Full Gimbal Control, Solo baby

Shazbot4 · Jun 4, 2015

i can now get shots solo that were impossible to accomplish before unless you have a second person. the act of moving the camera in diagonal directions is no longer impossible.

i can fly the inspire in any direction and keep the camera locked on target moving or still with no effort at any speed. the only shot i need practice with is flying strait over a target and keeping it in frame because of the need to spin the camera 180 and pan up and down at the right moment at the same time.

i made 2 of these, mark 1 is the stained wood where i made a sort of ring mount that screwed onto the left stick, its positioned in such a way that i could move the camera with my pinkey figure in all directions pretty easily.

mark 2 is the one i didn't stain the wood, just varnished. this one works way better. i can control the left stick by grasping it in-between my index and middle figure. this method is a big improvement. much more precise and accurate.

the 2 remotes are off set slightly to allow easier grasp on the stick below. i have the gimbal sensitivity at 100% and i wish i could turn it up higher.

also i switched the flight controls so the right stick controls forward back movement and left and right rudder. this allows me to just take my left hand off the master remote and run the slave remote gimbal with my left hand to be even more accurate and still have full direction control with my right hand when i don't need to change altitude.

i have the left custom button set to switch between free and follow modes, the right centers it.

i only use the 1 tablet, nothing is plugged into the slave remote

offtosleep · Jun 4, 2015

Holy $hit!

gruvpix · Jun 4, 2015

Now that is some ingenuity!

BravoMike · Jun 4, 2015

@Shazbot4 Do you play one of these too? lol

Seriously though, its a great idea. Super cool

britchris1 · Jun 4, 2015

Now we just need someone who can whip up an STL file and start 3d printing these things :-D brilliant idea

Shazbot4 · Jun 4, 2015

dji should do 1 of 2 things. put a hat switch that replaces the track wheel or copy a xbox controller layout and give us 100% freedom to program the buttons to do what ever we want. then you don't have to walk around in full kook mode like me with 2 remotes hanging off your neck just so you can use 1 joystick. i feel like moron for having to use something this stupid just so i can control the camera easier. wood, glue and a whole second remote just for that dam joystick

1200 dollars in equipment hanging off my neck.. yeah real cool lol

Sky · Jun 4, 2015

You need a STL for the super larger thumb stick or the entire apparatus?

sirnikolas · Jun 4, 2015

Wow! I'm impressed.
*might buy a second RC*

Shazbot4 · Jun 4, 2015

that wooden knob? 1.00 dollar at ace hardware as is. i just sanded the top down a little to fit under the the top remote. drilled a whole in the bottom of it so it tapped into the threads on the transmitter stick. comes off easy.

i think i put about 10 bucks in wood into both and a little bit of wood glue. window weather stripping from home depot for 5 bucks.

RCGeeks · Jun 5, 2015

Looks good, is it quite heavy?

Shazbot4 · Jun 5, 2015

weighs less then a transmitter. i use a saxophone neck strap which has a lot of padding, any music store will have them.

Kilrah · Jun 5, 2015

...or you could just use put IOC to good use and dump the weight and bulk

Shazbot4 · Jun 5, 2015

Kilrah said:
...or you could just use put IOC to good use and dump the weight and bulk

good luck. that shot is nearly impossible to get with 1 remote. if you went into function mode and used the aircraft to spin the camera left/right you could use the track wheel to go up and down. good luck coordinating all that together easily.

britchris1 · Jun 6, 2015

Sky said:
You need a STL for the super larger thumb stick or the entire apparatus?

The entire thing would be nice!

Kilrah · Jun 6, 2015

Shazbot4 said:
if you went into function mode and used the aircraft to spin the camera left/right you could use the track wheel to go up and down. good luck coordinating all that together easily.

No problem, just needs a bit of training... your solution does too

lake_flyer · Jun 6, 2015

Shazbot4 said:
good luck. that shot is nearly impossible to get with 1 remote. if you went into function mode and used the aircraft to spin the camera left/right you could use the track wheel to go up and down. good luck coordinating all that together easily.

