3-axis camera gimbal for GoPro (gyro stabilisation test)

This is my new pan-tilt-roll gimbal for my GoPro HD camera. It is supposed to go onto a remote controlled airplane for FPV and aerial video. The whole mechanical structure was printed (laser sintered) by Shapeways.
http://www.shapeways.com/model/207257/3_axis_camera_gimbal_for_gopro__back_ca...

This test shows the first test of 3-axis gyro stabilisation. It still needs a lot of tweaking (I already made a few improvements - stand by...). Here the gyro sensors are on the mount (i.e. will be on the plane, also for the stabilisation of the plane itself). In the final version there will be another gyro sensor directly on the camera, which should make it much more precise.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• gyro
• gimbal
• FPV
• 3-axis
• GoPro
• R/C
• aerial
• video
• stabilised
• steady
• cam
• steadicam

[helixdesign]

@djentangle: I actually developed all the electronics myself, including the 3-axis gyro. I also wrote my own software to mix and control the 3 axes.

I think there are two options - either put the gyro on the camera itself. However, I found that if the gain is low the camera will lag a bit, and if the gain is too high it starts oscillating. The other way is to have the gyro on the mount (shown in the video. I think you'd need to come up with a custom gyro, as it requires precise control to work.

[repalmore]

Excellent, I was wondering would it be hard to add a roll axis to the assembly? Would it make the whole thing too heavy? It looks better than what I've seen some repraps produce but I still would like to have my own Mendel.

[helixdesign]

@repalmore - it's probably not too obvious, but this unit has a roll axis (using the two pitch servos differentially). It only does about 20-30 degrees I think, but I figured that this is enough for most applications, and it allows me to keep everything nice and compact.

In terms of printing - the laser sintering that Shapeways offers is way more detailed than FDM extrusion, even from professional machines. Also, the material is some form of engineering nylon, which is quite tough and flexible.

[khymlawrence]

what gyro did you use?

[squawk7777]

omg its the hands from the adams family!

[TheAlexdrift]

make more plz with it on the plane

[rc18trocks]

reminds me of Glados from portal :)

[nil0bject]

do you use ardupilot?

[daign]

this thing is trash. the plastic is horrible and brittle, the parts do not fit together, the servo slots do not fit any servo that I tried (futaba hitec jr). This is better off as a youtube demo than in reality. On a quadcopter it eats servos and puts entirely too much strain on the servos.

[zackmctee]

wow man! I hope you make the decision to sell these!

[rtsdrums]

When using on a multirotor, how would you mix the 2 servos for roll if I used 3 separate gyros?