RotorPixel Gimbal Technical Discussion

[EricT]

I find that when I fly with the RP and I try to yaw slowly I get the infamous rolling shutter effect, as well as when I move rapidly in either pitch or roll directions. So this afternoon I went out for a half hour and flew in 1080P and 720P video modes in order to compare the rolling shutter effect when doing quick movements, and the net result is that the rolling shutter effect is less when in 720P. Not surprising as I believe the camera's sensor is not dealing with so many pixels when it is dumping the frame to the micro SD card (Class 10) in 720P.

I will be happy when Keri offers the yaw (3rd) axis add-on for the RP to make the yaw somewhat smoother.

My son flys a DJI F550 with a GoPro Hero 3 and the Zenmuse H3-2D and we adjusted his yaw rate so that with a flip of a switch on his transmitter, the yaw is very, very slow making for very smooth videos.....and the GoPro clarity does surpass the FC200.

On a final note, I removed the DJI lens filter and adapter and my video is now clearer and the colours more vibrant, which is what i expected. I'll just have to make sure I don't scratch the FC200 lens.

 

[FlyingFox]

Hi, I have had mine for a few weeks now and in general the footage is pretty good, I don't really suffer from jello, but have noticed a slight yaw shake from left to right etc when flying in wind , is it just a wind thing or any tips , are my screw turns to loose ?

 

[jadebox]

Hi, I have had mine for a few weeks now and in general the footage is pretty good, I don't really suffer from jello, but have noticed a slight yaw shake from left to right etc when flying in wind , is it just a wind thing or any tips , are my screw turns to loose ?

The Rotorpixel gimbal doesn't correct for yaw motion, so that's normal. The good news is that software stabilizers, like the "warp stabilizer" filter in Adobe Premiere, do a great job of eliminating it with little reduction in the quality of the video.

-- Roger

 

[ScottC]

I have just joined the forum today. Currently have the Rotorpixel on order. Keri has been very quick to respond. Says they are now shipping about 100 units per week. Lead time when i placed my order was about 3 weeks. Looking forward to your assistance and interaction............!!Revision, should have said 300 units per week!

 

[EricT]

I find that when I fly with the RP and I try to yaw slowly I get the infamous rolling shutter effect, as well as when I move rapidly in either pitch or roll directions. So this afternoon I went out for a half hour and flew in 1080P and 720P video modes in order to compare the rolling shutter effect when doing quick movements, and the net result is that the rolling shutter effect is less when in 720P. Not surprising as I believe the camera's sensor is not dealing with so many pixels when it is dumping the frame to the micro SD card (Class 10) in 720P.

I will be happy when Keri offers the yaw (3rd) axis add-on for the RP to make the yaw somewhat smoother.

My son flys a DJI F550 with a GoPro Hero 3 and the Zenmuse H3-2D and we adjusted his yaw rate so that with a flip of a switch on his transmitter, the yaw is very, very slow making for very smooth videos.....and the GoPro clarity does surpass the FC200.

On a final note, I removed the DJI lens filter and adapter and my video is now clearer and the colours more vibrant, which is what i expected. I'll just have to make sure I don't scratch the FC200 lens.

Well, I figured out my challenge.....it is not a matter of the camera's ability to record smooth video. Rather, it was the PC media player (VLC) that I am using. When I viewed the video using Windows Classic Media Player, the video was sharper and smoother. It turns out the video codec VLC was using wasn't the optimal video codec, which the Classic player uses. By changing the video codec in VLC, puzzle solved!

 

[Brightsky]

HELP. Finally received my gimbal today, fitted as per instructions and seemed to work great but tilt control on app no longer works!! tried EricT suggestion of changing centre travel limit to 0, didn't work so back to -450, still doesn't work. Went for a (cautious) test flight anyway, gimbal worked well, video very smooth, but I had NO TELEMETRY. The app showed wifi, card and extender icons blue, camera control and view fine but sat icon was zero and grey (the phantom showed normal rapid then slow green GPS lock, otherwise I wouldn't have flown) battery icon showed 0% and was grey, distance, alt and speed all showed N/A and the battery graphic was white and 0 mins. With no battery info (both batteries) I had to land early. I'm hoping that with so many symptoms the answer will be obvious to someone. Last pre gimbal flight 2 days ago was completely normal.

