121]

One more quick thought- your link shows an old Naza Lite. I suggest you do not cut corners and restrict future expansion possibilities- get the Naza v2 set up.

Since this is my first quad copter build from scratch, I don't want to spend too much on a device that has a high possibility of crashing. By old NAZA lite what exactly do you mean? What is the difference between the old and new? What is the advantage of getting a NAZA V2 besides being able to interface other DJI parts into it?

My general take on DJI is that they make quality parts but are pretty expensive for what you get. Hence I'm really only trying to use their essential parts to make the copter reliable and then from their I was going to branch out into after market parts such as the frame, gimbal, FPV setup.

 

[mrbones121]

So is it possible to hook up a third party gimbal to a NAZA M lite without too much trouble?

Be careful with this one as the answer is.... Yes AND No !!!

I'll explain:

There are a plethora of 2 axis and 3 axis third party gimbals available for multi rotor builders. Some of them are good some not so good and some are criminally bad!

Almost all of them come out of China so instructions supplied can be difficult to follow sometimes as they are mostly written in 'Chinglish'

All of the third party gimbals have GCU's, accelerometers, gyros etc on board which means they are plug and play... usually the only connection to the Naza is for tilt and (maybe) depending on the make of gimbal, roll. This is fine for the most part but not as accurate as the Zenmuse camp since these additionally take commands from the Naza to more accurately stabilize the gimbal.

The exception would be something based around the newer versions of the Alexmos board which allows an interface into your Naza/FC and takes feedback from the internal accelerometers etc to act more like the Zenmuse gimbals. Although the Alexmos boards perform very well (I have one sitting here on my desk as I write this) they are way less forgiving in set-up and a decent knowledge of PID's would be an advantage if you are going to go that route (although the results will be better than a standard plug-n-play gimbal)

In summary then:-

All third party gimbals will work stand alone (although they will need their own power source/feed)
Pretty much all third party gimbals will connect to a Naza to at least give you tilt control
All third party gimbals will NOT be as good/accurate at stabilisation as the Zenmuse family because these take additional data from the Naza itself to very finely adjust tilt/roll/yaw via a closed feedback loop.
The exception would be the Alexmos based gimbals but they are not for the feint hearted ! :shock:

I think since this is my first build from scratch, and since in the past I have only worked with Zenmuse gimbals, I am just going to go with a reasonable priced Ebay gimbal. Although not as accurate as a Zenmuse, I have a feeling it'll work fine for my use. I don't think I'm ready for an Alexmos based gimbal

 

[SanCap]

So is it possible to hook up a third party gimbal to a NAZA M lite without too much trouble?

Be careful with this one as the answer is.... Yes AND No !!!

I'll explain:

There are a plethora of 2 axis and 3 axis third party gimbals available for multi rotor builders. Some of them are good some not so good and some are criminally bad!

Almost all of them come out of China so instructions supplied can be difficult to follow sometimes as they are mostly written in 'Chinglish'

All of the third party gimbals have GCU's, accelerometers, gyros etc on board which means they are plug and play... usually the only connection to the Naza is for tilt and (maybe) depending on the make of gimbal, roll. This is fine for the most part but not as accurate as the Zenmuse camp since these additionally take commands from the Naza to more accurately stabilize the gimbal.

The exception would be something based around the newer versions of the Alexmos board which allows an interface into your Naza/FC and takes feedback from the internal accelerometers etc to act more like the Zenmuse gimbals. Although the Alexmos boards perform very well (I have one sitting here on my desk as I write this) they are way less forgiving in set-up and a decent knowledge of PID's would be an advantage if you are going to go that route (although the results will be better than a standard plug-n-play gimbal)

In summary then:-

All third party gimbals will work stand alone (although they will need their own power source/feed)
Pretty much all third party gimbals will connect to a Naza to at least give you tilt control
All third party gimbals will NOT be as good/accurate at stabilisation as the Zenmuse family because these take additional data from the Naza itself to very finely adjust tilt/roll/yaw via a closed feedback loop.
The exception would be the Alexmos based gimbals but they are not for the feint hearted ! :shock:

I think since this is my first build from scratch, and since in the past I have only worked with Zenmuse gimbals, I am just going to go with a reasonable priced Ebay gimbal. Although not as accurate as a Zenmuse, I have a feeling it'll work fine for my use. I don't think I'm ready for an Alexmos based gimbal

You can not go wrong with this gimbal. http://www.rangevideo.com/tarot-t-2...mera-gimbal-and-zyx22-controller-tl68a00.html

 

[CityZen]

The Walkera G-2D is often pointed out as a decent budget gimbal that works straight out of the box.

The Chinese basecam gimbals are okay, but take some tuning to make them work well.

 

[The Editor]

The Walkera G-2D is often pointed out as a decent budget gimbal that works straight out of the box.

*** But it's only 2D :shock: - Really nobody uses 2D gimbals anymore now that 3D have come down in cost so much coupled with the huge improvement the yaw stabilisation gives ***

The Chinese basecam gimbals are okay, but take some tuning to make them work well.

*** Eh?.... They are Aleksey Moskalenko's technology... and he's Polish !! http://www.basecamelectronics.com/ ***

 

[CityZen]

Ok, so you can spend twice as much and get the Walkera G-3D. It's still twice as much.

And by "Chinese", I meant all the made-in-China copies using the basecam firmware.