Pan/Tilt on one stick

[aerialservices]

I like flying my Phantom in waypoint mode and course lock mode (and using Litchi) and I'd like to be able to manually pan/tilt the camera more easily and more smoothly, whilst the drone flies itself between waypoints.

At the moment camera control is split between the yaw control on the stick (which yaws the drone, not the gimbal) and the separate tilt control, on the gimbal control wheel (which tilts the camera up/down on the gimbal)

This makes it hard to get smooth pans and tilts, in synch and under control. Ideally I'd like to be able to have manual camera pan/tilt control available on one single control stick. (eg. The Yuneeq Typhoon H has a facility like this).

On the inspire you can use a second remote to control the gimbal and get pan/tilt on a single stick, but there isn't a 'poor man's' equivalent on the Phantom, or indeed if you are using a single controller with an Inspire.

It got me thinking that it would be relatively easy to modify the phantom remote, with some basic wiring, so that a switch would switch between the left hand stick controlling vertical/yaw (as standard) and wihen switched instead control tilt/yaw on a single stick (whilst switched the vertical control would not be possible)

Has anyone done a Phantom remote mod like this?

Another option (and even simpler?) might be to wire in a separate joystick, mounted outside the remote casing, wired in parallel with the vertical/tilt potentiometers on the P3 remote to achieve the same thing. This would give a third control stick for camera control whilst in waypoint or course lock mode.

It goes without saying that doing this would invalidate any warranties and would be entirely at your own risk.

 

[GMack]

Time for an Inspire with the dual RC controller - one for the pilot or Litchi piloting app, and the second for the cinema and gimbal operator. Or maybe a full cinema drone like a FreeFly Alta 8 or similar with duals.

You do have some gimbal control with the C2 and rotary wheels on the RC with the Phantom RC box. Gimbal roll (Horizon tilt) which I often have to use on some directional switch where the gimbal goes off tilt a bit while hard braking during yawing, and the tilt (Up, Down) of the camera on the left roller wheel too. Some of the movement speeds are in the settings.

Aside, I think the Autologic's (or is it now Hangar's?) "Autopilot" app has some additional manual controls which you can use in addition to an autonomous mission while in progress for steering the camera. I think I read where you can do an autonomous flying descent and yaw the camera manually while doing so. I think they call it "Combined Flight Control" but you'll have to dig through their Flight School Training part to find it. It's more complex than Litchi.