http://www.startnext.de/en/hurricanewheels/incentive/hurricane-wheels-1-0-software-usb-stick-47121 I just wanted to post this to see if anyone else has heard of this. It could be a great alternative to an rc remote for dual operator setup.
Really cool idea. Im sure that in some way it could be integrated. You would need to map the pan and tilt to each wheel and then transmit from some sort of Movi compliant transmitter to the rig itself. Seems prob more simple in theory than in reality but it would be a nice idea. Ive had several more classically trained DOP's cringe at the spektrum radio when I pull it out. Having wheels could be a nicer option for those familiar with them.
Hi, I am the guy in the Hurricane Wheels video ;-) We have been approached by quite a few people if we can offer Movi (or other gimbal system) support. The answer is yes we can, but it will take us a few weeks (about 2 months, to be honest). The difficulty here is that there are quite a few systems out there working with different interfaces (like SBUS on the Movi, PPM on others, then there is Spectrum..etc). Would it be ok to interface to the existing RC transmitter ? The advantage here is that you still have the "regular" functionality and could just add the wheels to the system as needed. The downside would be more cables and therefore, more complexity. I imagine that we could get this done pretty fast, because we wouldn't have to worry about RF links etc... As far as I know, most RC TX have the necessary interface and work with PPM, but maybe somebody can shed some light on this ? Best regards, Matthias
Hey Matthias, Firstly congrats on developing an awesome product. Such a great resource for practicing the wheels. Id say to start interfacing with the transmitter is a great start. Naturally down the line I would prefer to have a stand alone solution, but I imagine that interfacing with the remote is going to be easier and cheaper to make. That being said, IMO interfacing with the transmitter is fine and provides the best of both worlds. LMK if you guys would like someone to test the rig. I have over 5 years of experience on geared heads and technocranes. ect. I can be a helpful resource if needed!
Hi Matthias, where are you based? We are in Austria and very interested in your idea. If you are not too far away we could come and visit, once you have something working. If you need a test Movi and Eric is not available, well, call us! Cheers Giorgio
Hi, I would also be interested in operating wheels that could interface with the existing transmitter. I don't think that the extra cabling would be an issue. Just have a dock for the transmitter near the wheels...? Let me know how you go.
Hi Matthias, I have a project coming up and we're looking to build two wheel control systems for two MoVI units. Have you made any progress on linking your system with the Spektrum transmitters? I need to find a working solution for this by February 24th. Please contact me, and I will give you some more details. Chris Herr chrherr@gmail.com 608-576-8514
Hi All, I just wanted to give you a quick update on the wheel interface. I have done some testing with a Mövi M10 (thank you , Jan;-) ) and basically, I have a working prototype that can control the Mövi via the existing (Spectrum ) RC, interfaced as a slave via the trainer port. We also found a way to balance the handwheels for a fairly good price, so we will have balanced wheels as well. But there is one issue I haven't solved yet. With handwheels or a panbar, unlike a joystick, you control position rather than acceleration of an axis. The Mövi, when controlled via the RC TX, is controlled by acceleration of the individual axis'. So the operating is a little different than one's used to because the position of the handwheel or the panbar is not linked to the position of the camera in the Mövi Rig. I have to do some more testing to see how crucial this really is, but I imagine it's not really what we all want (yet).... The panbar controller is basically working as well, but it has the same problem. I will try to find out if there is a way to feed position data to the gimbal controller (rather than acceleration data via the RC link). If that can be accomplished, everything else is a piece of cake... any hint on this will be greatly appreciated.... Best regards, Matthias
Matthias: To rewrite your question, the Spektrum is a rate-of-motion (aka just "rate") controller. What you're looking for is a positional controller. The answer, as far as I am aware, is that the MōVI/Spektrum cannot be switched to a positional controller. Andy
Thanks Andy for translating ;-)... Meanwhile I got an answer from FF support... they replied really fast, but unfortunately the answer was not what I would have wanted it to be ;-) It is true, the Mövi can not be switched to positional control via RC (yet). What surprised me was that they told me that I was the first one asking for a function like that. So maybe if you could all express the desparate need for positional control over RC to the FF systems support team, this moves it up the agenda a little bit. I am not too deep into gimbal controllers, but I expect it to be rather simple. Or am I missing something ? Best regards, Matthias
Matthias: My pleasure -- but rest assured I'm coming to the MōVI from the point of photography and copter flying so I'd need you to translate the moment I go near anything to do with professional video equipment! I mean, I think a gaffer is an elderly, grumpy, man. Whether a radio control signal is positional or rate-control is a function of what the receiving controller chooses to do with the signal it gets from the transmitter -- the MōVI controller was specifically designed to be a rate-controller. The problem with positional controllers is that you need to add additional control logic to ease-in to the final position and ease-out of it -- otherwise the camera starts and stops its motion as fast as it can -- and one person's ideal ease in/out rate would be different from another's. On the other hand, with a rate controller, you can provide the easing in and out just by altering the rate of motion and moving the stick slowly as required. So, bottom line, it's not quite a simple as you might think -- but then it's rare to find something that is, I'm afraid. Could the MōVI controller have been positional? Sure. But is it? No. It's one of those design decisions that you have to make, I suspect. Gruss, Andy.
Hi All, in the last couple of weeks I learned a lot of new vocabulary, like speed mode, angle mode, PID, and so forth... to make a long story short: I am proud to introduce the Hurricane Wheels RC Interface. It allows to connect up to three handwheels to the trainer port of a RC TX. We have successfully tested with Spektrum DX5, DX8 and Graupner TX. The interface works with Mövi M-10 (tested) and I suppose any other Mövi as well. Since Freefly is kind of restrictive on how they let you config the gimbal controller, I had to work around a few things, but it seems like I managed. With AlexMos/SimpleBGC/Basecam controller based rigs (tested: Digimove), the interface works even better, because those rigs allow full angle mode operation in all three axis. With the Mövi this only works in Majestic mode and then the pan is blocked. But I think the remote (speed) mode is working good enough, too. In the end, with a moving camera, precision becomes relative.... (but if anybody knows how to enable angle mode on the pan axis, let me know) Here's a short introduction: The handwheels are balanced and run very smooth. We will start producing the interfaces and handwheels next month on a pre-order basis. If you are interested in pre-ordering, prices or if you have technical questions, please drop us a line at support@kids-of-all-ages.de At last, I would like to say thank you to Mövi Operator Jan Peter Schubert, who allowed me to test my contraptions with his Mövi M10, I really appreciate it.... Best regards, Matthias
Hello Everybody, here's a short introduction to the whole system, incl. pricing etc. http://shop.kids-of-all-ages.de/blog/brushless-gimbal-rc-interface/ Best regards, Matthias
Hi everybody... if you are at NAB, you can have a look at the Hurricane Wheels and gimbal interface prototype at Paralinx booth OE1346. We also accept preorders now: http://shop.kids-of-all-ages.de/acc...heels-brushless-gimbal-rc-interfacebox-bundle Thanks, Matthias