Tau Labs OP CC for camera mount stabilization

[Bartman]

so i'm wasting my time?

 

[Crash]

It's coming.
http://forums.openpilot.org/topic/5...ed-something-else/page__pid__21185#entry21185

 

[Bartman]

grrrrr....back to the MK camera tab I guess. I think I'll still power the vid Tx and servos directly from the A123 pack but I guess I'll have to pull signal from the FC.
Thanks,
bart

 

[BorisS]

guys whats/where is my best chance to get a CC board also want to start with the camera stabi.

thanks

Boris

 

[Bartman]

boris,
i'm still a bit confused as to why but it's looking like it's not an option just yet.
bart

 

[BorisS]

looks like all three options will come at the same time, PH working on something, picloc and CC.

 

[Emowillcox]

I also have the same question as Boris.. as to where to look or get a CC board? Hey Boris where are you living?

guys whats/where is my best chance to get a CC board also want to start with the camera stabi.

thanks

Boris

 

[jes1111]

Definitely ask about supply on forums.openpilot.org - European supply is from UK - USA is being sorted out right now, get an update on the OP forum.

 

[Bartman]

Jes1111
THe whole point of starting this site was to bring everyone together into one place. I understand your focus is on the OpenPilot project and I wish you all the success with it but referring people to the OP site rather than just posting an update while you're here doesn't really help the community.
I understand your enthusiasm for the OP project but to lead people away for something you could easily post while you're here doesn't make sense to me.
Bart

 

[jes1111]

Yep, I understand, Bart. But in this particular case I'm suggesting going to the official support site for the product. I got into trouble recently because I posted an inaccurate answer here (about camera stabilisation). The core dev team are flat-out busy and I could see the question wasn't being answered by one of the people truly "in the know", so suggesting the official site seemed like the correct move

P.S. You'll also notice that the UK supplier is linked directly from my post.

 

[Bartman]

it's a fine line one has to walk in trying to maintain a site like this. we want participation from people with expertise in different subjects but we also want people to understand the many choices they have as some are better suited than others for different applications. i don't attempt to pretend there aren't other sites out there that offer valuable information and i haven't made any effort to censor posts like yours above. the internet is an open field and trying to erect walls is pointless.
i only ask that the spirit of this site be respected.
I understand your explanation and appreciate you remaining civil about it.
Bartman

 

[Bartman]

JEs,
What was inaccurate about your camera stab post?

 

[jes1111]

JEs,
What was inaccurate about your camera stab post?

The availability of the stabilisation-added firmware as a compiled binary. I thought it was in the current binary release since it showed up in the GCS (which you applied successfully), but (as you found out) the 20110608 firmware in the CC board doesn't feed an active stabilisation signal yet.

You can access it by compiling from the current git repository, but that's a "non-trivial" exercise

 

[Bartman]

what i don't understand is that if you consider the camera mount as a plane that sits in a fixed location, why couldn't it command level in roll and and stabilize a commanded pitch attitude? there wouldn't be anything asked of it as far as flight control of the kopter is concerned.
thanks,
bart

 

[jes1111]

Agreed - it's fairly simple, since the CC board has already calculated "Actual Attitude" and "Desired Attitude" of the airframe and the reference for the gimbal is "zero +/- stick input" on each axis. The delay is, I believe, in improving the GCS interface for setting it up, plus the fact that a gazillion other changes/improvements are going into the next release and the OP team will never release anything without testing it thoroughly first.

 

[BorisS]

can one of you explain to me in simple terms what this slew mode is or should do in a working example ? I read the posts also in different threads but i dont get it.
My guess it allows you to control the Gimbal in what ever axis via a remote and stabilization is still given if wanted after getting the stick back to neutral ? Acceleration can also be control for example tilting the Kamera forward. How far am I off ?

 

[jes1111]

Slewing is what that video of the elephants is doing - the camera is "travelling" and the operator is "slewing" the camera as the craft flies over them, thus keeping the elephants in the centre of the image. "Traditionally" (e.g. from a helicopter) this camera move has been done entirely manually (and certainly takes some skill and practice to make it look "right") . I believe that "slew mode" is really just cameraman-speak for "no stabilisation, with the mount controlled only by my sticks"

MK has their new "point of interest" feature (or whatever they call it) which is potentially "similar".

See Denny's lighthouse video for a perfectly executed "slew"

 

[Bartman]

a PM from another member indicates he's tried using the CC for a camera stabilizing system but dropped it. I don't understand what the challenges are if the board is only trying to keep itself level while flying under a heli, what is the problem that people are trying it and giving up?
am i missing some technical detail that just isn't accommodated or can't be accommodated easily in GCS?
thanks,
bart

 

[jes1111]

There's no "challenge" - the software changes to make it happen have been (mostly) written, but they are not yet published, that's all.

Here's the latest report, straight from a senior dev:

Latest published firmware allows non-stabilized camera control from receiver using extra input channels and routing them through Accessory functions.
But real stabilized camera is in a branch yet, but should be merged soon. There is no published firmware for it. You can build a git branch and try it, but there is no GUI to setup, just a few uavobjects. Also no support for that code since it is not completed yet.

 

[Bartman]

the fact that we're not sitting in the same pub somewhere discussing this, i think, is causing a misunderstanding.
as i understand it, development work is ongoing to make camera stabilization part of the CC board's capabilities while also being used as a flight controller.
what I'm interested in pursuing is the use of the CC board as a camera stabilization component by itself on the camera mount while the MK flight controller is keeping the copter flying. shouldn't this be an easy thing even if GCS doesn't specifically address this application?
i just feel like i'm missing something here.
thanks,
bart