Alexmos 3rd axis sample

[BorisS]

Hello to all what dealer do you guys recommend in the US or somewhere else that is reliable and that has the AlexM boards
thanks

I would go with viacopter or flyduino. They are in europe, but viacopter already has a good name being part of the AQ team and behind getting the AQ FC boards done, quality with other word. Additionally their board already have a USB port and no need of an extra FTDI board. They also announced they will have a addon board for the 3rd axis. How the others will handle the 3rd axis isn't stated yet. And most important viacopter actually answers mails and in present in the rcgroups thread about their board.

Concerning the Mövi. I think when the first customers have it in their hand and we can see the setup of the gimbal standard motors or feedback encoders jada jada etc. it will be easier to determins its worth ! compared to other systems. Not to forget the code is probably the most important part.

 

[DennyR]

I have to salute Alex for this fine feat. However with my SR's I have no need for it. The camera lens has a high sensitivity 5 axis stabilizer which smooths out the tiny movement left over from the powerful and very accurate tail rotor gyro. But importantly I have have gone back to my original concept of flying the camera and having the model follow that track. It works like this. The model takes off in manual mode and then switches to GPS/Atti mode and lines up somewhere around the target area. Nothing special there! But then the camera operator switches the yaw control from the pilot so he now has the rudder. this is done with a channel switcher like the ones used to swop cameras in FPV. He then calls "I Have" So now the camera op. has control in all three axis. on the gimbal. (The pilot operates the model in a similar way to Carefree) After the shot is done he calls "You Have" and switches back again. Did this for years when I started with MK Oktos. I suppose you could say that the secret is now out.
This saves an enormous amount of weight and makes perfect rotationals easy.

A word of warning do not attempt this unless you are extremely good on the sticks and always hand back nose out so that the pilot understands this. With MR's you have carefree which makes it much easier. Hence the need for a good 3D guy if you are using helis.

No need for Pan axis gimbal and no need for these stupid retracts. Even with a powerful heli., weight is the enemy

 

[SMP]

What Alex is doing is certainly great, but I think Freefly is on a whole other level and cater to the professional that doesn't have time to tinker with building a gimbal. They make a total solution for heavy cameras and long lenses, not just a controller board that the user has to tune and attach to a gimbal, find the right motors... etc. Who knows, maybe the MoVi has expensive gyro sensors that drive the cost up.

There's a lot of equipment that falls into the category of "yeah, I bet that cost $1000 in parts so why does it cost $15,000..?" that I would love to own, some of those things I have built myself, with varying success.
I have never been disappointed at the quality of gear from freefly, and I have no doubt the MoVi will be awesome. It's just sad that it's out of my budget and many hobbyists here, and I can see how some people might feel bitter about it.

Alex to the rescue!

T you're right of course, it is for the professional. As a professional it's all about Return on Investment; adding a 15k gimbal, under a 15-25K Jib and a 30K Camera makes for difficult math in the best of circumstances. The fact that at some point it WILL fall down means it is a RACE to ROI. THAT math is next to impossible to justify.

As much as I hate the Skyline/AV200 combo the simple reality is... I can afford to drop it.

Truth is, with BMCC/4K and FS700/4K we really shouldn't need to lift Epics much longer. At THAT point maybe the M5/7 whatever Freefly comes into the equation. Until then, Alex gimbals will make GoPro footage look ever better and the lines will get that much blurrier.

 

[DennyR]

This is the cheapest solution to all of the problems with remote filming, It just happens to also be the best that I have ever used. View attachment 11303
Everyone keeps asking what's under that cover. Well here it is.

 

[SMP]

Thanks Denny!!!

 

[ChrisViperM]

This is the cheapest solution to all of the problems with remote filming, It just happens to also be the best that I have ever used. View attachment 14383
Everyone keeps asking what's under that cover. Well here it is.

It's really itching in my fingers to get the Trex 800 Trecker....the gimbal and gimbal control is not my type of thing (servo gimbals seem to be a thing of the past), but the gimbal mount is great. Since they developed this Trex already towards the use with a camera, the balance of that bird is already great without too many modifications. Would like to see how a brushless gimbal is performing on the Trex.....

....also check Denny's thread: http://www.multirotorforums.com/showthread.php?8533-New-Align-800-cameraship-Needs-some-work!


Chris

 

[DennyR]

Chris
Whereas the Trekker is an awesome machine I see a few disadvantages. The first is that you will have to get all new batteries 14s and I really think that the days of heavy lift are coming to an end. The 700 size would be my choice with T-Rex but then you will need to engineer a camera gimbal from one of the many brushless ones. That is not so hard to do.
I am down to below 5 Kilos with my custom TDR now and I see this as a clear way to go for the future. DSLR's are not really any better than many of the new generation of small cameras and the big disadvantage with them is the weight of the lenses. I see that Matjaz is now getting into SR's .....

Did I once say that SR's never fail. well today I had a MKS high speed tail servo stop and it came down in a spin. Only minor damage I am happy to say. :tennis: It just has held up my new video of the latest build.

 

[ChrisViperM]

Your arguments are spot-on......and from what I was reading the Trekker is in fact a "blown-up" Trex 700 heli......also the cameras getting smaller (Black Magic Pocket Camera just as an example) is a valid point......but the Trekker is still a sexy beast :tennis:
If I just could base all my purchases on logic.......


Chris

 

[Icke84]

Hi Guys,

3 axis is not out yet so i tried something with 2 boards + 2 mpus. first board controlls the tilt and roll, second board the yaw. for that i turned the mpu sideways and mounted it on the right arm of the gimbal roll axis.

so x is now pointing up and act like z. looks like this ould work. but when i move it the top slow the gimbal moves in my direction because of the magntic power of the motors.
am i thinking the wrong way? hw could this work better or what should i do. don't want to wait now, need to find a solution

hope somebody can help

 

[anaka]

bye bye FreeFly and Dji

 

[RotorFilms]

Hi Guys,

3 axis is not out yet so i tried something with 2 boards + 2 mpus. first board controlls the tilt and roll, second board the yaw. for that i turned the mpu sideways and mounted it on the right arm of the gimbal roll axis.

so x is now pointing up and act like z. looks like this ould work. but when i move it the top slow the gimbal moves in my direction because of the magntic power of the motors.
am i thinking the wrong way? hw could this work better or what should i do. don't want to wait now, need to find a solution

hope somebody can help

Hi Icke,

I've got the same idea in mind, can't help with input just yet as al my parts are still in the mail. as soon as I have al the parts I will start giving feedback. Hopefully we can make it work.

Cheers,

Andre

 

[Oztravels]

When using the servo cable should this include the power wire. I ask because I noticed when plugged in the rx to the Alexmos the rx the lights on the board. I just don't want to fry the board by adding the 3s power to the board at the same time. Thx

its very straightforward. just plug in a servo cable from an open port on the receiver to the RC pitch plugin on the board. http://www.simplebgc.com/files/v10/connection_diagram.pdf use a slider/knob or even a three position switch to control the pitch. just map the switch correctly. adjust the travel of the gimbal in the GUI under RC pitch min/max angle boxes.