How to fight the fragile gimbal/cam?

Joined
Apr 10, 2014
Messages
324
Reaction score
15
For example what out the longer legs/ landing gear?
Any other way to improve protection in case of a crash? I almost hear from every crash the camera/ gimbal is dead...
Or did yours survive after a crash?
Any other idea's how to make the vision+ less fragile?
 
MikesTooLz said:
Fly safe, and away from things to crash into.


Pretty sure this wasn't the answer he was looking for.

When/if I get another PV+, I'm going to visit my local machine shop and see if we can devise some type of protection for the gimbal.

I believe some of the damage being done has to do with the shear forces placed upon the delicate gimbal when the copter comes to an abrupt stop upon impact. The other likely cause is do to branches/etc actually kitting the gimbal during a crash.
 
offtosleep said:
MikesTooLz said:
Fly safe, and away from things to crash into.


Pretty sure this wasn't the answer he was looking for.

When/if I get another PV+, I'm going to visit my local machine shop and see if we can devise some type of protection for the gimbal.

I believe some of the damage being done has to do with the shear forces placed upon the delicate gimbal when the copter comes to an abrupt stop upon impact. The other likely cause is do to branches/etc actually kitting the gimbal during a crash.

As you can see in this photo, both L+R landing gear are bent in almost exactly the same place, suggesting it hit the ground right way up. When the legs crumpled the next thing to hit the ground was the gimbal/camera. Definately fitting the taller legs to the new one when it arrives. Might even see if I can get some made more rigid, but same weight.
 

Attachments

  • 20140518_110002.jpg
    20140518_110002.jpg
    212.3 KB · Views: 962
This camera and gimbal seems to be so fragile the only way I can see it being reinforced is to super glue every moving part In it. The camera/gimbal doesnt seem to need to be hit but a sudden sharp stop seems to be enough to rip it apart so what MikesToolz said actually seems to be the best answer. It hasnt got a patch on how strong and robust the original vision is making me believe the pv2+ is not suitable at all for new flyers. People need to buy an original p1 or pv2 to get a few months flying experience before they buy the +
 
Two items....(well, an item and a question. First a question...)

I'd like to do some more flying without shooting video. Just pure visual flying for improving my skills.
So I'd like to protect the camera and gimbal system as much as possible...leaving the plastic lock and lens cap on, and probably fitting some foam between the skids for added energy absorption if things go pear-shaped. Do I just need to unplug the ribbon cable to completely power-down the gimbal? And can I safely assume that will have no other flight control ramifications?

And lastly, the item....
Crash worthiness is all about energy.
Controlling it, directing it, converting it to heat and then dissipating it.
Think twice about stiffening your landing skids. Skids are sacrificial lambs in a hard landing. They're supposed to deform.
I'm playing around with some skid extensions, using sections of carbon fishing poles. The idea is to simply provide more breakable structure in a hard landing situation. (NOT to protect the skids).
 
These photos are very interesting. The long thin legs remind me of the crush zones in automobiles. They're designed crush on impact and absorb the energy to protect the occupants of the passenger compartment.

If you think about the evolution of the Phantom product line, the Phantom 2 has the same thin tall legs. For that product, these legs make sense to provide a crush zone to absorb the impact of a crash. They are cheap to buy and easy to replace.

Unfortunately, that crush zone between the legs became the obvious location for a camera. First a robust one in the Vision and then a fragile one in the Vision+. The legs are the same, but now the crush zone is the camera/gimbal.

Anything you do to strengthen the legs increases the shock to the entire product. You now need to absorb the energy of impact in the very short distance before the camera impacts the object the Phantom hit (most likely the ground).

Taller legs help. Connecting the legs together to share the impact between all four legs will help also. Notice how two legs absorbed the energy at the point of connection to the Phantom body. This suggests the need for both, longer legs and bracing between legs.

Just remember, you still have to absorb the energy of the crash. If those two legs don't absorb it, something else will.....you're just moving the problem to the next weakest part.
 
Yep longer crushable extensions to the legs would help a bit I'd say but that will only work if she hits the deck legs down hopefully but a lot of heavy crashes are side on into tree trunks, walls, basketball backboards etc..... and without the camera even being hit they it seems to be they get pulled apart by the forces whereas the original vision camera happily detached and rolled along like a golf ball.
 
Airmotive said:
Two items....(well, an item and a question. First a question...)

I'd like to do some more flying without shooting video. Just pure visual flying for improving my skills.
So I'd like to protect the camera and gimbal system as much as possible...leaving the plastic lock and lens cap on, and probably fitting some foam between the skids for added energy absorption if things go pear-shaped. Do I just need to unplug the ribbon cable to completely power-down the gimbal? And can I safely assume that will have no other flight control ramifications?

And lastly, the item....
Crash worthiness is all about energy.
Controlling it, directing it, converting it to heat and then dissipating it.
Think twice about stiffening your landing skids. Skids are sacrificial lambs in a hard landing. They're supposed to deform.
I'm playing around with some skid extensions, using sections of carbon fishing poles. The idea is to simply provide more breakable structure in a hard landing situation. (NOT to protect the skids).
http://www.ebay.nl/itm/251522929647?ssP ... 1439.l2649

I think this might be a good solution. it will transfer impact to the other landing gear side as well probaly, but in that process also protecting the gimbal more? Or is this just a bad theory or what do you guys think?
 
