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Building my first Gimbal
  • Abelmartinez90
    Hello friends,

    I am trying to develop my own gimbal for the new go pro models: 5 to 9 (I think dimensions and weight are similar). GoPro9 weights 157g.

    Currently I transformed a Tarot T2d gimbal and it kind of works, but I am not sure if I found the best tuning parameters and the configuration software is a PITA. I have to install the drivers and restart the computer every time I plug and unplug the usb device. I want to move away from this board because I suspect it wont be powerful enough plus the above problems.

    I would like to use this Basecam board:

    https://www.basecamelectronics.com/simplebgc32ext_long/

    or this other because it is smaller, but I am not sure if it will be powerful enough.

    https://www.basecamelectronics.com/sbgc32tiny_rev_c/

    these are the motors I am planning to use:

    http://www.jdpowersky.com/en/p-info.aspx?cid=1&id=46 they draw 0.7 A each.

    Would be amazing if someone with more experience than me with gimbals could help me a bit.

    Thanks in advance
  • Moti0nGFX
    Hi @ Abelmartinez90

    Great idea/ project and presentation.


    *but the first question you should ask yourself is:*

    Do you want to learn with your project and develop your gimbal yourself from "level 0" -
    or to have fast and good results?

    In general, the form factor of the "gorpo" is a challenge in itself, because the weight must be kept within limits, the smaller the electronics, the more expensive it will be.

    Must have are encoder + very stiff base
    In itself balanced and easy to dismantle.

    So that you are not frustrated at the end, I recommend you to buy the framework already "ready and used" and then if necessary contribute the eletronics of basecame yourself, thereby you already learn a lot and can then if necessary revise the mechanics.

    The "wheel" has already been invented, especially in the consumer sector - a lot of reading helps.

    Do you have experience in manufacturing (cnc, 3dprint) technical drawing and general and advanced electrical backgrounds?


    Greetings tom

  • Abelmartinez90
    Hello Tom,

    Thank you for your fast reply. What I want is to have fast and good results. I am an Aerospace engineer and I work for a drone company. My idea was making something like the one we were using already but with better quality electronics and more powerful in order to handle heavier go pros. We have here a machine shop in our facility and I have Solidworks. My electrical background I would say is decent.

    My first step was picking the motors, and now I am trying to get de best board for the project. I think this one is going to be the right one https://www.basecamelectronics.com/simplebgc32ext_long/

    What do u think?
  • Moti0nGFX
    Hi Abelmartinez90,

    Ok that sounds good that you have basic experience, you also learn a lot by reading the manual. but I think before you decide on a board (form factor) you should consider your fixed points.

    Do you need endless rotating axes? - if so, on all three?
    What kind of encoders are good, compact and cheap and compatible with the FW, (read the extended encoder documentation)

    Motor - with or hollowshaft - do you want to use external shafts and + ball bearings?
    what kind of operating voltage do you want? How high is power consum at limits- when you can chose your board.

    do you need to power the camera or external devices?

    Do you have a gopro? Otherwise an exact dummy with weight and center of gravity.

    The best way is to create a roadpaln and start with the simple axis, pitch.

    regards tom


  • Abelmartinez90
    Hello Tom,

    I do not need any endless rotating axes. Actually the gimbal I am designing only have Tilt and roll axes. With +- 45 degrees.

    For me the hollow shaft ere really convenient since it allows to pass wires through. The ones I selected and attached the link are hollow shaft. I do not need any external shafts.

    The operating voltage, maximum could be 24v (6s), but 12v (3s) would be good, this is what I am using now.

    I do not need to power the camera nor other devices.

    I have several GoPro's here for testing.

    Regards
  • Abelmartinez90
    We received the board and assembled the gimbal. I am really surprised. I like this board and the software way more than the older Tarot one we were using. I thin this is going to be our board from now on. Everything worked perfectly out of the box. Now I only have to tune a little bit the settings to eliminate some shacking. It would be really helpful some guidance for that.

    Regards
  • Moti0nGFX
    @Abelmartinez90

    nice to hear that your tests are successful and which board did you choose?

    I look forward to seeing your test & videos -
    greetings tom
  • GLabs
    These discussion boards are great! I am brand new to gimbals. Just this week actually. I have a need to gimbal a 12lb-15lb kit/sensor dimensions: 5"x5"x30". I can created the mechanicals as far as CF and CNC milled components, but prefer to buy what I can.

    I have been looking through all the options out there and realized I am in over my head.

    Any suggestions on what would be a good for mounting this to a drone? I am using a custom drone so I have full configuration control. I just don't know anything about what size motors or direct vs indirect drive etc. I need only 2 axis, roll is irrelevant. I don't need really fast movement, but fidelity would help as it could increase my usage times in the event of turbulence. Thank you in advance for any help.
  • Moti0nGFX
    Hi @GLabs

    welcome,

    For suspension, it is important that the components are never really hanging, but are mounted upright for better decoupling.

    So the camera hangs under the drone but the load on the rubber feet or insulators comes as a pressure force from above. (look at the best photos)

    Gimbals always need a very high stiffness so that the system does not twist when moving and thus causes an oversteer - since a non-direct drive always builds up backlash and position error (belt & gearbox / gears), you should directly dimension the motor appropriately and not install a gear reduction.

    Greetings,
    tom


  • Abelmartinez90
    Hello Tom and all, I created a new post to keep moving forward with this. Please take a look https://forum.basecamelectronics.com/index.php?p=/discussion/3482/developing-a-drone-3-axis-gimbal
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