Inspire 2 grounded (purposely) ...

Dobmatt · Apr 7, 2019

A "V"-ictory? Roughly 25% of my inventions proved to be useless ... This one is working charmingly, delivering silky smooth footage with 25mm lens and vehicle speed of 30 km/hr. over grassy surface. Sure it's not a Movi gimbal, which will cover full upper half of a sphere, but - hey - it's good enough to me. The cost? Approx. 2K USD for RC vehicle, materials and CNC fabrication, plus about 50 hrs of CAD design, hardware manufacturing and assembly on my side. The drone can be deployed for aerial work in 5 minutes, which involves re-activation of obstacle avoidance system and landing gear unlocking from within Go 4 app.

I will absorb even the harshest criticism

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mmarian · Apr 8, 2019

Dobmatt said:
A "V"-ictory? Roughly 25% of my inventions proved to be useless ... This one is working charmingly, delivering silky smooth footage with 25mm lens and vehicle speed of 30 km/hr. over grassy surface. Sure it's not a Movi gimbal, which will cover full upper half of a sphere, but - hey - it's good enough to me. The cost? Approx. 2K USD for RC vehicle, materials and CNC fabrication, plus about 50 hrs of CAD design, hardware manufacturing and assembly on my side. The drone can be deployed for aerial work in 5 minutes, which involves re-activation of obstacle avoidance system and landing gear unlocking from within Go 4 app.

I will absorb even the harshest criticism ...

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Looks great!! Obviously it did not work with I2 in transport configuration? It would bring the CG a bit lower, less chance of tipping over, just a thought.

Dobmatt · Apr 8, 2019

mmarian said:
Looks great!! Obviously it did not work with I2 in transport configuration? It would bring the CG a bit lower, less chance of tipping over, just a thought.

Looks like we're the last dinosaurs on Inspire 2 forums to switch the lights off

... Anyway, transport configuration will lower CG significantly, but will also narrow the range of useful gimbal movements. The mass of vehicle (approx. 40 lb) is big enough to avoid tipping during fast cornering. Naturally no sane operator will bash such a piece of equipment the way RC racers do ... Cheers.

mmarian · Apr 8, 2019

Dobmatt said:
Looks like we're the last dinosaurs on Inspire 2 forums to switch the lights off ... Anyway, transport configuration will lower CG significantly, but will also narrow the range of useful gimbal movements. The mass of vehicle (approx. 40 lb) is big enough to avoid tipping during fast cornering. Naturally no sane operator will bash such a piece of equipment the way RC racers do ... Cheers.
View attachment 25027

I understand what you are saying about the limited gimbal movement range. The front legs might get into the FOV if you point the camera up and sideway. At the vehicle weight of 40lb tipping over is a slim probability. I like the antivibration attachement on the bent steel cables.Again it looks flimsy but the cables are quite thick and I am sure you've done your homework on that. Congrats on succesfully conquering a nice engineering challenge.

Dobmatt · Apr 8, 2019

mmarian said:
I understand what you are saying about the limited gimbal movement range. The front legs might get into the FOV if you point the camera up and sideway. At the vehicle weight of 40lb tipping over is a slim probability. I like the antivibration attachement on the bent steel cables.Again it looks flimsy but the cables are quite thick and I am sure you've done your homework on that. Congrats on succesfully conquering a nice engineering challenge.

Thanks, mate. It means a lot to me

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mmarian · Apr 8, 2019

Dobmatt said:
Thanks, mate. It means a lot to me ...

?

Flippigan · Apr 8, 2019

Dobmatt said:
Looks like we're the last dinosaurs on Inspire 2 forums to switch the lights off ... Anyway, transport configuration will lower CG significantly, but will also narrow the range of useful gimbal movements. The mass of vehicle (approx. 40 lb) is big enough to avoid tipping during fast cornering. Naturally no sane operator will bash such a piece of equipment the way RC racers do ... Cheers.
View attachment 25027

This is one of the dopest things I’ve ever seen, im 19 and I’ve never been good at school but I’ve always had a passion for everything RC, eventually I would like to go to school for engineering and it’s designs like this that give a light to the end of the tunnel, a reason to go to school, so that hopefully I can design somthing like this one day

Douglas Bader · Apr 8, 2019

It looks superb, well done! That must have taken a long time to design and implement. Have you published any test footage ? Would be interested to see if you have any.

Jetcar · Apr 8, 2019

Wow! Kudos! And thanks for showing us!!

Dobmatt · Apr 8, 2019

Douglas Bader said:
It looks superb, well done! That must have taken a long time to design and implement. Have you published any test footage ? Would be interested to see if you have any.

"Coming soon", my favourite phrase from DJI's dictionary

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Cat Eyes · Apr 8, 2019

Impressive. Perhaps some super elastic shocks or extended suspension to maintain a steady camera while you go over curbs, holes, etc. Tags, title, license, and registration please!

Dobmatt · Apr 8, 2019

Cat Eyes said:
Impressive. Perhaps some super elastic shocks or extended suspension to maintain a steady camera while you go over curbs, holes, etc. Tags, title, license, and registration please!