Mal_PV2_Ireland said:
Yep longer crushable extensions to the legs would help a bit I'd say but that will only work if she hits the deck legs down hopefully but a lot of heavy crashes are side on into tree trunks, walls, basketball backboards etc..... and without the camera even being hit they it seems to be they get pulled apart by the forces whereas the original vision camera happily detached and rolled along like a golf ball.
meh, you can crash on a pole or in a tree ofcource....But i am more concerned about hitting flat ground. even better- concrete flat ground. This is where i want to protect myself from. If something bad happens, i want the gimbal and camera to live. I cant care about a propeller or a landing gear.
 
borgqueenx said:
Mal_PV2_Ireland said:
Yep longer crushable extensions to the legs would help a bit I'd say but that will only work if she hits the deck legs down hopefully but a lot of heavy crashes are side on into tree trunks, walls, basketball backboards etc..... and without the camera even being hit they it seems to be they get pulled apart by the forces whereas the original vision camera happily detached and rolled along like a golf ball.
meh, you can crash on a pole or in a tree ofcource....But i am more concerned about hitting flat ground. even better- concrete flat ground. This is where i want to protect myself from. If something bad happens, i want the gimbal and camera to live. I cant care about a propeller or a landing gear.

What im trying to say is I dont think it matters what way you crash even if its upside down into soggy ground the camera is more than likely going to seperate tearing the ribbon cable, the gimbal arms are going to bend from the impact and the tiny arms inside the gimbal motors are going to shear like we see posted at least 2 or 3 times a day on this forum alone. The design is fantastic from a stabilization point of view but it is disastrously fragile. I think the only way to protect from a landing gear impact is to fly with a pillow strapped underneath or 4 pogo springs which of course is completely impractical. Wait till you see the pv3, I bet the camera and gimbal will resemble nothing like the pv2+ because its completely flawed. Thats why I say the pv2+ should not be sold to first time flyers
 
Mal_PV2_Ireland said:
borgqueenx said:
Mal_PV2_Ireland said:
Yep longer crushable extensions to the legs would help a bit I'd say but that will only work if she hits the deck legs down hopefully but a lot of heavy crashes are side on into tree trunks, walls, basketball backboards etc..... and without the camera even being hit they it seems to be they get pulled apart by the forces whereas the original vision camera happily detached and rolled along like a golf ball.
meh, you can crash on a pole or in a tree ofcource....But i am more concerned about hitting flat ground. even better- concrete flat ground. This is where i want to protect myself from. If something bad happens, i want the gimbal and camera to live. I cant care about a propeller or a landing gear.

What im trying to say is I dont think it matters what way you crash even if its upside down into soggy ground the camera is more than likely going to seperate tearing the ribbon cable, the gimbal arms are going to bend from the impact and the tiny arms inside the gimbal motors are going to shear like we see posted at least 2 or 3 times a day on this forum alone. The design is fantastic from a stabilization point of view but it is disastrously fragile. I think the only way to protect from a landing gear impact is to fly with a pillow strapped underneath or 4 pogo springs which of course is completely impractical. Wait till you see the pv3, I bet the camera and gimbal will resemble nothing like the pv2+ because its completely flawed. Thats why I say the pv2+ should not be sold to first time flyers
I doubt the gimbal will take damage if it crashes on its side or on its topside.
At any other impact yeah, the gimbal can die.

There are people who crashed with the gimbal survived. Probaly more then half for sure.
I want to make the chances of breaking the gimbal even slimmer. This is why i made this topic. Ofcource...one can always get bad luck but one can decrease chances of bad luck for sure :)
 
I can tell you from first hand knowledge that if that + crashes at almost any angle, there will be damage to the camera/gimbal assembly. I had a crash from about 50 feet up where it crashed directly on its topside down onto thick soft grass. The energy transfer was enough to rip the camera/gimbal arm from the gimbal completely. Only a slight crack in the actual plastic phantom frame.

Think about the overall design of that assembly. One arm holding that camera in a dangling manner. Compare to the non + mount.
 
borgqueenx said:
What about putting some foam around the landing gear to ease the impact of a crash?

Or make some type of landing gear or sides make out of springs to decrease impact


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The gimbal and camera dont need to be hit at all, they can be ripped apart by the force of the sudden stop.
 
plasmo said:
borgqueenx said:
What about putting some foam around the landing gear to ease the impact of a crash?

Or make some type of landing gear or sides make out of springs to decrease impact


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah my 4 pogo stick spring idea haha ;)
 
Mal_PV2_Ireland said:
The gimbal and camera dont need to be hit at all, they can be ripped apart by the force of the sudden stop.

100% correct. And the forces needed to do this are MUCH less than the forces needed to rip apart/severely damage the non + camera
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,354
Members
104,934
Latest member
jody.paugh@fullerandsons.