Another Arris CM3000 Gimbal Test Flight

[Ton4]

Ok, all ESCs healthy, T motors buzzing all in tune again.

With the Gens Ace 2700mah I get just 30-40 second less time as with two x 2200mah!

Did some test flying in order to get the Phantom to do the right thing. As you can see, the Arris CM 3000 has "some" issues with keeping the horizon level. Tilt down 90 degrees, fly forward and tilt up, and the horizon is off, by, lets guess, 10 degrees or more....

The Arris CM3000 also shows a wobble, I hope to get rid off.... There was some wind, some turbulence, cummulo nimbus approaching, but the Phantom is a bit nervous. My guess is that lowering the attitude gains may help a bit?

DJI Phantom 1.2, T-Motors, Balanced Carbon Fiber Vision Style Propellers, AUW 1272 grams, 600 mw Immersion VTX, Gens Ace 2700mah battery, (9 minutes until 10.6v, 2523 ma reloaded according to Accucell 6) GoPro 3+ Black. Shot in 60fps, edited and saved as 30fps. Removing half the frames introduces some minor jello. 8 "soft balls" used for dampening vibration.

Anyone an idea to get rid of this horizon problem? The wobble?

As you may have seen in the other video I posted, without wind it is almost as if the Phantom flies on rails, unless you push the throttle up or down a lot.

With wind as today however, I really need a stabilization program for the results I want

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eW08ajYC2U[/youtube]

Just a pixel peeping video, not an attempt to create a captivating video or something.

 

[EMCSQUAR]

That's the new 3 axis gimbal eh? After watching your video, it looks like it's just slow to gain back up to horizon. If you have software (suspect it's BC software) you should be able to tweak the settings for individual Pitch, Yaw etc...

 

[Ton4]

That's the new 3 axis gimbal eh? After watching your video, it looks like it's just slow to gain back up to horizon. If you have software (suspect it's BC software) you should be able to tweak the settings for individual Pitch, Yaw etc...

Yes, its simplebgc 2.3b

Tweak settings, yes but which settings? What needs to be adjusted so the horizon will always be level??

And, there is a low frequency "wobble", what settings need to be adjusted to get rid of that?

 

[Ton4]

Current settings for the Arris 3 axis Gimbal:

PID

roll 26, 0.2, 22
pitch 10 ,0.2 ,22
yaw 12, 0.2, 12

Power:

roll, 108
pitch, 80
yaw, 86

gyro thrust, 84

RC control

LPF pitch 5, speed 3


This morning I was about to start new calibration flights, but the gimbal went crazy. Obviously somehow its settings were lost. Connected to the PC, loaded setting and recycled power; back in business. (Guess it lost its advanced calibration, horizon drifted again)

But, micro vibes. The vibes disappeared during the first minutes of flight.... Back home I lowered the pitch power (not P) (with a full battery) until the vibes ceased. Is now 70.

At battery monitoring I set the "Compensate voltage drop" at 12,4 volts. (Hope this works with this gimbal)

Lesson for me, use the calibration program with a full battery. Feel the gimbal for vibes, move the aircraft, feel for vibes. Sometimes the gimbal does not vibe when the aircraft is in rest, but starts the vibes when it has to apply corrections.

Ok, some more test flights.

 

[Ton4]

Ow, I went back to the plastic vision props. The carbon ones are pretty nervous, especially in windy condtions. I upped the gains a bit, and I thought the Phantom would shake itself to disaster this morning.

 

[mediaguru]

I'm having trouble figuring out which wires to hook up to the Naza of the two included. The instructions don't cover naza, only futuba.

 

[Ton4]

You have two sets of servo cables coming out of the CM3000, one with 2 cables, one with three.

The one with three, (white, red, black) is for tilt/roll control.

Red is signal for tilt, the only one I use.

This goes into the F2 of the naza. Just use signal and ground.

(if this was what you were asking)

 

[Gizmo3000]

This goes into the F1 of the naza. Just use signal and ground.

I believe it's the F2 you want to plug the tilt into!

then go into your NAZA settings and turn the gains down in the gimbal section.

 

[Ton4]

That's what I said

 

[mediaguru]

You have two sets of servo cables coming out of the CM3000, one with 2 cables, one with three.

The one with three, (white, red, black) is for tilt/roll control.

Red is signal for tilt, the only one I use.

This goes into the F2 of the naza. Just use signal and ground.

(if this was what you were asking)

Fantastic. I was waiting for a response with my Phantom torn apart on the kitchen counter, making greek chicken and rice around it!

 

[Ton4]

*Ton4 tries to imagine a Phantom with chicken and rice around it*

 

[mediaguru]

OKAY,

So I have two cables which came with the CM3000:

1. red and white - One end is the 3 prong plug which goes into the naza. The other end splits to two of the same connectors one with red and one with white.

2. red, white black - This cable splits to one connector which is black and red, the other connector being white.

I'm guessing then that I should use #2, and disguard the white cable?

 

[Ton4]

Yes, #2.

Just don't use it, the white one.

I just took a servo cable, where I connected the middle lead to the upper lead of the plug that goes into the naza.

 

[Ton4]

Actually I just cut a servo cable, put it down the hole at the leg, and reconnected it as above. Some solder and heatshrink.

 

[mediaguru]

Alright I'm trying to get the pitch control working. I've installed the lever on the back of the Phantom TX. I've hooked my computer up to the gimbal.

Snag #1:

From the manual:

The controller on ARRIS CM3000 Gimbal is designed using simple brushless gimbal controller. And the software we use is V2.2 version. You can adjust the settings on the software as needed from http://www.simplebgc.com/eng/downloads/.

The first problem with that website is that a popup is coming up saying to go to a new website. That site has a page does not exist error.

So I go back to the main site and download version 2.2 of simplebgc, but then the photo above says I have the wrong firmware versus gui.

Suggestions?

 

[mediaguru]

Ah now I've got it connected. The PDF manual was incorrect in the version number of the GUI.

Next problem, the gimbal is now completely spazzing out when I turn it on. I have to select motors off on the gui to keep it from bouncing all over the place.

 

[Ton4]

Either you have the tilt connections reversed, or you need to load the default config again.

 

[Ton4]

But please load 2.3b5 and according gui.

 

[mediaguru]

I'm running GUI version 2.3 and firmware 2.30 b5.

If the motors are on, the thing is jumping all over and making a high pitched noise.

It is saying the accelerometer needs to be calibrated, so I guess that's what I'm going to try and figure out next.

 

[Gizmo3000]

I'm running GUI version 2.3 and firmware 2.30 b5.

If the motors are on, the thing is jumping all over and making a high pitched noise.

It is saying the accelerometer needs to be calibrated, so I guess that's what I'm going to try and figure out next.

Always be sure to save profile settings prior to updating, just in case.