Gimbal Acting Weird

[Sweaty494]

I recently installed my Gimbal and I am using a Go Pro Hero 4. On the first flight I noticed the Gimbal would randomly rotate it all the way to one side. Not vertically but horizontally, almost like cocking your head to one side. Any one having the same issues or have any thoughts?


Thanks

 

[Jeremy]

I am having the exact same issues, also when my camera is tilted up to 90 degrees the whole gimbal violently vibrates, loud enough to hear it vibrating if the motors are turned off, also the vibrations makes the video feed VERY shaky. i can post video to show as well.

 

[Michael Stevenson]

Ruh, Roh.

 

[David Baldovin]

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Hi guys, I had the same thing happen. Here is the video from the event. I did not notice the error until I got home and looked at the video. I lost WiFi with solo a few minutes later. After the RTH event I landed rebooted and everything was fine. Has anyone determined what caused the gimbal to tweak out like this?

 

[frank agostino]

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Hi guys, I had the same thing happen. Here is the video from the event. I did not notice the error until I got home and looked at the video. I lost WiFi with solo a few minutes later. After the RTH event I landed rebooted and everything was fine. Has anyone determined what caused the gimbal to tweak out like this?

Hey guys dumb question has anyone contacted 3dr that would be my first call not to say that anyone dident

 

[Jubalr]

Based on previous experience with several brands of gimbals, I would recommend balancing the gimbal. And by that I mean that when you have the camera in the gimbal and everything is ready, the gimbal should be level. I have a GP4 BK and it was off by quite a bit.

I know when other makes of gimbals are not properly balanced, they will often do what you are seeing in the videos. Because there is more weight on one side, a jolt from wind or turning can override the ability for the motor to maintain level. I ended using a quarter on the large flat spot above the gimbal motor on the left (looking to the rear) to get it to balance side to side. And a nickel on the back to get the tilt portion balanced.

 

[Han Solo]

That is the 30 cent solution!

 

[David Baldovin]

Nice Han lol that and lots of hard work we'll have a solution

 

[Tim H.]

Mine is off quite a bit too with the Hero 4 Black. I have had quite a few gimbals (all the way back to servo operated gimbals). Think of tuning gimbals as an art form, not a black and white solution. That being said, balance is everything! My H4B is off a bit and I'm going to add a bit of weight to the motor side of the gimbal. Think also in terms of pitch, roll and yaw. Pitch - up and down, roll - side to side and Yaw - turning. I'll post a diagram if I can find one.

My problem out of the box is the yaw axis is off a bit. the gimbal is not oriented 0 degrees to the frame. It's off by a few degrees. I haven't messed with it much yet, but can't figure out a fix yet. I did notice that when attaching the gimbal to the Solo, the HDMI wire interferes with the gimbal vibration mounts. It may be causing the slight yaw. I need to take it back apart to check.

Good luck guys, and remember, this is an ART! You will be constantly tweaking things...

 

[Baldies]

I had the same problem. I contacted 3DR and we determined that the gimbal cable (not HDMI) was resting up against the motor base and causing the gimbal to reset constantly. Opened up and re-routed the cable and have flawless gimbal performance. However, video seems choppy. Shooting at 1080P 60FPS. I have an Inspire 1 also, and the video is flawless. Not sure if its a Solo issue or GoPro issue.

 

[pubal]

My first test flight, I was seeing the same thing. It would sort of waffle back and forth. Also, I would occasionally get an error that said the GoPro needed upgraded before it would work with the gimbal. I was trying to use Solo the same as before, taking off from grassy fields and uneven surfaces. I assumed I screwed up during the installation, and was a bit frustrated.

In the online gimbal installation instructions it says (Gimbal Installation | 3DR | Drone & UAV Technology):

"Caution: Keep Solo level while powering on. Don’t touch the gimbal while it initializes. This can cause the gimbal to calibrate incorrectly and trigger an error."​

My second test flight, I took it to the roof of a parking garage so it would be on an even, flat surface and nothing would touch it while it started. This time, Solo and the gimbal worked flawlessly. The video is smooth, and the remote GoPro controls worked. I went through two batteries. The second time it started wasn't as smooth. So, I did have to reboot Solo (turn it off and back on) until the Gimbal did initialize correctly. Then, it was fine again.

