Go pro 6 and Gimbal

[Mike Holfield]

newbie here...

any thoughts on the GoPro 6?

What about the Karma Gimbal? Compatible with Solo, with some creativeness of course.

I notice 3dr released information about solo gimbal requirements as open source, along with the 3d printer schematics. Anyone thought about printing one of the base plates and attaching it to karma gimbal?

https://dev.3dr.com/hardware-gimbalbay.html#hdmi-micro-cable

"The Solo software stack is not yet ready to integrate multiple types of gimbals. We are currently working on an extensible API to make it easier for third-party vendors to interface with different hardware.

For development purposes we recommend using Pixhawk 1 and Copter 3.3 ArduPilot firmware."

I also found a link on 3DR's website for developers to submit details about "custom gimbals" integration.

 

[Mike Holfield]

also just came across this..
Feiyu WG2 Wearable/Mountable Gimbal for GoPro HERO6, FYWG2 B&H

would it be possible to mount to the solo, via custom beauty plate or Solo beauty plate, and some type of cable adapter for solo hdmi (female to male, to make it longer and fit the GP 5/6)

 

[just_bruce]

In short, yes, you could mount a any gimbal you'd like to the Solo and it would probably still do the job of stabilizing the camera in flight. But you probably wouldn't have control over the gimbal or camera without a bit of mucking about with internals and code.

 

[Mike Holfield]

Thank you. I'm new to ll of this. I still have a GoPro 3 Black (not the 3+). Just looking at options. I went with the Solo because it was 1) a helluva deal i got for $350 (gimbal and spare battery), and 2) It fit my needs for learning....but it seemed so suspicious that they were in so tight with development with Go Pro, to suddenly just quit, and Voila, the Karma comes out.

So then it'd be a matter of knowing how to make the gimbal talk to the controller to gain pan and tilt remote capability? Would that be only available through the drone app?

 

[rickc]

I am just guessing, but, notice the BUS CONNECTOR on the back of the GoPro 3/4 which made camera remote control by wire practical. That connector is missing from the GoPro 5/6 (presumably) and so remote control, if those models can do it) is probably wireless via WIFI, etc. So, then, the problems of running two WIFI channels on the Solo pops up again ( i dont know enough about WIFI to understand why two channels cannot be run?)

 

[Mike Holfield]

ok. thank you. So what parts are controlled by the BUS and what parts are controlled by HDMI/USB, and Gimbal.

My limited understanding is there is a conflict between the go pro app and solo app, which is why one couldn't use the goPro app to control the camera in flight. But if the Gimbal is controlled on the drone computer, shouldn't it be able to still be controlled by the controller.

 

[just_bruce]

The conflict is between the WiFi radios. Having a the GoPro radiating within inches of one of the Solo's antennas tends to swamp that antenna and make the MiMo processing quite a bit more difficult. Which is likely to lead to disconnects between GCS and Bird.

The apps have nothing to do with it other than being consumers of the decoded WiFi packets.

 

[Mike Holfield]

ok. As I said, I'm new. Too bad there's not a Wiki/faq, so i don't seem redundant asking questions.

well, I find it "curious" that 6 months ago it was considered a "dead platform", and the would no longer be manufacturing it... and now 3DR is using it with their enterprise, with a sony gimbal/camera and it's also now open source.

For me, I'd be fine with not controlling the GP camera, as long as i had the ability to control the gimbal. Anyone looked at using the USB connection to control the camera? Which would mean adding a usb connection, and that's probably complicated. But that solution might open up other camera's, like canon that have apps for controlling cameras

 

[just_bruce]

Indeed, it is complicated. My brain says finding a way to put together an interface board that speaks MAVLink and then talks to PWM controllable gimbals is a more fruitful route. any gimbal would still need encoders or other position feedback, however.

 

[Mike Holfield]

after some digging.... GoPro Developer Program the developer guide now includes gp6... and there's a "charging cable" available that looks like it is what replaced the serial bus connector

also came across EVO GP-PRO GoPro Gimbal Handheld Stabilizer (and they have a wearable one as well.) Seems like if the remote buttons could be wired/soldered/connected to solo gimbal controls it might work. Take part of the "stick control" and run into the gimbal bay.

EVO SS 3 Axis Wearable Gimbal attached to the beauty plate inverted. There's a wireless remote available. Could it be wired into the solo, then the signal broadcast back to the controller?