Hoverfly Hoverfly Gimbal Controller?
- Thread starter RotorFilms
- Start date
RancherPete
Member
Can anyone tell me this: what is the latest firmware and software for the Hoverfly Gimbal? In my Hoverfly configurator it states that the software version is: "Ver 1.6 rev0" but my Hardware version says it's: "Gimbal 1.0". Is this the same as a firmware version? I'm a little confused on this one as I thought I read somewhere that the software number should match the hardware number (1.6). I'm using an AV200 in a 2 axis setup and my roll seems to creep a little to one direction which I can't seem to get to the bottom of. This may be induced by slow yaw (poor man's pan) and I thought that this had been addressed a while back. Also: I am using a Futaba 8FG Super and I cannot find a way to slow down the speed at which the pitch servo moves when I control it via the right side lever on my TX. The pitch and roll work pretty well for keeping the camera level in flight (other than the issue I mentioned above) but I assumed that there would be a way to slow down the gimbals manually applied pitch speed within the HFG setup software but there does not seem to be a way and I can't find a way to do it on my TX either. Any ideas on this?
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hoverben
Person of Interest
No, hardware version is the run of the board. Firmware version is the software that you load onto the board, which is constantly being updated and improved upon.
I'm not sure where you saw this, but it is definitely not true. The only time you need to match firmware versions to anything is if you are running a HoverflyPRO with GPS - both the flight controller & the GPS unit need to have the same version.
If you haven't already, please submit a ticket on the support site (in my signature). I should be able to give you some options to explore when I get back to the office tomorrow.
Nope, best investment I ever made..
RancherPete
Member
HFG - Roll on yaw, roll on lateral flight, roll no matter what...
Gary: At the recommendation of HF I reverted back to 1.03 on the HFG and still get a completely out of whack horizon. I am using a new AV200 in 2 axis mode only: Pitch and Roll. Obviously Roll is set up to work automatically and this is the axis I am having trouble with. I do not know whether or not using "Magnetometer" has any effect one way or the other as I would imagine that this is related to the Pan axis of a 3 axis system. I have tried it both ways; Mag. on/off. I have a bubble level on BOTH the center of the multirotor hub and the camera tray to be absolutely sure that everything is perfectly level upon takeoff. I have painstakingly calibrated everything to perfect from what I can tell. It is all fine for a moment until I actually try to fly the craft in virtually any direction. It seems that even the very slowest yaw or sideways movement of the craft effects the horizon negatively. I have tried to isolate the board as far away from everything as possible (servos, camera, GPS, etc.) just in case EMI may be the culprit. The roll axis just seems to want to creep up on one side and stay there. HF has no answer for this as of yet so I am desperate to get to the bottom of it with very few shooting day left here in Colorado for the Fall season. Does anyone have any tips on how to over come this issue where the Roll creeps up on its own ruining out any chance for a level horizon?
Pete
Gary: At the recommendation of HF I reverted back to 1.03 on the HFG and still get a completely out of whack horizon. I am using a new AV200 in 2 axis mode only: Pitch and Roll. Obviously Roll is set up to work automatically and this is the axis I am having trouble with. I do not know whether or not using "Magnetometer" has any effect one way or the other as I would imagine that this is related to the Pan axis of a 3 axis system. I have tried it both ways; Mag. on/off. I have a bubble level on BOTH the center of the multirotor hub and the camera tray to be absolutely sure that everything is perfectly level upon takeoff. I have painstakingly calibrated everything to perfect from what I can tell. It is all fine for a moment until I actually try to fly the craft in virtually any direction. It seems that even the very slowest yaw or sideways movement of the craft effects the horizon negatively. I have tried to isolate the board as far away from everything as possible (servos, camera, GPS, etc.) just in case EMI may be the culprit. The roll axis just seems to want to creep up on one side and stay there. HF has no answer for this as of yet so I am desperate to get to the bottom of it with very few shooting day left here in Colorado for the Fall season. Does anyone have any tips on how to over come this issue where the Roll creeps up on its own ruining out any chance for a level horizon?
Pete
GGoodrum
Member
Hi Pete --
We too have reverted to v1.03, as it causes less problems in this area than v1.6, but it still will do it. The trick to a workaround is to move the HFG board so that it is at least six inches away from the body of the camera, and also not anywhere near being directly over the camera. We added a small mounting plate that moves the board to the very top/rear part of our AG550v2 gimbals. This has pretty much eliminated the problem.
