Latest Flight testing of CARVEC Brushless Gimbal Controller & Photohigher AV200IDD


Benjamin Kenobi

Benjamin Kenobi

Easy? You call that easy?
Droider said:
Well as far as am concerned the AV200 and the AV130 still as its place in the MR world. All the brushless stuff is really great if you are happy to tune tune and tune again. If like me you like flying then servos are still OK. All my footage on Vimeo is with a AV130 with Radian on roll filmed with CX730. Unless you are a pro then its fine. All the stuff I have done for the BBC has been shot on this setup, sure its not class 1, I dont even think the CX730 is in class 5 as far as the BBC goes but my footage has been integrated into prime-time BBC stuff. So as far as the AV200IDD is concerned I have used it for a new CH5 series flying the BMPC. I have flown it with the GH3 and its great. The Carvec system is going from strength to strength, NO bull**** just real honest Yorkshire engineering that works and will get even better. The latest firmware makes tuning easier but as far a auto tune is concerned forget it, its bollocks no matter what FF or DJI post their autotune still relies on everything being set up on the Gimbal precisely and if you do that then the tuning is easy.

For the Epic forget it, the AV200IDD is not an option and as MBF said it never really has been suitable. If you wan to fly a RED talk to Kloner, not sure what he is using but he seem to be flying it more than anyone I know. Or you will need to shell out for a Movi which will carry the Red.. well I have heard it will.

The AV 200IDD is suitable for GH3/BMPC sized cameras. It could fly bigger ones but its the ability to balance the gimbal that is the restriction on a fixed tray.

I love the engineering of the AV200 and AV130, great solid design that works but with limitations.

I fly

AV130 with Radian roll control with Cannon 550D, Nex5 CX730
AV200 with SkyLine 2 axis control for Canon 550/5D for stills
AV200 3 axis Carvec controlled servo for all above as emegency gimbal
AV200 IDD Carvec controlled 3 axis for GH3/CX730/BMPC
New test unit Carvec controlled 3 axis for GH3/CX730/BMPC

Hope that as answered the questions. Here is the latest testing video not with the AV200IDD as thats now in my working tool box, but with a new DD gimbal in less than favourable conditions.

Click to expand...

That looked great Dave! No fault with that footage. :nevreness:

Is that one of those mysterious Helicopter Girls I see? They're a rare breed...
 
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Droider

Droider

Drone Enthusiast
jes1111 said:
Is it my imagination or did it lose the horizon on that fast pan (around 1:40)?
Click to expand...

If it did it was for a phantosecond and that was me doing 360 with the copter full rudder full aileron with the gimbal in follow mode.
 



J

jes1111

Active Member
Sorry to be a party-pooper but I've been doing some freeze-frame and measurement - at about 1:35 the horizon is out by about 3 degrees. As you say - this was a very extreme test but... my thinking is that if it loses the horizon whilst hovering stationery (i.e. the only lateral acceleration element is the distance from the centre of rotation to the sensor position) then it is also likely to do so when faced with the ultimate "real-life" challenge: fast forward flight with the camera facing sideways. Can you do a test like that?

I'm not knocking the G-Lock - everything looks crackingly good so far but I'm sure a lot of people, myself included, are waiting to see just how bullet-proof it is.
 

Droider

Droider

Drone Enthusiast
jes1111 said:
Sorry to be a party-pooper but I've been doing some freeze-frame and measurement - at about 1:35 the horizon is out by about 3 degrees. As you say - this was a very extreme test but... my thinking is that if it loses the horizon whilst hovering stationery (i.e. the only lateral acceleration element is the distance from the centre of rotation to the sensor position) then it is also likely to do so when faced with the ultimate "real-life" challenge: fast forward flight with the camera facing sideways. Can you do a test like that?

I'm not knocking the G-Lock - everything looks crackingly good so far but I'm sure a lot of people, myself included, are waiting to see just how bullet-proof it is.
Click to expand...

What was I doing Jes! Show me ANY footage from ANY other gimbal doing a test like that please. You did see my props in the monitor dint you.

D
 

MombasaFlash

MombasaFlash

Heli's & Tele's bloke
Bartman said:
... @MBF, a little less hot sauce on the new guys' thread replies please?...
Click to expand...

I shall consider myself properly reprimanded.

henrysj said:
... just ur attempt of humor by getting my name wrong?...
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Neither. An eye for an eye really. It annoys me when someone cannot be bothered to spell-check. Anyway, apologies for unloading on you a bit there.

Once you have been around here for a while you will become accustomed (and eventually irritated) by, for example, self-proclaimed "newbies" coming on here and proudly stating their intention to get into the professional aerial photography business, having just purchased a Phantom and a GoPro, and asking how much should they charge for their services. We have had others who have claimed they have clients lined up who want to fly a Red and what sort of MR should they buy?

Idiots and dreamers who know nothing and expect to find all the easy answers here, without putting in the legwork and building up that all-important first-hand knowledge and experience, with a just bit of guidance from these pages.

Your request for a sub 2K gimbal to carry an Epic sort of smacked of something similar.

Other than that, all my previous points stand regarding the suitability of the AV200 for such an application.

So to answer your question, Sorry, No.
 

J

jes1111

Active Member
Droider said:
What was I doing Jes! Show me ANY footage from ANY other gimbal doing a test like that please. You did see my props in the monitor dint you.

D
Click to expand...