 

[Brightsky]

Thanks for your response Geert, tried that but couldn't get a wifi connection at all (out of range) put RP jack back into camera, got wifi but no telemetry, however this time the app recognised that I had removed the SD card (grey icon) so information from the camera is being received but not from the Phantom itself, does this suggest a connector problem? I am running Android 1.0.52, nothing has been changed since two perfect flights on Monday apart from the gimbal installation.

 

[DKDarkness]

Thanks for your response Geert, tried that but couldn't get a wifi connection at all (out of range) put RP jack back into camera, got wifi but no telemetry, however this time the app recognised that I had removed the SD card (grey icon) so information from the camera is being received but not from the Phantom itself, does this suggest a connector problem? I am running Android 1.0.52, nothing has been changed since two perfect flights on Monday apart from the gimbal installation.

Sounds like you may not have initially pressed the jack plug all the way into the gimbal/camera and therefore blown a component on the Phantom main controller board by shorting the power wires (known issue). Can also happen if there is a short (very unlikely) in the gimbal. You can check this with a multimeter (remove gimbal before proceeding). There should be no connection between the two rings nearest to the base of the jack plug (or any of the rings for that matter).

 

[jmcnally]

I had a flight this morning that was fine. After my first phantom battery got low, I swapped it out for my second one. After powering up the Phantom I no longer had power going to the gimbal and the camera. I didn't touch anything other than the battery swap. I've now tried plugging in the cables to the board and the camera while the Phantom was off but nothing will get the gimbal going again. Any idea as to what may be the problem?

 

[DKDarkness]

I had a flight this morning that was fine. After my first phantom battery got low, I swapped it out for my second one. After powering up the Phantom I no longer had power going to the gimbal and the camera. I didn't touch anything other than the battery swap. I've now tried plugging in the cables to the board and the camera while the Phantom was off but nothing will get the gimbal going again. Any idea as to what may be the problem?

Sounds like a faulty solder point somewhere. Have you tried plugging the FC200 directly into the P2V?

Using a male-to-male 3.5mm 4 pole jack wire and a multimeter, you can check the connections on your RotorPixel gimbal without risking short circuiting your phantom. Simply plug the jack wire into your gimbal and check the corresponding jack connectors. Tip to tip and so forth.

 

[tubino]

Recalibration fixed servo travel problem

I want to mention a problem and solution. RP gimbal was working fine, but started traveling WAY too far each way. The problem continued even after correctly re-setting pitch gain, Max-Center-Min etc. Keri indicated I should try recalibrating the gimbal accelerometer. I did, and it fixed the problem perfectly . This is the procedure:

Power up phantom.

Disconnect the motor cables (take note of the specific position and orientation of each!) ME: You are NOT NOT NOT disconnecting any other cables!

Fix the camera in a horizontal position, then press the button on the back of the gimbal once quickly. Then, wait around 3-5 seconds, (flashing light signals process).

NOTE: Make sure that the camera is rigidly held horizontally when you do the calibration to ensure that it is *completely* motionless (don't hold it with your hand!). Me: I used a piece of clothing to hold the camera in place while the phantom was on a table top.

Then plug the motor cables back in.

I then powered down and back up, and tried the phone app. Camera now behaves perfectly, with 0-90 degree range of motion. Success!

 

[DKDarkness]

Re: Recalibration fixed servo travel problem

I want to mention a problem and solution. RP gimbal was working fine, but started traveling WAY too far each way. The problem continued even after correctly re-setting pitch gain, Max-Center-Min etc. Keri indicated I should try recalibrating the gimbal accelerometer. I did, and it fixed the problem perfectly . This is the procedure:

Power up phantom.

