XAircraft SuperX with Arris Zhaoyun Gimbal

[mediaguru]

I'm starting a thread for the setup of a SuperX & Arris Zhaoyun 3-Axis gimbal for troubleshooting my setup. I've now done my 2nd flight with this setup and now working on making the video usable. Right now it is vibrating very bad. Not jello like a GoPro, but straight up jumping. The video is pretty much NEVER smooth, even when I have it hovering 1.5 meters off the ground and the bird looks stable.

I just balanced my props before this flight. Also before this flight I adjusted the gimbal by reducing the power level considerably, which got rid of the visible and audible vibration. I haven't messed with the PIDs much. I'm guessing this is a body issue, and not the gimbal, but who knows. Here's a log from my 2nd flight:

http://log.xaircraft.com/#2014_07_17_192209.750_32.1.10.32

My vibration stats look much higher than most people's, and I'm wondering if that is part of the problem. My motors are not working super hard, averaging between 59-64%.

I also have the gimbal moved toward the front of the rails and the batteries moved to the back of the rails to balance it out.

One test I may do is to throw a go pro in there, and see if it is the same. This video is a point and shoot Canon S95, a higher end camera, but not the size of a NEX which the gimbal is made for.

I can post a clip of the video if that would help. That will be in another post.

 

[mediaguru]

I picked up a Sony NEX-5T which is what this gimbal was made for. The first flight had very little vibes at all and almost NO jello. Quite happy about that. The 2nd flight tonight though, had very bad jello.

Then I noticed my gain knob was turned all the way counter clockwise. SO, I'm not sure if my gains had an effect on the jello. More test flights needed. Here's a pick from today's flight. The bird is the word.

 

[SleepyC]

From my experience, anytime you have the gimbal out far you exaggerate any movement the machine might have. So a tiny vibe becomes a shake causing motion. i'd try to get the gimbal as close to the Cg as possible. It also halls with pan motions.

Also have you balanced your motors and props? I can't tell from the pics, but it looks like you have those heavy swept DEEP props, sometimes those are not the best. Look for a nice T-motor prop or even the FoxtechFPV Supreme props. They can really smooth a rig out.

 

[mediaguru]

These props (balanced) are Tarot 1755's. 17.5 inch. I did notice a difference after properly balancing them. The biggest difference though was moving to softer vibration dampening balls. I have the camera moved forward to try to keep the arms and blades out of the photo/video. I suppose that can be done too if I hang it lower and center. Then I'm looking at a slight reconfig though as my batteries mount below as well. I'd have to get rid of the dome and put the batteries on top.

I have a video with almost not jello but in no wind. That's promising.

Right now I'm redoing some esc wiring to eliminate failure points, and adding LED's to the front and rear arms for LOS orientation help. Then I'll be back at the video quality tweaking.

 

[mediaguru]

Haven't flown for nearly two weeks. Been busy and traveling. I flew tonight though, after installing some LED's and the T960 Zhaoyun mounting plate. More solid mount for the gimbal now.

I have some vibration but no jello. Also the NEX5 didn't seem to be focused. Maybe because it was dusk?

If anyone has a second to look at it, check out this log and tell me if anything looks off to you.


http://log.xaircraft.com/report.htm#2014_08_05_210128.250_45.1.08.47

 

[mediaguru]

This is a duplicate post, but in case anyone is troubleshooting the same setup (Tarot T960, SuperX, Zhaoyun Gimbal) here you go:

Well big news today. Moving my gimbal to the middle of the COG and batteries to the top of the bird made THE difference in my vibes and performance. Most vibes are .2 or less and the video has NO wobbles or jello. Once in a while the props or arms show up in the image, so perhaps I need to drop the gimbal down a few inches. Since I had to move the batteries to the top I had to get rid of the dome. Also got rid of the two larger battery mounts, extra cabling, and an FrSky GPS telemetry module I've never gotten to work.