That's exactly what it is! Vehicle suspension and shock absorbers aside, the drone itself is suspended on steel cable vibration dampers. With added help of X5S gimbal standard silicone dampers only a major bump is noticeable on footage, and that's only with longer than 15mm lens.

daytonjj · Apr 9, 2019

Where did you get the buggy from? Or did ya build it? Got me all interested now

Dobmatt · Apr 10, 2019

daytonjj said:
Where did you get the buggy from? Or did ya build it? Got me all interested now

This is Losi Desert Buggy XL-E with custom build gearbox to reduce insane speed such vehicle is capable of....

Camonyx · Apr 13, 2019

Look great well done

Camonyx · Apr 13, 2019

Could you share some footage
I’ve just managed to fit my i2 on a crane super smooth
I find 29.97 a lot better than 23/24/25

Donnie Frank · Apr 13, 2019

Dobmatt said:
A "V"-ictory? Roughly 25% of my inventions proved to be useless ... This one is working charmingly, delivering silky smooth footage with 25mm lens and vehicle speed of 30 km/hr. over grassy surface. Sure it's not a Movi gimbal, which will cover full upper half of a sphere, but - hey - it's good enough to me. The cost? Approx. 2K USD for RC vehicle, materials and CNC fabrication, plus about 50 hrs of CAD design, hardware manufacturing and assembly on my side. The drone can be deployed for aerial work in 5 minutes, which involves re-activation of obstacle avoidance system and landing gear unlocking from within Go 4 app.

I will absorb even the harshest criticism ...

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Very nice. I've been wanting to put a stabilized camera on my gasser 4x4 for a while. Though I no longer have passion for just driving my RC 4x4 recreationally, the powerful motor and 2-speed transmission make the thing really fast. It would make an interesting platform, assuming it could be controlled with the degree of granularity required @ 60+ mph. This solution you came up with looks awesome.

Do you find it top-heavy? Is she "tippy" at high speeds? What's her top speed?

D

Donnie Frank · Apr 13, 2019

Dobmatt said:
A "V"-ictory? Roughly 25% of my inventions proved to be useless ... This one is working charmingly, delivering silky smooth footage with 25mm lens and vehicle speed of 30 km/hr. over grassy surface. Sure it's not a Movi gimbal, which will cover full upper half of a sphere, but - hey - it's good enough to me. The cost? Approx. 2K USD for RC vehicle, materials and CNC fabrication, plus about 50 hrs of CAD design, hardware manufacturing and assembly on my side. The drone can be deployed for aerial work in 5 minutes, which involves re-activation of obstacle avoidance system and landing gear unlocking from within Go 4 app.

I will absorb even the harshest criticism ...

View attachment 25026

Looks like it would be easy to turn the I2 around for leading the subject, yes? Do you imagine an FPV camera mounted to the vehicle itself for such operations?

D

Dobmatt · Apr 13, 2019

Donnie Frank said:
Looks like it would be easy to turn the I2 around for leading the subject, yes? Do you imagine an FPV camera mounted to the vehicle itself for such operations?

D

Two issues need to be addressed in such application: vibration dampening and maximum speed the vehicle of this class is capable of. First issue is solved by well proven steel cable suspension system, second by adding custom build gear case between pinion gear and main differential. Insane speeds are the last thing I'll consider here, although absolutely possible for furious street chases and huge insurance on equipment.

The need of extra FPV camera is questionable. Inspire gimbal is offering enough movements to frame the subject (surely less than full-size professional Ronin or Movi) with 180 deg yaw. With 2 person operation (a must in this case) the driver can use Inspire's FPV, while the cameraman does his job with second radio. Naturally limited gimbal movements are ... hmm, limiting, but hey - it's a poor man's solution to get some extra angles in filming

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Donnie Frank · Apr 13, 2019

Dobmatt said:
Two issues need to be addressed in such application: vibration dampening and maximum speed the vehicle of this class is capable of. First issue is solved by well proven steel cable suspension system, second by adding custom build gear case between pinion gear and main differential. Insane speeds are the last thing I'll consider here, although absolutely possible for furious street chases and huge insurance on equipment.

The need of extra FPV camera is questionable. Inspire gimbal is offering enough movements to frame the subject (surely less than full-size professional Ronin or Movi) with 180 deg yaw. With 2 person operation (a must in this case) the driver can use Inspire's FPV, while the cameraman does his job with second radio. Naturally limited gimbal movements are ... hmm, limiting, but hey - it's a poor man's solution to get some extra angles in filming ...

Is the operation smooth enough for dolly shots on say asphalt or a typical sidewalk? Is that what you envisioned for this rig? My mind went straight to "car chase," but just curious what your original intentions are for this rig? Or maybe you designed this for interior shots? Have you used it yet? Has it lived up to its expectations? Any design changes for the future? I know nothing beats field testing. I live by it.

Peripheral benefit not discussed: Without motors spinning, I bet the Inspire batteries last over an hour, yes?

Apologies for all the questions, but this is a very interesting rig.

D