Can someone tell me if it's possible to run a 3 axis mount on the MK gear? If so how? Also is it possible to have a camera operator setup for the nick and roll on a 2 axis just using the MK gear? If so how do I get the signal to the second resever from the flight controller? I will get the radians in time but I want to try out what the MK gear can do first. My setup. CS 8 MK electronics MX 20 transmitter. I got a few transmitters to chose from for the camera operator. /Gustav
Hi Gustav: You certainly can run a 3-Axis gimbal using a second, separate MK Flight Control Board mounted on the gimbal. If you use MK Tool, you can see a separate tab for Camera with the appropriate settings. If you do a Google search for: mikrokopter flight control camerayou'll find the wiki page that tells you how to do this. There is a version of the firmware on-line that allows for "ramping" the motion of the gimbal (that is easing in and out of the commanded motion). It has the name "Walter" associated with it. I was using it before I converted over to the Radians. You can find the firmware and the documentation on this thread. Andy.
Thank you Andy. Just the answers I needed! I sort of knew I had to get a separate FC for the gimbal. I'll just get the radians instead. No more hassle in MKtools trying to get the best value for nick and roll comp Gustav
Thanx Gary! Iv'e seen this before and it seams to work ok. But i think i'll rather go for the radians straight away then spending money on a new FC. Gustav
Hello everyone. I'm running my Cinestar Gimbal through my MK electronics. (Waiting on my roll Radian to arrive). I've done rig calibration properly with levels, and done the gimbal leveling as well, on the ground its perfectly leveled. But once up in the air I cant manage to get it level with the horizon, it trails from 1 to 9 degrees off the horizon, cant seem to tweak the roll to work properly. I would appreciate any suggestion or feedback. Mark
Can you take a screen shot of the MK Tool camera window, please Mark? Also, are you saying that there is no roll stabilization, or just that it's "lazy"? If you suspend the Cinestar above your bench, can you reproduce the problem or does this only happen when the bird is airborne? Andy.
It works perfectly in the bench, but its off while in air. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 15.52.33.jpg
Had the same problem testing the MK Fc2.1 with 3 axis mount & QC gimbal firmware. Same for the Picloc 3x pro V1. Never found the solution! Thijm/Tfcm
I flied again and reproduced the issue. I think its either the FC or Navi Ctrl. Check the video... https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/FC GPS Problem.mp4 While taking off the gimbal and the rig are stable, before this video I tested PH and AH at less than 5 feet and worked good. In the video after maybe 20m high the gimbal starts to twitch to the left, but I noticed so does the rig as if it was poorly calibrated, but the funny thing is that while taking off it does not behave this way. Might the gyros having issues of some sort? I appreciate your suggestions. I tried re-calibrating 3 times, same outcome. Many thanks! Mark
Mark: Is it just me or are those motors working really, really hard just to get airborne? That was my first reaction on watching the video. It could be that you're using props other than APC 14 x 4.7 and my ears are worrying unnecessarily! But, to the question you raise: By "twitch to the left" I think you're referring to the gimbal rolling to the left, correct? Do you think the loss of horizontal on the gimbal is related to altitude or flight time? Obviously it takes a while to get to altitude, but do you see the same problem if you just do the entire flight 3 - 5 meters above ground? When you descend back down to towards the ground does the gimbal return to horizontal? It would be helpful to know details of how you have the gimbal servos connected up to the FC board that is providing stabilization. Andy.
Hello Mark. Im with Andy. It seams like the motors are working hard. But what i saw in your settings is that you have the servo controll for roll set to 95. This should be around 127 If you set the gimbalservos up right. It shouldnt be a big issue but i suggest take it back to basic. Unbox everything in MK tools (gps vario etc) and recalebrate the FC and make sure its totaly flat and start over from scratch. Good luck G
Mark, Are those 12x3.8 props? The motors are screaming a lot! Try changing the props to APCs 14x4.7. I have almost the same setup as you. CS6, all MK, AV200 as a gimbal. My gimbal control and stabilization comes from the FlightCTRL, of course you can't compare to a FreeFly Gimbal with Radians but it works pretty acceptable. I normally use this with a CX760 but sometimes I fly a 5D MKIII on it without a problem. What I do to calibrate the gimbal on the ground is: 1 - The most important of all. Calibrate the ACC as precise as you can!! (Throttle up + RIGHT). Put the bird on a table and a bubble level on the battery plate. Adjust it until it's leveled in X and Y axis then calibrate. 2 - With a bubble level on the camera plate tilt the CS6 to on side like (wild guess) 20-30º and hold it with something. Then, in MK tools, adjust the Roll Nick compensation till it's leveled. Depending on your setting you will need to adjust the Servo Min and Max. I normally set those to almost the limit of the gimbal so it has lots of movement but don't touch the limits. If you don't have enough travel here the CS6 could get so tilted to compensate for wind that the camera could hit the limit and get tilted also. I have an old picture of these procedure in my old MK Hexa XL: https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/398972_402583133120228_2025778392_n.jpg Good luck
I'm running on Aerobot 12x3.8 props. It might sound loud because there was quite a breeze during the video. Ill get a set of these http://www.quadrocopter.com/APC-SlowFly-Prop-14x47SF_p_410.html... I think the loss of the horizon is related to altitude. The loss occurs at above 10m or so... I noticed its not only the gimbal, but the rig is sideways and fights to get a hold on the PH. In the video when I landed the problem maintained, rig came back down as if it was badly calibrated. Other times it comes back and flies ok, also gimbal ok. Gimbal Roll Servo Setup... https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-06 09.21.17.jpg What I don't understand is that I've calibrated Gyros properly, and low flying everything is OK, but everything goes wrong up there. I appreciate all your help. Mark
You are totally right, I was going to ask about this, but wanted to fix the main issue. When on the floor it overcompensates. Thanks Gustav for the tip! Mark
I thought my issue was about something wrong with the gyros, because all works fine close to ground. I will re-calibrate everything from scratch, not sure it will help. Something is odd working with the GPS. Here are my settings: Channels: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.41.47.jpg Navi Ctrl 2: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.41.57.jpg Configuration: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.42.11.jpg Output: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.42.17.jpg Stick: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.42.23.jpg Misc: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.42.27.jpg Altitude: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.42.32.jpg Gyro: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.42.58.jpg Camera: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.43.19.jpg Coupling: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.43.26.jpg Navi Ctrl: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109209719/2013-01-05 18.43.33.jpg I know I have to update my MK tool, but have had no problems with it, so I think if its not broken, don't fix it Thanks for the help Arthur! Mark
Mark, After you land with the gimbal tilted... if you recalibrate the gyros (throttle up left) does the gimbal return to horizontal? Another question. Do you fly with 4S right? if yes increase the under voltage to at least 138. 130 is way too low for 4S.
Mark try these for a gimbal setting. See if the roll servo min/max help. I have a CS8 with the 2 axis. These settings were set for not having the roll axis bump the center mast. Rest of the settings gave me good control.
As soon as it approaches low altitude say less than 5m it levels and works OK. Yes I use 4S batteries. Thanks for the tips Arthur! Mark
I will use these settings. Im going to update MK firmware. Been using this outdated one for too long. Thanks Gary! Mark