Gimbal protection for the Phantom 3

[KevinfromUK]

Hi, this is my first post here. I'm buying the Phantom 3 as my first 'serious' quadcopter (last one I had was a Hubsan 4X, last seen flying away from me at top speed over a nearby field).

I've been doing some research and it seems that with the Phantom 2, you really needed to fix some sort of bracket to protect the gimbal, to avoid a very expensive repair if it crashed. From what I've seen, there are two such brackets out there at the moment for the Phantom 2.

So my question is, what should I buy to protect the gimbal on my Phantom 3? Thanks.

 

[msinger]

There are no gimbal protectors for the Phantom 3 yet. I suspect those who made them for the Phantom 2 Vision+ will be redesigning them for the Phantom 3 at some point.

 

[mad in nc]

the new P3 "Visual and ultrasonic sensors scan the ground beneath your Phantom 3 for patterns" device need a clear path to the ground, which is where the P2V+ gimbal guard is on the P2V+.

Wonder if device is optical or radar based and what material could be used?

 

[sdharris]

How much of a problem is this, does the gimbal break on normal landing on an even surface or just if a crash causing the legs to break?

 

[Charmande]

the new P3 "Visual and ultrasonic sensors scan the ground beneath your Phantom 3 for patterns" device need a clear path to the ground, which is where the P2V+ gimbal guard is on the P2V+.

Wonder if device is optical or radar based and what material could be used?

From what I read it seems the device has an optic and uses ultrasonic sensors to scan for patterns on the floor to maintain position. I'm not sure what material could be used if any. Seeing how it's on the back half o the P3 I would imagine that they could build a guard that covers the front half as to not block the vision positioning system and it would better cover the gimbal possibly without blocking the gimbals rotation.

 

[Greyfox51]

How much of a problem is this, does the gimbal break on normal landing on an even surface or just if a crash causing the legs to break?

The reviews suggest the gimbal on the P3 is more substantial than before, so it may be less of an issue than previously.

 

[sdharris]

The reviews suggest the gimbal on the P3 is more substantial than before, so it may be less of an issue than previously.

I'm just wondering whether the experiences on the Vision users is that it breaks on a text book landing but with a rock / uneven ground catching it or whether you really have to crash the thing as I've got a Phantom 2 with the DJI HThing-ThingD (can't ever remember the naming convention) and I can only imagine breaking the landing gear would damage that thing.

 

[Jstic]

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ANY SORT OF GIMBAL PROTECTOR THAT CLAIMS TO PREVENT MOTOR SEPARATION. Since November DJI has been producing the cameras with a steel plate where the old aluminum housing used to be. The motor shaft is now pressed fit into STEEL, not aluminum. On the older units the aluminum, because it is much softer than steel, would cause the shaft to loosen after hard landings or light crashes. This would make the camera go out of level, and in more severe cases separate from the housing and tearing the ribbon cable.

This does not happen any longer! I have not seen a motor shaft separation yet since the redesign.

 

[leekiya]

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ANY SORT OF GIMBAL PROTECTOR THAT CLAIMS TO PREVENT MOTOR SEPARATION. Since November DJI has been producing the cameras with a steel plate where the old aluminum housing used to be. The motor shaft is now pressed fit into STEEL, not aluminum. On the older units the aluminum, because it is much softer than steel, would cause the shaft to loosen after hard landings or light crashes. This would make the camera go out of level, and in more severe cases separate from the housing and tearing the ribbon cable.

This does not happen any longer! I have not seen a motor shaft separation yet since the redesign.

This is very good news, a very positive post to read and cheered me up because i have had my worrys regarding this. Glad you posted it cheers.

 

[flyNfrank]

the new P3 "Visual and ultrasonic sensors scan the ground beneath your Phantom 3 for patterns" device need a clear path to the ground, which is where the P2V+ gimbal guard is on the P2V+.

Wonder if device is optical or radar based and what material could be used?

mad in nc, a friend mine who has P3P a couple weeks ago showed me during a google hangout how the P3 uses black/white cameras that take pictures of the ground is how it processes what it's doing. I then got to watch it hover on his deck out back for 20mins on a semi windy day. And it stayed and returned right back to the spot each time extremely well while at 12ft.

 

[Jimmykjimmy]

I have a carbon fiber protector that I bought for my vision 2+. It ties onto the landing struts and provides great protection for the camera and gimbal. I'm selling the +, now I'm wondering if the protector will interfere with the ground sensing eye. Guess I'll need to wait and see.

 

[KevinfromUK]

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ANY SORT OF GIMBAL PROTECTOR THAT CLAIMS TO PREVENT MOTOR SEPARATION. Since November DJI has been producing the cameras with a steel plate where the old aluminum housing used to be. The motor shaft is now pressed fit into STEEL, not aluminum. On the older units the aluminum, because it is much softer than steel, would cause the shaft to loosen after hard landings or light crashes. This would make the camera go out of level, and in more severe cases separate from the housing and tearing the ribbon cable.

This does not happen any longer! I have not seen a motor shaft separation yet since the redesign.

I'm a bit confused about this, because in the video I saw warning of damage to the gimbal (on Demunseed) it said that the problem was caused by the fact that the gimbal joint was held together just by magnets, and a crash could easily cause them to separate.

I can't see how changing from aluminium to steel would change this.

 

[Jstic]

I'm a bit confused about this, because in the video I saw warning of damage to the gimbal (on Demunseed) it said that the problem was caused by the fact that the gimbal joint was held together just by magnets, and a crash could easily cause them to separate.

I can't see how changing from aluminium to steel would change this.

The gimbal joint is not held together by just magnets. On the old design, the motor shaft is pressed into an aluminum housing, the motor shaft is steel and the housing is soft aluminum. Inevitably, the aluminum gives way a bit and the shaft loosens, and then at that point the magnets are just about the only thing holding it on. The new design has the metal shaft pressed fit into a metal housing piece. We have tried to separate them and couldn't do it without using a press. So the motor can't separate and rip the ribbon cable any longer. If you have the old design, look at it and you will see it looks different than the picture I poste