Multirotors for filming

[Ray Bahas]

Hi guys,
Feel a litte bit confused with this new MRForums version
But I’ve been thinking about the final goal of our remote flying passion.
Some are purely tech oriented, some hobbyists, some others crazy gamers and some wants to use this technology for other purposes. Like telling stories from above.
With my full respect to all UAVs users I’d appreciate your helping hand, no matter what you’re in, in making my work better. And in return, my long experience in filming is at your disposal.

Cheers,

Ray

 

[dazzab]

Very nice. There appears to be a bit jerkiness in the horizontal movement. I fought something similar for a while but managed to work it out for the most part. You'll need to tell people what setup you are using if you want some specific advice. What gimbal and camera for instance? Cheers.

 

[Ray Bahas]

You’re right, I omitted the MR specs:
F550 / Naza lite / 3S Kopterworx motors / Graupner e-props /Tarrot 2D gimbal / Gopro3 black. Flight time around 15 mn with 2x Thunder Power 3900 mAh/40 c, in parallel.

This is the set I carry permanently in my car trunk when wandering out the city. The 2 axis Tarrot is unable to compensate copter yaw in tricky situation like this one: changing wind direction and speed when flying in narrow streets at low altitude. In general, this gimbal doesn’t keep steady horizon when panning. I tried all kind of gain or other settings with no result. I guess also my set of motors + props in too stiff and powerful for the Tarrot torque. All in all, I’m going to replace the whole set with new generation gear, now that Gopro has become worth filming with. However, I’d like to keep the F550 flame wheel which I consider much more reliable and robust than a Phantom 2, for instance.

Cheers,

Very nice. There appears to be a bit jerkiness in the horizontal movement. I fought something similar for a while but managed to work it out for the most part. You'll need to tell people what setup you are using if you want some specific advice. What gimbal and camera for instance? Cheers.

 

[eskil23]

I guess that i 3D-gimbal would cure the horizontal jerkiness. Otherwise I think your setup looks good.

 

[Ray Bahas]

Thanks, yes I’m pretty happy with the F550 settings. However, the Naza Lite cannot handle a 3D axis gimbal unless the later has its own controller.
I’m checking about the options...

I guess that i 3D-gimbal would cure the horizontal jerkiness. Otherwise I think your setup looks good.

 

[dtw]

I'm going to sound like I'm pimping these, but I get very good results and the price is right:
http://www.arrishobby.com/brushless...pro-hero3-3axis-brushless-motor-gimbal3-p-739

The CM3000 Pro has it's own gimbal controller. It has a "bit" of a learning curve, but it's nice. You could easily hook up the pitch and pan to your receiver - not to the naza lite. It does not need to know about the orientation of the MR.

I fly an F550 with retracts and this gimbal, with a completely separate tx/rx controller for this gimbal - basically a 2-person rig. However, when I want to fly by myself, I simply hook my receiver into the gimbal and viola! It will stay level pretty well, as long as you have it level when it's initialized. The other option is to use the 3rd channel on the roll axis so if it does get "off" a bit in flight, you can easily fix it.

Just a thought/option...

 

[Ray Bahas]

Thanks for the option dtw, I will consider it.

I'm going to sound like I'm pimping these, but I get very good results and the price is right:
http://www.arrishobby.com/brushless...pro-hero3-3axis-brushless-motor-gimbal3-p-739

The CM3000 Pro has it's own gimbal controller. It has a "bit" of a learning curve, but it's nice. You could easily hook up the pitch and pan to your receiver - not to the naza lite. It does not need to know about the orientation of the MR.

I fly an F550 with retracts and this gimbal, with a completely separate tx/rx controller for this gimbal - basically a 2-person rig. However, when I want to fly by myself, I simply hook my receiver into the gimbal and viola! It will stay level pretty well, as long as you have it level when it's initialized. The other option is to use the 3rd channel on the roll axis so if it does get "off" a bit in flight, you can easily fix it.

Just a thought/option...

 

[dazzab]

I agree that the CM3000 would be great value. I use their two axis gimbals on my GoPros and they work great. But try some adjustments on your copter/TX first. There probably is a way to soften the yaw with some adding some expo in the TX or adjusting the PIDs on the yaw of the flight controller. Good luck.

 

[dtw]

Good point, dazzab - the horizontal shake or slight movement might be coming from a gain setting - you might try playing with the gains a bit. I'm wondering if that horizontal oscillation is coming from the yaw gain being a little too high or low...

 

[Ray Bahas]

Yes, that is the point: the gain. But tried all possible settings and what you see was the best possible result. I believe the motors/ props set are too strong and stiff and the Tarrot cannot compensate fast enough.

In the meantime, here’s another event I participated to as a drone pilot (with another pilot in synchro flight). This is the behind the scene rehearsal with 3x DJI S900.

Good point, dazzab - the horizontal shake or slight movement might be coming from a gain setting - you might try playing with the gains a bit. I'm wondering if that horizontal oscillation is coming from the yaw gain being a little too high or low...

 

[dazzab]

Cool video. Is that the same event where they did the drone swarm display? I saw a doco on the 'net about that which was amazing. Must have been very exciting to be involved in that.