Hoverfly Hoverfly Gimbal Controller?

[Dr.phil]

Mike, I also have the AG550 and just ordered a HF gimbal board. Do you have any pictures of the the board installed on the AG550?

 

[RancherPete]

Pete, I can't really answer that. I just got the controller last week and updated to the new firmware before I did anything else. Afterwards, I did the two calibrations. I used the "refrigerator" method and it worked very well. Took me just several minutes to get the "Good" status from the calibration software.

So far I have not seen any real problems with the controller (yaw-tilt coupling or the roll problem you described), but I have to admit I was just flying 4 batteries (each around 7 minutes). I still have to tune the settings, but it's very close and stable. I'm using the AG550 gimbal from Gary and my controller sits on the back of the gimbal around 6 inches away from the RX100. I'm still waiting for the shielded box though.

Thanks, Mike. I just went out and flew again just now (with the 1.8 REV 1 update) and my horizon was still a mess within two minutes of being in the air. I even disconnected anything that I thought might be causing interference (even though I have the shielded box which worked great from day one) but I still have this issue. I guess I will have to go back to 1.03 because that is the only FW that seems to work somewhat. I still do not get very smooth stabilization so when my Radians arrive I will give this HFG with FW 1.03 to a kid that works for me and let him play around with it on his quad. Maybe you have a newer one that actually works. Mine was one of the first ones so who knows. Thanks again for your help and good luck.

 

[hdj912]

Hi, just a quick question. How can i make my tilt servo move faster to TX command? When i move the gimbal it stabilises fast enough but it responses too slow on the TX input....

The gimbal is a Photoshipone 3X pro with spektrum servos.

Regards,

 

[Mike SF]

Mike, I also have the AG550 and just ordered a HF gimbal board. Do you have any pictures of the the board installed on the AG550?

Nothing fancy, I'm using the IMS mount that fits to the AG550. The copter is a UAP1 from Rusty and I made the adapter plates on my own.

View attachment 8507

 

[Dr.phil]

Great. Thank you!

 

[RancherPete]

I have a relatively new S800 with AV200 Gimbal, WKM FC and HFG. My motors are balanced to perfection as are my props (and hubs). There is no vibration whatsoever making it to the HFG as it is mounted to the front of my gimbal which is very well isolated from vibes. Despite my best efforts I continue to get this annoying little twitches which ruin my video. I have tested all versions of the HFG firmware but still get this result (I have tried mode 1 and mode 2). I have tested endless combinations of gain settings yet I still have these twitches. If you look at this video and pay attention to the horizon in particular you will see how it jumps around. It does this in ATTI and GPS flight modes. In this video I am in ATTI mode so as to take the GPS factor out of the equation.

I would be grateful if anyone would be willing to look at this and offer any thoughts as to what might be causing this. Happy New Year.

 

[Stacky]

Could be a number of things and possibly a combination of things. Firstly its really important to balance the camera on the gimbal. It also looks like a nice calm day so if you dont have the gimbal connected you should get smooth footage but the horizon not staying level as you move around. I have only had a very brief flight with the WKM but I wonder if your gains are right for flying. Try locking the gimbal down and not having it connected so that while the camera is in the gimbal its effectively like flying with the camera hard mounted and see what the footage is like. If its still jumpy it might be the gain settings on the WKM and if its perfectly smooth you will most likely have something to do with the HFG.

 

[RancherPete]

Stacky, thanks for your comments. I did do as you are suggesting and locked the gimbal after removing its power source. I found that the video was smoother yet there is still some bumps from the S800 itself, all on its own. It could be that these disturbances are made worse by the HFG while trying to compensate for them as they are very quick and may not be controllable by the HFG, I'm not sure.

Tomorrow I will lower the gains way down on the S800 and see if anything changes. To date I have been running them at approximately what DJI calls for more or less while testing. Also, I am at a high elevation of 7,000 MSL so I have found that I typically have to have my gains a little higher than those at lower elevations just to maintain a proper hover even with a stripped down S800. Thanks again for taking the time to help me.

By the way; does anyone out there have an HFG that they are using with a newer AV200 Gimbal? I would be curious to know what you basic gain settings are on the HFG for this Gimbal. I am using just two axis. Roll and Pitch would be great to know so that I can compare. Thanks.

 

[Stacky]

Ive been learning and fighting gimbal issues for ages. My biggest battle has been working out what things cause those twitches and bumps and the frustrating thing is that its often more than one thing. I have chased my tail a few times fixing one issue and having no luck and then later on find another issue was accentuating the first. So the best advice I can give you is to try and get all aspects as good as possible. Im flying a HFP board and use the gimbal controls from that. I have found if I dont have my gains right the flight quality even though not visible to the eye can cause tiny oscillations in my gimbal. The stiffer I get my gimbal connections to the frame the better. I have an AV200 Im borrowing at the moment but havent done much with it as yet. It is a well balanced gimbal in general. I have also discovered that different servos can act differently depending on the camera being used. Also it appears to me that the super fast servos with the built in HFP gimbal controls will induce jitter whereas more all round high torque medium speed servos are better on the roll axis for removing jitter.
Sorry wish I knew more but its likely to be a one main thing with a few other things combining to confuse the issue.

 

[RancherPete]

Stacky: I have heard others say this to: "The stiffer I get my gimbal connections to the frame the better." It seems counter intuitive. Wouldn't you think that a little play between the the frame and the gimbals would be a good thing to minimize the transference of vibration also to help absorb those tiny hiccups? I have a hard time understanding this one. When you consider the Cinestar frame and how it has its gimbal mount hanging from a bunch of o-rings it makes you wonder how this is good for them?

I am going to start the day with very low gains on the S800 and see if this is part of the problem. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.

