gimble protection

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I am thinking of adding a cross brace below the gimbal to keep it from hitting a rock or something else when landing. If I swing the gimbal around to its far reaches the camera could potentiality run into this cross beam. If I turn the P3P on and swing it around, the camera never gets close to the cross beam. I was wondering if there could be a time it would be driven further than my dry run has it going? Could it damage the drive circuitry?

And what about that plastic gimbal lock the P3 comes with and that whack foamy diastema thingy? It almost has to be forced into position pushing on the wire connector and such can't be good. There has to be a better way. I am thinking of using tiny dabs of epoxy and small tubes at selected locations to lock the gimbal in position with a single pin marked "Remove before flight".
 
So do you still put in that funky white foamy thing behind the gimble?
No. The foam thing was just for shipping. Probably a good thing too, since most of us found the gimbal lock loose in the bottom of the box.
 
Hi Chuck,
Personally, I use http://www.uavbits.net/store/p19/Carbon_Fiber_Camera_Guard_for_DJI_Phantom_3.html
It's very light, strong, and dosen't interfere with the camera or the sensors.

The gimbal lock takes a little patience. Lay the bird on its right side and slide it on to the key way on the top. After a couple of times removing and putting it back on, it won't bother you much.
I got a 3D-printed camera guard for my P3A w/ a similar design from MileHighDesign for $10.99. Looks nice and great design, but I now regret not paying the extra bucks for carbon fiber.

The problem is the 3D-printed PET plastic. It fit perfectly at first, but over the past couple of weeks it has slowly developed a nasty bow, curving upwards towards the camera to the point where it is in danger of interfering with it. Again, the measurements and design pattern are great - slots fit snugly in both of the landing gear feet (further secured w/ a couple of small tie-wraps), and there is very little outward pressure on the landing gear -- the plastic feels hard to the touch, but over time, it slowly yields to that tiny bit of pressure like molasses, and it now retains the bow when removed from the bird, and has not been exposed to excessive heat or cold.

If MileHigh can address the problem with the material, it would be a great product for the price, but currently, it is just plasti-junk. I don't think it even needs to be a 100% rigid material - in a crash or rough landing, some flexibility might help absorb impact, like a crumple-zone. But it should not warp, so I'm looking for a suitable replacement, and landing extra-carefully in the meantime.

BTW, I also found the gimbal lock to be initially baffling - mine had apparently popped off during shipping, and it was not real clear to me how it was supposed to fit. And the gimbal seems so delicate... then I found this youtube video that shows how it fits ('easy once you see it, duh), and it locks down the 'works very well.

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Yes if it's placed on properly and pushed to lock it in place, works great.
I wonder why the folks at the factory, haven't been drilled on this.
It seems so simple, yet so many found the gimbal lock in the box, not attached. That is just wrong. Traveling all the way from China, hanging loose and bouncing around. Not a good thing to find, after laying out $1600.00 for this quad copter, & you would expect to find everything intact.
Anyway, everything works great and it flies amazing... So not a concern here.

RedHotPoker
 

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