Yep - I agreed that it was an extreme test - but it did "fail". As you say, hardly surprising considering what you were doing. But I'm sure I'm not the only one here waiting to see just how good the G-Lock system really is - nobody's expecting 100% perfection, just wanting to know (particularly because it's a relatively pricey system) where the limits are. Fast forward flight with the camera pointing sideways defeats (AFAIK) every other controller out there (Zenmuse included?) - so we're eager to see that test on the G-Lock. :)
 


C

CARVECJohn

New Member
Jes111: When checking the IMU vertical accuracy, you cannot rely on the actual horizon unless you are pointing out to sea. What you must do is place a known vertical in the centre of the screen and measure that. At 1:35 you can check with the lamppost. It's not perfect I agree - but it's very close. Same with the telegraph pole at 1:38.

I thought the same thing until I checked it like that.

That flight test was on a very windy day with nasty gusts which are the biggest test of all for a stabilisation system and I was pretty pleased with the results.

JohnC
 
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jfro

jfro

Aerial Fun
I know these things take time, but I'm just wondering if it's working, under development, or something else.
It certainly would be interesting to see more samples and more people using it.
 


Droider

Droider

Drone Enthusiast
milo12 said:
Is Carvec still around? The Carvec site is dead.
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Hi Milo

I have massages Carvec about their site, not sure whats gone wrong there. There Facebook page is running

https://www.facebook.com/CarvecSystems

I am running carved on two gimbals, the AV200IDD and a new pro type that I have been using at the sharp end in comical shoots. There area few clips in this reel. There is a new dedicated Carvec controller out anytime soon with blue tooth connection and tablet tuning. Carvec are working hard on getting it right before official release to ensure everything is good to go


As soon as I can release other footage I will

Dave
 
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C

CARVECJohn

New Member
Hey guys,

Some nice chaps from Poland hacked the Joomla on the website so it got deleted and is in the process of being re-uploaded. It was one of those where we got an email telling us it was hacked and recommending some specific company to 'unhack' it. Lowlife ...

To answer some questions I saw about the G-Lock:

The main features the G-Lock offers to the servo gimbals over the old Radian are:

o Only one module needed to stabilise all three axis
o Full control of the slewing acceleration for smooth start/stops
o New 'Proportional' mode option for single-operator using a shoulder lever or dial. This can be set separately for each radio inputs so it auto changes to incremental slew when the cameraman turns on the second radio.
o Remote gain control using an RC channel
o New 'Damping' field for the PID tuning. This helps a bit with bouncy mounts like the o-rings on the Freefly gimbal
o Many more orientation options
o Separate channel assignments for the Satellite + SBUS/PPM receiver inputs
o SUBS-2 support
o Graph feature to show stabilisation-error and response for servo-gimbal. Very useful to see small oscillations which they eye cannot.
o 'Test mode' for tuning where it repeatedly slews the gimbal so you can tune + see the results on the graphing function
o Upgradeable to brushless control by adding BLD modules
o New 'Aux Servo' out which shares a PC-connection pin (allows camera control even when all 3-axis are being used)
o Support for operation over bluetooth (PC's only I'm afraid).

The system is now pretty much complete - through we will keep adding features as and when they prove useful.

We are currently testing a new module to completely replace the Radian in the system. This new hardware uses a newer generation of IMU sensor and the design has an optimised pin-out to give it a lower profile than the Radian and allow it to be mounted more easily. The hardware for this module is complete and flying - we are just looking to source a nice enclosure for it ....

Hope this is of interest,

JohnC
 

jfro

jfro

Aerial Fun
CARVECJohn said:
Hey guys,

Some nice chaps from Poland hacked the Joomla on the website so it got deleted and is in the process of being re-uploaded. It was one of those where we got an email telling us it was hacked and recommending some specific company to 'unhack' it. Lowlife ...

To answer some questions I saw about the G-Lock:

The main features the G-Lock offers to the servo gimbals over the old Radian are:

o Only one module needed to stabilise all three axis
o Full control of the slewing acceleration for smooth start/stops
o New 'Proportional' mode option for single-operator using a shoulder lever or dial. This can be set separately for each radio inputs so it auto changes to incremental slew when the cameraman turns on the second radio.
o Remote gain control using an RC channel
o New 'Damping' field for the PID tuning. This helps a bit with bouncy mounts like the o-rings on the Freefly gimbal
o Many more orientation options
o Separate channel assignments for the Satellite + SBUS/PPM receiver inputs
o SUBS-2 support
o Graph feature to show stabilisation-error and response for servo-gimbal. Very useful to see small oscillations which they eye cannot.
o 'Test mode' for tuning where it repeatedly slews the gimbal so you can tune + see the results on the graphing function
o Upgradeable to brushless control by adding BLD modules
o New 'Aux Servo' out which shares a PC-connection pin (allows camera control even when all 3-axis are being used)
o Support for operation over bluetooth (PC's only I'm afraid).

The system is now pretty much complete - through we will keep adding features as and when they prove useful.

We are currently testing a new module to completely replace the Radian in the system. This new hardware uses a newer generation of IMU sensor and the design has an optimised pin-out to give it a lower profile than the Radian and allow it to be mounted more easily. The hardware for this module is complete and flying - we are just looking to source a nice enclosure for it ....

Hope this is of interest,

JohnC
Click to expand...


When your radian replacement system is available, what is the approximate pricing (dollars) for a complete 3 axis controller, bluetooth, & imu going to be. Approximate is ok.
 



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