Under the hood

Morgan 1983 · Dec 31, 2013

Hi guys,
I pulled the lid off my PV the other day to work out what hardware is under there. I wanted to see if I could fit a zenmuse or similar gimbal to the PV cos the current gimbal not good for video. I saw there is a Zenmuse port on the control board (photo) and the controller is a Naza M, but I don't think it is a V2 cos it doesn't have V2 written on it (but it is orange, not red, so it's not a Naza- M right?)
Anyway I'm just curious whether I will have to add a Naza PMU V2 if I want to use tilt function on a gimbal? Also when the waypoint firmware release is made; does anyone know what hardware upgrades will be necessary?

Pull_Up · Jan 1, 2014

It's a NAZA-M-V2 but specifically for the Vision (hence the "your flying camera" tag on the unit). It's got a limited NAZA feature set - unsure if it's limited by hardware or soft/firmware. I suspect it might be the latter as that would have saved DJI hardware development cost.

An interesting comparison would be to see inside a Phantom 2 which is made to accept a Zenmuse gimbal out of the factory. I suspect they share the same main board (hence the "Zenmuse" socket) but I don't know what other differences there are - the fact that Vision and V2 share the same Assistant software implies the NAZA unit is the same in both, the only difference would be the built-in Zenmuse controller - I don't know if that's built in to the main board and so is sitting dormant in the Vision or a part of it is being used to drive the Vision gimbal.

If you're going to fit a Zenmuse you'll have to heavily hack it to fit the Vision camera on. If you just want stabilized video without the FPV downlink and camera control you're better off selling the Vision and getting a Phantom V2 with Zenmuse pack.

Third parties are coming up with 2 axis gimbals which incorporate the Vision camera in the meantime. droneexpert.nl are shipping soon (plug and play) and rotorpixel.com are in late stages of development (requires separate power supply or wiring into the Vision's power).

Morgan 1983 · Jan 1, 2014

Cheers Pull_Up. Was thinking no one else tinkered with their drone due to no response. Hmmm I'm pretty sure I saw a slightly diff configuration on a vision from a YouTube clip by AWCINEMA where they fitted a Zenmuse to a Vision (they didn't know the P2 was about to be released I guess). I'll find the photo and take some still images out to show you the difference between mine and theirs. From memory, the first this I noticed was the compass on theirs clipped straight to the main board whereas mine goes to the compass under the top shell and the a wire from that back to the main board. Anyway, pictures will show this better than my recollection so will post later when at the computer.
Later

Pull_Up · Jan 1, 2014

Yes, I've had mine open a few times to fit a Flytrex core. It's a very neat job in there. I suspect the one you refer to might have been one of the early beta models/dealer promo models they sent out (with the smaller battery). Mine too has the compass going straight up to the GPS - means you need to keep the top shell close by when working on the innards!