So, in my experience, the gimbal is a little finicky. Watch for it to go through its initialization sequence, and make sure it's on a flat, even surface while doing so.

 

[rhpdaddy]

My first test flight, I was seeing the same thing. It would sort of waffle back and forth. Also, I would occasionally get an error that said the GoPro needed upgraded before it would work with the gimbal. I was trying to use Solo the same as before, taking off from grassy fields and uneven surfaces. I assumed I screwed up during the installation, and was a bit frustrated.

In the online gimbal installation instructions it says (Gimbal Installation | 3DR | Drone & UAV Technology):

"Caution: Keep Solo level while powering on. Don’t touch the gimbal while it initializes. This can cause the gimbal to calibrate incorrectly and trigger an error."​

My second test flight, I took it to the roof of a parking garage so it would be on an even, flat surface and nothing would touch it while it started. This time, Solo and the gimbal worked flawlessly. The video is smooth, and the remote GoPro controls worked. I went through two batteries. The second time it started wasn't as smooth. So, I did have to reboot Solo (turn it off and back on) until the Gimbal did initialize correctly. Then, it was fine again.

So, in my experience, the gimbal is a little finicky. Watch for it to go through its initialization sequence, and make sure it's on a flat, even surface while doing so.

Yes, in my experience the gimbal, video feed, solo app, etc. all work great after the initial boot up of all systems. Then, after starting recording, stopping, letting it all sit for a few minutes, systems start flaking out, losing video feed, can't control gimbal, gimbal not stabilizing. And only a full shut down and reboot will get things working again. I wish the systems were more robust and stable.

 

[pyrate]

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Hi guys, I had the same thing happen. Here is the video from the event. I did not notice the error until I got home and looked at the video. I lost WiFi with solo a few minutes later. After the RTH event I landed rebooted and everything was fine. Has anyone determined what caused the gimbal to tweak out like this?

check your wire routing, something is touching. you should not see legs or that much shake.

 

[mudman]

Just got my gimbal today, same issue for me I flew 4 batteries tonight had the gimbal flop 6 times.
I checked my cables all are fine . going to balance the gimbal and do a stick cal and try it again tomorrow

 

[David Baldovin]

check your wire routing, something is touching. you should not see legs or that much shake.

I will thanks, also I'm still dealing with the propeller balancing. Last time I checked they were sold out. Also I still need to check gimbal balance and stick calibration.

 

[mudman]

I re-routed my hdmi cable, did a stick cal and no issues on 2 batteries this morning.

 

[kaleb]

The stick calibration really seemed to help me as well. The gimbal was doing the same thing, moving around in a weird way, tilting all different directions but after calibrating it twice it worked great.

 

[Bmall]

I got my gimbal and just more of the same with this company....issues...you shouldn't have to spend so much time fixing problems on a piece of equipment that was 2k and advertised to be the drone for the everyday enthusiast...the fact you can't hook it up, record and repeat is beyond frustrating...if it isn't live feed working it's the gimbal not balancing....the feed should work everytime, the gimbal should be balanced, when started up...complete joke people are standing up for a company that obviously over promised and has under performed...

 

[John Oster]

I have never been able to pan left or right with the gimbal, not that it's a priority as the legs come into view if I pan too far. But now the tilt is stuck at 77 degrees. I can't get new presets as I can't get the camera to tilt up or down anymore. Any thoughts?

 

[David Baldovin]

check your wire routing, something is touching. you should not see legs or that much shake.

OK I finally got around to pulling the battery tray. The GPS cable was pushing against itself. The cable is zip tied to the main board and travels out and doubled back and then plugged into the gimbal. Where the cable plugged into the gamble and the zip tie were in contact. This was putting a lateral load on the four anti vibration bushings causing the gimbal to shift over. I did not notice this before. Now the gimbal is hanging on the bushings evenly and the motor is free to move. Thanks for the tip this is definitely better. The balancing equipment has shipped. I will have the props balanced soon. Then I'll continue my test flights.