If we have POI we can just switch that on and keep our eye on the bird like we're supposed to at all times. Concentrating completely on the screen while flying (absolutely needed for 3D gimbal control) is forbidden and even dangerous at times.

The only way to do it with one remote, kind of safely, is to line up upwind, switch to atti, and drift towards, over, or along the object, while using your finger on the App screen to keep the gimbal pointed. Otherwise you need to switch between vertical and horizontal control, which can only work in a 'staircase' way of course.

Never forget to keep the nose steady, keep it in the direction you started the run. In Atti it will drift perfectly along with the wind. Practice a few runs so you can determine the best line up. If the wind speed or direction is not OK, wait for the right circumstances, or another day. In wind still weather, which is perfect, just start the run in Atti, give it some pitch, let go of the sticks, and let it gently bleed out, like a hockey puck on ice.

But keep an eye on the bird at all times. An extra observer is definitely needed when performing 3D panning shots by the pilot himself.

Shazbot4 · Jun 6, 2015

lake_flyer said:
If we have POI we can just switch that on and keep our eye on the bird like we're supposed to at all times. Concentrating completely on the screen while flying (absolutely needed for 3D gimbal control) is forbidden and even dangerous at times

well you dont have ground station yet and when you do i highly doubt the controls will change when you program a mission and hit execute. i guess every time every someone fly's a inspire by their self and films something they are breaking "the rules"

lake_flyer · Jun 7, 2015

It doesn't really matter what opinion I have on this matter, fact remains: if you're 'flying the gimbal' you're not flying the craft at that moment. If you can't have LOS because you're painstakingly tracking an object with your sticks (on the second controller), while watching you're screen, you're breaking the rules. I know, with (a lot of) experience it can be almost perfectly safe, but:

You will not be ensured for any damage and completely liable for the consequences, if anything goes wrong. A hobby pilot may get away with it, but a professional operation requires a team with observer/spotter anyhow. So why not have a second person operate the gimbal.

You will not be ensured for any damage and completely liable for the consequences if anything goes wrong.

Kilrah · Jun 7, 2015

Then again sometimes it's the rules that are wrong and need to evolve... and in this case for me that's what it is.
Based on 13 years of FPV experience I would say if you do it right flying FPV is actually better and safer than LOS with difficulties from perspective and much less accurate "sensation" for what the craft is doing.
I can only count one "crash" I did due to FPV operation, where I stupidly backed into a tree... which LOS pilots do too. On the other hand I have countless occurrences where flying FPV has saved the day thanks to the better situational awareness, better feel for aircraft problems etc.

lake_flyer · Jun 7, 2015

I had this practice flight 2 weeks ago (just making flight minutes), taking it up from my balcony. After the first in flight checks I turned the nose towards the lake and spotted a beautiful ancient sailing ship, antique and restored, or completely rebuilt. It turned out the be the state yacht 'Utrecht', originally built in the early 18th century.

Anyhow, unprepared and surprised as I was, I decided to head to that ship to check it out. It turned out to be further than I thought. Around 700m before I got a good image of it. Although I could see the I1 the entire flight, as a dark spot, there was no way I could determine the nose position. I didn't have my morning star light yet, but this was definitely the reason I installed it afterwards.

I kept the gimbal looking straight ahead. So I had to keep the ship in the frame by yawing and pitching. The ship moved fast, there was quite a lot of wind, and it was very difficult to encircle her while keeping the nose pointed at the ship. Had I used horizontal gimbal control, I would never have been able to check my relative position to the mast or other ships (that I might not have spotted at first). And I would have lost orientation at some point, probably.

Just saying, when flying alone, you can't afford a mistake or a bad coincidence. I felt quite alone, hanging over that ship, more than 600m off shore.

EDIT: posted here: http://www.inspirepilots.com/thread...caught-on-i1-camera-during-practice-run.3570/