Wobbly Gimbal

Vernon Deck · Dec 16, 2016

Hi guys, I'm having some issues with the gimbal on my Solo.

Here is a little video clip showing the issues.

As you will see when the camera is tilted completely up the gimbal does this weird up-down movement. When I tilt down a few degrees this movement goes away and the footage is stable. This occurs only when flying, on the ground I can't see any movement at all.

I have done a factory reset of both controller and solo. I have taken the gimbal off, cleaned and remounted. No improvements at all.

Any ideas what I can do???

Thanks

>Vernon

PdxSteve · Dec 16, 2016

There wasn't a video included, but try opening the gimbal up and checking the wires and making sure they aren't rubbing on anything as the gimbal moves. Sometimes they rub against something internally and messes it up.

Vernon Deck · Dec 16, 2016

PdxSteve said:
There wasn't a video included, but try opening the gimbal up and checking the wires and making sure they aren't rubbing on anything as the gimbal moves. Sometimes they rub against something internally and messes it up.

Hi Steve
whoops, the link disappeared. Here it is again: I have done some more tinkering and may have found the problem, I'll do some test flying in the morning.
Thanks
>Vernon

Quinn · Dec 16, 2016

is that snow? I ask because I took the bird out yesterday for a quickie. 10 minutes in the air (300 ft) and brought it back in the house and the gimbal was doing what your video shows.( wanted to take a couple pics because the sun was right, no video) it was 10 degrees F. powered down, yanked the battery. flew today at 22 degrees F for a real estate pano and everything is fine.

I guess my point may be, too cold? in my case anyway, it seemed to be. how is it now inside and warm?

QM

SARDG · Dec 16, 2016

Vernon- Where's the sailboat and tropical clear blue waters of your other work???

Maddog · Dec 17, 2016

SARDG said:
Vernon- Where's the sailboat and tropical clear blue waters of your other work???

You call that work?

Maddog · Dec 17, 2016

Vernon- let us know what you find. The cold weather angle is interesting.
I was going to throw out software bug 'cause they're impossible to pin down.

Vernon Deck · Dec 17, 2016

Hi Quinn
Yep it was cold out but thats not the problem I think. I have flown in much colder conditions many times. Also, this problem started a couple of weeks ago while I was in Brazil.

Vernon Deck · Dec 17, 2016

SARDG said:
Vernon- Where's the sailboat and tropical clear blue waters of your other work???

Haha, I only get to be on my boat 6 months of the year. This time of the yer I am doing my real job, shooting snowboarding.

hackbard23 · Dec 17, 2016

shooting Snowboarding ? Snowboarding is my passion, will make some videos in follow mode with Solo in 3 weeks in val d'isere in france
Do you have some vid´s of your work, which you can share ?

Vernon Deck · Dec 17, 2016

hackbard23 said:
shooting Snowboarding ? Snowboarding is my passion, will make some videos in follow mode with Solo in 3 weeks in val d'isere in france
Do you have some vid´s of your work, which you can share ?

Hey Hackbard. Yeah I've been shooting snowboarding professionally for 15 year now, the last 10 as team photog at Volcom. I make some videos about what I do for my YouTube channel. The last 20 or so were about my sailing but if you scroll down you'll find plenty about snowboarding.

Vernon Deck

Also follow me on Insta, @vernondeck

Good luck in France, no snow on the ground yet, fingers crossed its coming soon

hackbard23 · Dec 17, 2016

wooohhooo, nice profession ! were you behind the scenes at shred bots ?
do you have projects going on this winter ?
weather forecast for the france alps for the next week looks promising, at least i will have fun in the park

one advise for your gimbal:
as you mentioned everything is ok with your tilt while not in the air, i assume it is some kind of vibration, check the connectors and the pins inside the connectors if they are loose, or use contact spray on them.
Other chance is to spray it on the potentiometers inside the gimbal, especially the one for the vertical position
Do you have another gimbal to test ?

Vernon Deck · Dec 17, 2016

hackbard23 said:
wooohhooo, nice profession ! were you behind the scenes at shred bots ?
do you have projects going on this winter ?
weather forecast for the france alps for the next week looks promising, at least i will have fun in the park

one advise for your gimbal:
as you mentioned everything is ok with your tilt while not in the air, i assume it is some kind of vibration, check the connectors and the pins inside the connectors if they are loose, or use contact spray on them.
Other chance is to spray it on the potentiometers inside the gimbal, especially the one for the vertical position
Do you have another gimbal to test ?

Nah, didn't work with the Shredbot crew.. I was head photog for Mr Plant(Pat Moore), 9191(Gigi Rüf), CHAMâLEON(Markus Keller) amongst others. This season it looks like I'll be shooting a lot with Marcus Kleveland.

I found and fixed the problem with my gimbal. I took the gimbal itself apart, there was a little piece of plastic blocking the upward motion. So it was hitting that and causing the motor to pulse up and down. Cleaned it all out(lots of dust and sand in there too) and did 3 batteries of flying, working perfectly now.
Thanks for your input.

Have fun in France

Quinn · Dec 17, 2016

Good luck Vernon, hope it sorts itself out. BTW- "Wobbly Gimbal" sounds like a Blues guitar player in Chicago.

hackbard23 · Dec 18, 2016

where does the plastic come from ? missing plastic could cause more problems on another side

have you tried follow mode with solo while riding snowboard ? any tips ?
the only problem i see is to carry the controller with me in the big 3DR backpack (with no ABS), rest should be fine with 11" props

Vernon Deck · Dec 18, 2016

hackbard23 said:
where does the plastic come from ? missing plastic could cause more problems on another side

have you tried follow mode with solo while riding snowboard ? any tips ?
the only problem i see is to carry the controller with me in the big 3DR backpack (with no ABS), rest should be fine with 11" props

I've never even used follow mode. My job is to shoot/film others so I have had no need as yet.
I see a few problems for sure. Are you wanting to film in the back country or on the piste? If in the powder then you shouldn't take the 3DR backpack as then you will have no room for safety gear. On the piste it will be easer but unless you find a very empty piste it will be pretty stressful. Have you checked French laws and the rules of the ski resort?
Good luck

hackbard23 · Dec 18, 2016

laws in france are nice: 2kg, 200m LOS, 150m AGL for private use
didn´t look at the resort rules, i think powder (if there will be any) nearby the slope will be ok without much of safty gear, as a lot of people will be there if something happens (and solo will show them where i ly

)
follow mode in the park would be bummer, but the big backpack is not useful there.

i think i will have a call with the resort managers and ask what they are thinking of this