Rotorpixel gimbal for Phantom Vision

[Bigvern]

364 was a week ago. I hope they got some shipped out since then. I leave for vacation on the 1st and don't want this thing sitting on my porch a week.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2

364 shipped Friday (3 days ago)

 

[dkatz42]

This is when piloting skills come in. If you keep some movement in either direction or flying ATTI mode you should not have the left right jitters. The GPS is constantly trying to correct the heading when sitting in place.

But the GPS doesn't correct position with Yaw, it is correcting position on the horizontal plane. In other words, it doesn't yaw to move sideways. It tilts horizontally to move sideways.

As noted, the flight control system does control yaw, though technically it's not the GPS part, but the compass part. As noted, GPS is used to maintain position, but the IMU is used to maintain attitude and the compass is used to maintain heading. In gusty conditions, the wind will induce yaw as well as movement in every other dimension; the flight control system will have to work in the yaw axis to maintain heading, and the accuracy of the compass and the gain of the control system will limit how steady it can be.

Having said that, the controls out of the box are very twitchy for my (relative noob) tastes. I'd love to be able to control the linearity of the controls, so that modest stick deflections make small changes, but as you get nearer to the stops the control becomes more aggressive. That way you still have the full range of control if you need it, but it would be easier to do fine adjustments.

 

[Pull_Up]

This is when piloting skills come in. If you keep some movement in either direction or flying ATTI mode you should not have the left right jitters. The GPS is constantly trying to correct the heading when sitting in place.

But the GPS doesn't correct position with Yaw, it is correcting position on the horizontal plane. In other words, it doesn't yaw to move sideways. It tilts horizontally to move sideways.

As noted, the flight control system does control yaw, though technically it's not the GPS part, but the compass part. As noted, GPS is used to maintain position, but the IMU is used to maintain attitude and the compass is used to maintain heading. In gusty conditions, the wind will induce yaw as well as movement in every other dimension; the flight control system will have to work in the yaw axis to maintain heading, and the accuracy of the compass and the gain of the control system will limit how steady it can be.

Having said that, the controls out of the box are very twitchy for my (relative noob) tastes. I'd love to be able to control the linearity of the controls, so that modest stick deflections make small changes, but as you get nearer to the stops the control becomes more aggressive. That way you still have the full range of control if you need it, but it would be easier to do fine adjustments.

From my time watching the guys on the "Flite Test" YouTube channel then I believe what you're referring to is the ability that some programmable controllers have to change the "expo" of the channel. I believe it works exactly as you described. I would imagine it could be programmed into the Vision firmware as something that was handled at the receiver end (a bit like standard Vision assistant stick calibration).

But I could very well be mistaken.

 

[RemE]

You are right on, exponential is a standard feature on the programmable radios, used a lot to tame twitchy models around center stick while maintaining full deflection at the extremes.

I haven't found any good reason to maintain full deflection on this model since quick panning almost never looks good. That's why I went with a simple rate adjustment.

 

[archer02]

Has anyone got their lucky ship number for today with #364 the last for last week? Going into week 6 for most of us and production was suppose to be going up?? Wondering when there was going to be a new photo on their web site as well as an update on the LIST for when to expect a paid for product with spring coming to use it? :? Any word Keri?

 

[gfredrone]

Has anyone got their lucky ship number for today with #364 the last for last week? Going into week 6 for most of us and production was suppose to be going up?? Wondering when there was going to be a new photo on their web site as well as an update on the LIST for when to expect a paid for product with spring coming to use it? :? Any word Keri?

Keri is too busy partying like it's 1999 with the cash windfall from all of the gimbal pre-orders. :lol:

I too would appreciate a weekly update at minimum.

 

[BJay]

Could keri please front with an answer about the kind of documents they're going to ship their gimbal with.

If they disclose the entire price i will have to pay another 120 dollars in taxes so I would like to cancel my order.

 

[Pull_Up]

From the FAQ on their website:

CAN YOU INDICATE A LOW VALUE ON THE CUSTOMS DECLARATION?

No. This is illegal, and can result in both Rotorpixel and yourself being hit with heavy fines, which are above and beyond the standard import tax/fees for your country. If you know someone in Canada/USA who you'd like your package sent to instead, so that they can forward it to you internationally, then please let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate.

 

[streetcreep]

Pull_up or others ... once you have the camera in the RP housing , how easy is it to remove from that housing ?? is it snap snap or do you pry it out ?

 

[GetaGrip]

Well so much for that, received my gimbal today. Performed and entered settings in Vision assistant, disconnected. Removed phantom battery, removed camera, installed gimbal as instructed, performed connections as instructed, installed camera and balanced.

Powered everything up and NO gimbal initiation and no camera. Powered down, removed battery, reconnected Phantom camera cable direct to camera and now the camera is dead as well (no LED). :evil:

Digging deeper and pulling the camera cable to test, wish me luck.

 

[DKDarkness]

From the FAQ on their website:

CAN YOU INDICATE A LOW VALUE ON THE CUSTOMS DECLARATION?

No. This is illegal, and can result in both Rotorpixel and yourself being hit with heavy fines, which are above and beyond the standard import tax/fees for your country. If you know someone in Canada/USA who you'd like your package sent to instead, so that they can forward it to you internationally, then please let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate.