Disconnect the motor cables (take note of the specific position and orientation of each!) ME: You are NOT NOT NOT disconnecting any other cables!

Fix the camera in a horizontal position, then press the button on the back of the gimbal once quickly. Then, wait around 3-5 seconds, (flashing light signals process).

NOTE: Make sure that the camera is rigidly held horizontally when you do the calibration to ensure that it is *completely* motionless (don't hold it with your hand!). Me: I used a piece of clothing to hold the camera in place while the phantom was on a table top.

Then plug the motor cables back in.

I then powered down and back up, and tried the phone app. Camera now behaves perfectly, with 0-90 degree range of motion. Success!

Just for general information:
What you did is called "ACC calibration" and is assigned to BaseCam boards as default behavior at one quick press on the BTN. You can avoid disconnecting the motors by setting power to zero in the SimpleGBC GUI (where you can also initiate the ACC calibration) Afterwards you must of course set the motor power to their initial value.

Note: In the SimpleBGC you can assign up to 5 different behaviors to the BTN, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and long press. Maybe if you want to enable "Follow" mode etc

 

[EricT]

Re: Recalibration fixed servo travel problem

I want to mention a problem and solution. RP gimbal was working fine, but started traveling WAY too far each way. The problem continued even after correctly re-setting pitch gain, Max-Center-Min etc. Keri indicated I should try recalibrating the gimbal accelerometer. I did, and it fixed the problem perfectly . This is the procedure:

Power up phantom.

Disconnect the motor cables (take note of the specific position and orientation of each!) ME: You are NOT NOT NOT disconnecting any other cables!

I haven't had my P2V opened in quite a while and I am trying to picture the motors' wiring....I know the motors are soldered to their respective ESC's, so when you said "disconnect the motor cables", where are the disconnect points? TIA.

 

[DKDarkness]

Re: Recalibration fixed servo travel problem

I want to mention a problem and solution. RP gimbal was working fine, but started traveling WAY too far each way. The problem continued even after correctly re-setting pitch gain, Max-Center-Min etc. Keri indicated I should try recalibrating the gimbal accelerometer. I did, and it fixed the problem perfectly . This is the procedure:

Power up phantom.

Disconnect the motor cables (take note of the specific position and orientation of each!) ME: You are NOT NOT NOT disconnecting any other cables!

I haven't had my P2V opened in quite a while and I am trying to picture the motors' wiring....I know the motors are soldered to their respective ESC's, so when you said "disconnect the motor cables", where are the disconnect points? TIA.

I believe the reference is to the gimbal motors which use standard 3 pin connectors. You need to disable these during calibration to prevent them from counter acting you holding the camera level.

 

[Diner21959]

Hello,
I finally got the jello and shake out of my videos...I tightened the thumb screws all the way and then loosen them 1.5 turns. In addition, I applied vibration absorbing tape on top, behind and to the side of the camera where the Rotorpixel mount fits onto the camera. So far so good...

http://youtu.be/wXFsMkGjhTQ

 

[Happyflyer]

Same question as another post: Where?

 

[EricT]

Hello,
I finally got the jello and shake out of my videos...I tightened the thumb screws all the way and then loosen them 1.5 turns. In addition, I applied vibration absorbing tape on top, behind and to the side of the camera where the Rotorpixel mount fits onto the camera. So far so good...

http://youtu.be/wXFsMkGjhTQ

Would you please post a picture of the brand of vibration absorbing tape and its name and description? TIA.

 

[gunslinger]

Mine will be here next week and I'll be reading this topic from top to bottom. I already see a crapload of great info here and I thank you guys for posting it...

-slinger

 

[DKDarkness]

Has anyone tried the GoPro mount on the RotorPixel? I'm kind of curious if it works or not.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:449780

 

[Happyflyer]

Mine will be here next week and I'll be reading this topic from top to bottom. I already see a crapload of great info here and I thank you guys for posting it...

-slinger

I hope it will. With international shipping, one can only guess and hope......