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Zenmuse x3 For Custom drone?

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Hello all!

I have been working on creating a custom hexacopter that can be used for many different projects. I would like to be able to use it for photography, lifting, thermal, and more. But one thing I have thought about and it seems interesting if possible is to add the Zenmuse X3 to the hexacopter. I am wondering if there is a custom gimbal plate that can be added and configured to work with the hardware on the drone or with any hardware in particular for the Zenmuse X3. Is this possible? Any comments at all are appreciated!

Thank you for reading!
 
Hello all!

I have been working on creating a custom hexacopter that can be used for many different projects. I would like to be able to use it for photography, lifting, thermal, and more. But one thing I have thought about and it seems interesting if possible is to add the Zenmuse X3 to the hexacopter. I am wondering if there is a custom gimbal plate that can be added and configured to work with the hardware on the drone or with any hardware in particular for the Zenmuse X3. Is this possible? Any comments at all are appreciated!

Thank you for reading!

You'll get zero support from DJI on that regard. The X3 probably won't work as a stand-alone camera. You'll have to move upstream to the controller. You don't want to reinvent the wheel here. So find a crashed Inspire 1 and rob the guts (gimbal controller, etc.). More than likely any cameras in the crash will have been destroyed, but hopefully the gimbal mounts and upstream hardware still works.

The next hurdle will be communication protocols. I believe DJI's communication protocols are proprietary. So you may have a hard time integrating the camera into industry-standard third-party video equipment (like FPV goggles).

No matter how you slice it, you will be diving into unknown territory. You may find it more effective to forsake the DJI stuff and try to find something more installer friendly. The DJI stuff is good stuff, but DJI is VERY guarded and protective over their technology. They don't even share vital information with their own support personnel. Ask anybody who has tried to get an answer to any question above, "How do I install firmware???" It's not uncommon to spend 30-60 minutes with support getting answers to even the most basic questions. But I digress....

That's how I would approach it anyway. Good luck!

D
 
Totally concur with Donnie. I have never seen any detail schematics on DJI stuff. There are two main issues that you are facing. The first is gimbal control, second is transmitting the image. There are a lot of connectors that DJI likely keeps the details locked up. The X3 is a nice camera. At one time when guys were buying the Z3s, they were selling the X3s cheap. But then they found out that firmware updates required the X3. Whoops. There are two main problems that were always on the front burner to making a good aerial platform: stable camera control and quality images. DJI focused their attention to those goals. Once they fine tuned their equipment, then they simply had to focus on the aircraft and flight times. Good luck on trying to use the X3.....
 
Agree! You will never be able to reverse-engineer an X3 into a custom drone. We would love to build our own drone so we have control of frequencies use, get away from DJI geofencing limitations, etc, but still use their excellent X7 camera system. The best idea we’ve been able to come up with so far is to build a drone large enough to carry the I2!
 
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