A $249 "assemble it your self" option would be welcomed, reducing end user price and bypassing the month long wait for Keri to assemble and calibrate the gimbals?

 

[BJay]

From the FAQ on their website:

CAN YOU INDICATE A LOW VALUE ON THE CUSTOMS DECLARATION?

No. This is illegal, and can result in both Rotorpixel and yourself being hit with heavy fines, which are above and beyond the standard import tax/fees for your country. If you know someone in Canada/USA who you'd like your package sent to instead, so that they can forward it to you internationally, then please let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate.

Thanks for pointing out this info to me, If there is anyone in USA/Canada who would be willing to help me bypass some ridiculous import charges, most of which go to the brokerage company please contact me on this forum.

You must be able to prove some trustablility and you will be compensated fairly... win win?

 

[Old Gazer]

Well so much for that, received my gimbal today. Performed and entered settings in Vision assistant, disconnected. Removed phantom battery, removed camera, installed gimbal as instructed, performed connections as instructed, installed camera and balanced.

Powered everything up and NO gimbal initiation and no camera. Powered down, removed battery, reconnected Phantom camera cable direct to camera and now the camera is dead as well (no LED). :evil:

Digging deeper and pulling the camera cable to test, wish me luck.

Just got mine today as well and have it installed and working. Be sure the plug cable form the Phantom to the gimble board is in all the way. I found it took a pretty hard push to get it in.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[PhantomDave]

You are right on, exponential is a standard feature on the programmable radios, used a lot to tame twitchy models around center stick while maintaining full deflection at the extremes.

I haven't found any good reason to maintain full deflection on this model since quick panning almost never looks good. That's why I went with a simple rate adjustment.

Are you talking about this adjustment? If so, what do recommend setting it to?

 

[Pull_Up]

From the FAQ on their website:

CAN YOU INDICATE A LOW VALUE ON THE CUSTOMS DECLARATION?

No. This is illegal, and can result in both Rotorpixel and yourself being hit with heavy fines, which are above and beyond the standard import tax/fees for your country. If you know someone in Canada/USA who you'd like your package sent to instead, so that they can forward it to you internationally, then please let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate.

A $249 "assemble it your self" option would be welcomed, reducing end user price and bypassing the month long wait for Keri to assemble and calibrate the gimbals?

I asked this myself way back, as I noticed they used to offer their GoPro gimbals as kits with a $100 discount. Keri said that the amount of time they were spending supporting kit builders to get things right (or help to fix their own mistakes) meant they were costing the business way too much in staff time to support and decided to stop offering kits of their range. I guess the risk with releasing kits is users putting them together badly and giving the product a bad name...

 

[Pull_Up]

Pull_up or others ... once you have the camera in the RP housing , how easy is it to remove from that housing ?? is it snap snap or do you pry it out ?

It's snap in and out, but for safety there is a thumb screw that passes through one of the camera "ears" and the mount. I think they've done this because the mount now shipping doesn't wrap all the way round the camera like the prototype and leaves the non-gimbal motor side of the camera totally uncovered.

 

[Old Gazer]

I found my gimble on the front porch today when I got home from work. I wasn't expecting it till later in the week. My last tracking info was Friday morning saying it had entered a "foreign country". I was hoping that foreign country was the US.
I had to do a small amount of trimming to get it to fit in my Trade Craft case with the camera on. Just turn it around with the front facing the rear of the case. The gimble and camera will fit in the slot designed for the battery while inserted in the Vision. The slot is plenty deep with room to spare, but because the camera on gimble is off center, the slot is not quite wide enough. I had to trim about a half inch off the right side to make it fit. An easy trim job.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[tedw123]

I found my gimble on the front porch today when I got home from work. I wasn't expecting it till later in the week. My last tracking info was Friday morning saying it had entered a "foreign country". I was hoping that foreign country was the US.
I had to do a small amount of trimming to get it to fit in my Trade Craft case with gimble on. Just turn it around with the front facing the rear of the case. The gimble will fit in the slot designed for the battery while inserted in the Vision. The slot is plenty deep with room to spare, but because the camera on gimble is off center, the slot is not quite wide enough. I had to trim about a half inch off the right side to make it fit. An easy trim job.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Just curious, did you trim with a sharp knife? Any tricks before I cut loose? I have a GoProfessional case and will probably have to do the same.

 

[browntw79]

Just got mine today

What was your order number?

 

[Old Gazer]

I found my gimble on the front porch today when I got home from work. I wasn't expecting it till later in the week. My last tracking info was Friday morning saying it had entered a "foreign country". I was hoping that foreign country was the US.
I had to do a small amount of trimming to get it to fit in my Trade Craft case with gimble on. Just turn it around with the front facing the rear of the case. The gimble will fit in the slot designed for the battery while inserted in the Vision. The slot is plenty deep with room to spare, but because the camera on gimble is off center, the slot is not quite wide enough. I had to trim about a half inch off the right side to make it fit. An easy trim job.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Just curious, did you trim with a sharp knife? Any tricks before I cut loose? I have a GoProfessional case and will probably have to do the same.

I just used a serrated knife. The foam in the Trade Case is fairly stiff and is easy to cut. I don't know any tricks. Just go ahead and cut loose.


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