-- Gary
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RancherPete
Member
Hi Gary:
Thanks for this. Nice picture by the way and VERY cool looking gimbal! I sure wish that I would have bought one of these rather than the PH AV200. My HFG is well above the camera but I must admit that it is pretty much directly over the top of the camera and a little to the front as you will see in this image (if I can get it to load alright). Take a peek and tell me what you think, if you would. It seemed as though this location would be well away from GPS, IMU, lipo and lipo wires, etc. so it seemed like a good spot but if it is the camera itself that is creating interference maybe there is a better location. I will be interested in what your thoughts are on this. Thanks again.
Pete
View attachment 6922
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RancherPete
Member
Gary: Thanks. I was able to move the HFG up approx. 2.5 inches and back nearly 6 inches from where it was in my image. This was an easy fix so I will try this and see if it helps. If not, any other move is going to be a big headache. Also: if we believe that it is the camera that is causing the interference I should simply be able to remove the camera from the equation and see if the gimbal still rolls in the way that it has been doing. I assume you tried this so as to confirm that it was in fact the camera that was causing these issues (?)
GGoodrum
Member
Yes, I did that, and I've tried different cameras. Surprisingly, the NEX-5N wasn't as bad as my RX100. The worst, though, is the PJ710V. The HFG board needs to be close to 7" away. With the NEX-5N, it is more like 5", but not directly over it. The RX100 needs to be a good 6" away.
-- Gary
RancherPete
Member
Okay, that's what I figured... and now that I think of it I do recall your mentioning this so I should have remembered this. When the winds die down a bit I will be able to give it a go and see if what I have done improves things. The problem is that I cannot find anywhere else to mount the HFG without other potential EMI issues, although perhaps the cameras are the worst of the bunch. I'll find out soon I suppose. I'll post my results. Thanks again, Gary.
Pete
RancherPete
Member
Smoothness setting for HFG
You're on the right track. I was told by HF that this would smooth out and slow down the movement for my pitch on the gimbal and it did. I set it for "1" (from the 20 that it was previously at) and it works great. I have read that it will also effect your roll setting too but only of your roll is set to work with a manual control, like your pitch. If you are doing a one man operation (as I am) then you roll is most certainly set to AUTO control (or whatever they call it) and this will not be an issue. Give it a try. You can test it on the bench while the HFG software is running if you have your pitch servo activated in the software setting and your TX turned on. Smoothness at "1" (at least for me) gives a very slow, smooth movement for your pitch and I find that I use it with good success. Now, if only HF would find a way to deal with their "Roll on Yaw" issue this might make for a usable product. In the mean time mine sits on the shelf so don't get your hopes up too high.
You're on the right track. I was told by HF that this would smooth out and slow down the movement for my pitch on the gimbal and it did. I set it for "1" (from the 20 that it was previously at) and it works great. I have read that it will also effect your roll setting too but only of your roll is set to work with a manual control, like your pitch. If you are doing a one man operation (as I am) then you roll is most certainly set to AUTO control (or whatever they call it) and this will not be an issue. Give it a try. You can test it on the bench while the HFG software is running if you have your pitch servo activated in the software setting and your TX turned on. Smoothness at "1" (at least for me) gives a very slow, smooth movement for your pitch and I find that I use it with good success. Now, if only HF would find a way to deal with their "Roll on Yaw" issue this might make for a usable product. In the mean time mine sits on the shelf so don't get your hopes up too high.
RancherPete
Member
Gary: Just wanted to say that your advice of moving the HFG board further away from the Sony NEX5N camera seems to have helped quite a bit! I just did a test flight and the results were far better than yesterday when the board was mounted slightly lower and forward of its present position. Since the HFG seems to be so sensitive to EMI (or perhaps RFI - don't know much about this stuff) I will be testing a small, light weight plastic shielded box to house the HFG to see if this helps further. Who knows; perhaps it will work well enough to allow the HF to be mounted closer to a camera with no negative effect. I'll post my results once I receive the box and get further into this. Thanks again for your very helpful advice.
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Apparently it works! Had the setting on 100% because I thought it was the smoothest. The setting on 10% seemed to be the same as 100%. I have it at 1% now and it does stop very slowly now, nice! Start tilting also could be a litter slower, but that setting doesn't affect the start of the tilt moving.
albertocvr
Member
Is there any way to use it over a mobile platform ( boat ) ???
DucktileMedia
Drone Enthusiast
Someone needs to invent a gyro stabilized landing platform. Easy enough conceptually, just need to make it.