 

[Stacky]

Vibrations come from motors and props so if you have really well balanced props and motors then you should be ok for vibrations generally. The stiffness is important because if you have any movement induced by movement of the multirotor that in turn can show up as jitter etc. If you can tap your gimbal and it has a little wobble in it then thats going to become unwanted movement when filming. Also I have found that prop wash can cause problems if you dont have a stiff connection of gimbal to the frame.
So if you have a camera on your gimbal which isnt balanced, add in a bit of slop to the gimbal connection to the frame and have the prop wash hitting the camera you have a combination of little things which could be causing jitter. Then add in gain issues and it all gets confusing. The prop wash strength varies with throttle inputs and also varies if you are using auto level but the variations are so quick in auto level that we cant detect them, if the gains arent right those changes I think cause oscillations on my setup.
I dont have a cinestar frame so am not sure about how loose that is with respect to the gimbal connection. I do have a cinestar style kit gimbal and the stiffness issue has been a big cause of jitter for me.

Try having the gimbal locked in to position with the servos disconnected, see if you get relatively smooth footage footage from that. if so then try adjusting how stiff the gimbal to the frame is and see if that improves or gets worse. Once you get those things in place then move on to the next areas of concern.
Its a process of elimination and unfortunately takes time. My solutions for me may not be solutions for you as Im using my own built frame and my own built cinestar style gimbal.

 

[RancherPete]

Stacky: Your comment: "If you can tap your gimbal and it has a little wobble in it then thats going to become unwanted movement when filming. Also I have found that prop wash can cause problems if you dont have a stiff connection of gimbal to the frame..." Is one that I had not considered and is a good one, especially the prop wash concern. I will consider all of these things later today as I continue testing this. I will also find a way to lock these components to make them rigid so as to remove them from the equation here and there. You have been so helpful and I very much appreciate this, I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.

 

[RancherPete]

Stacky (one more time): I have burned 4 lipos already this morning at 15 drgees F. outside and have learned a great deal. It seems that it is my Photohigher AV200 gimbal and the way in which it is mounted that is causing many of the problems I have been experiencing. I clamped off the gimbal from side to side, flew it, looked at the video and noticed right away that I no longer had those "roll twitches" (90% of it was gone). Then I did the same thing with the gimbal from front to back (which is where it is the sloppiest) and it solved the majority of those twitches too. The AV200 is really pretty flimsy when you compare it to something like a Cinestar gimbal which is so rigid in so many ways. While I can improve upon this somewhat I am still stuck with the AV200 for the time being so there is only so much I can do with what I have to work with. I see a better gimbal on my wish list for the near future.

Thanks so much for you suggestions. They were a good motivator for me to reexamine and area that I though had already been answered, but I was wrong. Also: I found that when I dialed back my WKM gains by 20 points this also helped a great deal.

 

[Mike SF]

I agree with Stacky, looks more like the FC gains are too high, rather than an issue with the HGC. I'm seeing micro bounces with mine (not twitching), but they get eliminated by the OIS of my RX100 camera. Or with the RX100 image stabilization off, I can get rid of them using post-stabilization in FCPX.

 

[RancherPete]

Hey Mike: I find my self agonizing over these tiny bumps here and there when the fact is that I will most certainly always be using the Warp Stabilize in Premiere Pro because it just helps everything to look so smooooooooth. Its still better to get it as good as I can to begin with and I am almost there. I will post a little something later after I get it dialed in the best I can. Thanks for your comment. Happy New Year.

 

[Multirotorcraft UK]

Hi Guys

Sorry to intrude on this thread but could I get a bit of help please. I have just purchased ahoverfly Gimbal and have it all setup on an AV130 2 Axis camera mount. I have gonethrough the calibration process and all is good. When the HFG is connected tothe PC and power to the HFG board the servos do what they are supposed to dobut when it is not connected to the PC the HFG does nothing. I am not using a receiver.Pitch and Roll are in the top servo pins CH1 & 2 and I have a 6v UBEC powering the board. I am missing something.

Many thanks

 

[DucktileMedia]

I have a little issue with my HFG. Somewhat recently the tilt snaps to center. It makes it impossible to get a smooth movement up/down. If i were to push forward on the stick and let go it would start to smoothly return to center but at the last second it jerks to center instead of smoothly rolling there. Does anyone know what changes this?

 

[BIGTACO]

So I am also having recent problems with my HFG. I get yaw/roll coupling and my roll will drift on me even in fast forward flight or a hover. I have tried everything:

-Firmware 1.03
-Firmware 1.8 rev 01
-Moved the HFG to about 4 different mounting locations
-Reset the controller to default multiple times and re-set it back up
-I even did a rain dance and cussed loudly

Here is my example video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nb1TFB_eaA

After taking this video I read about some on this thread that tried a RFI/EMI shielded enclosure to stick the board into. I already ordered the box from Mike over at http://simcobox.com/ He told me they have to spray this coating into the standard box and they only do it in batches. They have 6 left of these already coated so get yours now otherwise it takes 2 weeks!

God I hope this works. I am beyond frustrated.

 

[Icke84]

Hi there, got my hoverfly gimbal today. updated it to the newest version 1.9 and did the calibration stuff.

i only got one problem, when i hold the hexa in my hand and do only roll movements, i have also some pitch movements of the camera.
anyone who have the same problem?

regards
Marcus

 

[BIGTACO]

Firmware 1.9 is out??? I'll try that and see if it fixes my issues.

Hi there, got my hoverfly gimbal today. updated it to the newest version 1.9 and did the calibration stuff.

i only got one problem, when i hold the hexa in my hand and do only roll movements, i have also some pitch movements of the camera.
anyone who have the same problem?

regards
Marcus