Tarot 2d gimbal moving on its own

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Risen91

Member
Alright I need help, I have a Tarot 2d gimbal that when disconnected from the Rx (frsky x8r) works flawless (stays center and reacts when moved) but as soon as I connect it to the Rx it starts moving on its own, not shaking, but just slowly moving up and down. How is connecting it to the Rx affecting it when the Tx isn't even turned on (I have the gimbal in the 5th slot on the Rx in 1-8 channel mode (first 4 are reserved for quadcopter control I believe)? Where is this signal that is making it move coming from? Anyone have any idea about this?
I feel as if there isn't such a straight forward answer but I can provide any information needed and even pictures if that helps, hopefully someone could help me out.
Thanks in advanced :)

FC - multiwii pro ez3.0 blacked mag edition
Rx - Frsky x8r
Tx - Taranis x9d
Gimbal - Tarot 2d
 

Old Man

Old Man

Active Member
If the gimbal and receiver is powered but the transmitter is not the gimbal controller may be searching for it's home position. If it's a new gimbal it may simply need the firmware updated and PID's uploaded from the Tarot software.
 

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Risen91

Member
I have tried turning the transmitter on and it does slowly roll when I move the stick position, however it still slowly moves around on its own. I have tried to update the firmware but am having issues with uploading it. After spending an entire day trying to get the computer to even detect the usb, I finally got the software to communicate with the gimbal, I can turn the motor on and off from the interface and write settings to flash (I think), however the firmware will just stick on something like "updating, please wait" and does nothing. I have a feeling it is the firmware that maybe needs updating but it's a complete struggle trying to figure out how.
 

Old Man

Old Man

Active Member
Something really important but almost never related is the power up sequence. Bit me on the butt a few times. Do not power up the gimbal until after the software assistant is opened up and connected between the gimbal and the laptop. If you power up first everything gets lost and doesn't save. The gimbal sort of wanders around after that. Mine is on a 3DR X8 using a Spectrum transmitter and Pixhawk so I don't know if the attached will help , but feel free. Go to the Tarot home website for firmware updates. Download to folder/file, open and save. Select the update file after opening the software tool and upload.
 

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Risen91

Member
Yea I have done that, the guide says to connect the gimbal, open com port, select update, start update and then power up the gimbal, that's what the guy in the Youtube video did and it worked perfectly for him. The latest version is V1.5 and that's the one I'm trying to upload onto the gimbal.
 


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Risen91

Member
Ok! so an update... I finally managed to get the firmware update to V1.5 Hurrah! However, now the motors wont update. I have also found out that as soon as I apply throttle to the motors the gimbal performs perfectly, stays steady and only moves up/down when I tell it to. It's only when the motors are idle that it starts to move on its own. This next week I will be upgrading my X8R to the L9R for extra range, so im wondering if this will have any effect at all on it. Any other ideas as to what could be causing this?
Thanks for the help by the way :)
 

Old Man

Old Man

Active Member
You know the motors update using a USB port on the opposite side of the gimbal, yes? You cannot do the motors from the same controller port you did the software. The process is also done on a different page of the GUI you updated the software from..
 

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Risen91

Member
Yea I know :) finally got the motors updated as well a few hours ago. Still getting the same problem though, when the motors are not throttled up the gimbal moves on its own, as soon as throttle is applied, it works perfectly and also I can control it using the transmitter. It could be worse I guess, when flying the motors will never go idle, so the gimbal will always remain stable... just means I have to plug it in last second before I take off. An annoyance I would love to fix, but I still feel that finding the cause of the problem would be difficult.
 

Old Man

Old Man

Active Member
Probably needs some adjustment of the PID's. You really want to get that straightened out in order to turn on the camera before the motors are armed. Having to do it after is setting the stage for a prop injury at some point in time. Good to see you're making progress in the right direction. Just for giggles, check the voltage going to the camera. It's possible the voltage prior to arming is a bit too high and arming the motors reduces the voltage a little bit. a small BEC might also be the solution.
 

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Risen91

Member
Considering how well it moves when not connected to the RX (and also when the motors are on) I would guess that the PID's are perfect how they are. I was thinking the same thing about the prop injury and that's mainly what worries me about this. I will check the voltage later today to see what it shows. What is a BEC? o_O
 

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Risen91

Member
Checked the voltage before and after and it stays pretty much stable both on and off, there is no fluctuation that would cause the movement. It has to be there is some signal going through the receiver that is affecting it, this has me wondering if the wifi signal from the other room would be causing this, as it could also be 2.4ghz. Going to turn the wifi off once people are in bed and test it then.... I swear if this is the reason I'm gonna cry :p
 



violetwolf

violetwolf

Member
It could be what I call sensor drift.. These IMU chips are mass produced for pennies for the cell phone manufacturers so tolerances and quality control are barely existent. Some of them tend to drift around when they are idle. Others are not internally aligned and tend to add roll when you yaw etc.

Perhaps you could try another IMU if you have one or the vendor will swap it out for you.

Or just live with it as long as its not doing it in use.
 

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Risen91

Member
I'm no so sure its sensor drift, it works flawlessly when not connected to the receiver and when motors are on, if it was a chip fault it would be constant. It really seems like its receiving some sort of unwanted signal from the receiver but I don't know why or how to check it. Also as Old Man said, there is the danger of prop injury if I have to keep plugging it in last second before I take off with the quadcopter powered up.
 


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