Solo Smart Shots on a 3 Axis Gimbal

Jubalr · Jul 16, 2015

Great video by a Solo pilot that adapted a 3rd party Gimbal to the Solo while waiting for the 3DR Gimbal.

rrmccabe · Jul 16, 2015

Pretty impressive that he was able to make the data side of it work. Guess we are assuming he is not messing with the sticks.

I figured it would take another firmware update to make everything work when the gimbal comes out.

joe671 · Jul 16, 2015

i think the z1 rider is a hand held gimbal.

rrmccabe · Jul 16, 2015

joe671 said:
i think the z1 rider is a hand held gimbal.

Ahhh, you are right.

So he must be doing the cable cam rotate portion with left stick.

Jubalr · Jul 16, 2015

rrmccabe said:
Pretty impressive that he was able to make the data side of it work. Guess we are assuming he is not messing with the sticks.

I figured it would take another firmware update to make everything work when the gimbal comes out.

According to his post, he used a small flat piece of plastic to mount the gimbal and is providing separate power via a small battery. So no data or other connection to the Solo, just a full 3 axis stabilization. Same setup I used on my other MRs. I always provided separate power. I was always amazed at how little the gimbals draw. I typically used a small 550 to 800 3s lipo.

Jubalr · Jul 16, 2015

rrmccabe said:
Ahhh, you are right.

So he must be doing the cable cam rotate portion with left stick.

I thought the Cable Cam function does the rotating?

rrmccabe · Jul 16, 2015

LOL, yea the bird rotates. Not the gimbal. Doh.

joe671 · Jul 16, 2015

I'm sure someone will eventually put a 3rd party gimbal on and get it to work with the solo.

aggravated... · Jul 16, 2015

That looks really good.

TheeRod · Jul 16, 2015

awesome, thanks for the share!!

Lonewulph · Jul 16, 2015

I enjoyed a nice taste of that action! I noticed even with the gimbal, solo attempting to keep up in 'follow' was still pretty evident. Everything else looks great.

Anesti Vega · Jul 16, 2015

I knew that with the delay of the gimbal, that someone would "engineer" something like this. Pretty solid footage though!

Quality Control · Jul 17, 2015

Does anyone have this post handy? I wonder if he puts instructions on how he mounted it?

I love the Z1. The fact that its a mountable gimbal to any go pro mount makes it very desirable for me to add it to my jet ski handle bars and an array of other mounting places including my bike.

Think I might buy a Z1

erikgraham · Jul 17, 2015

I'm tempted to do it with my DYS. Basically it just needs power and two wires for tilt (and ground). Haven't opened up the Solo yet to see what they leave in there, but should be easy enough

Lonewulph said:
I enjoyed a nice taste of that action! I noticed even with the gimbal, solo attempting to keep up in 'follow' was still pretty evident. Everything else looks great.

The follow me cleans up with a faster target. Walking or running while swinging the phone in your hands never works very well, although there are tweaks you can do to soften things up. The device sending position and heading to the Solo is the phone, so swinging it around in your hands messes things up, especially the heading, which the Solo uses along with speed to extrapolate where you are going. It all works pretty smoothly with defaults for bikes, cars, boats, etc. Also, some modes, like putting it on the side, or even lead or orbit get better results for different activities and might work better with walking.

Lonewulph · Jul 17, 2015

erikgraham said:
I'm tempted to do it with my DYS. Basically it just needs power and two wires for tilt (and ground). Haven't opened up the Solo yet to see what they leave in there, but should be easy enough

There will be no pan left and right on the solo gimbal correct? I guess the legs would be all in the shot. So in follow mode Solo will fly sideways to keep you in the shot should you turn right suddenly? Once it gets behind you it straightens out again?

Jubalr · Jul 17, 2015

Lonewulph said:
There will be no pan left and right on the solo gimbal correct? I guess the legs would be all in the shot. So in follow mode Solo will fly sideways to keep you in the shot should you turn right suddenly? Once it gets behind you it straightens out again?

From the 3DR FAQ:

The copter knows where the legs are at all times, so when you pan the camera, you’re really just panning the copter—it automatically adjusts in real time to keep the legs out of frame.

In Follow mode, Solo will keep you in the shot and turn as needed to maintain the correct framing. The point of view you start it at will be the point of view it attempts to maintain; front side or rear.

erikgraham · Jul 17, 2015

Lonewulph said:
There will be no pan left and right on the solo gimbal correct? I guess the legs would be all in the shot. So in follow mode Solo will fly sideways to keep you in the shot should you turn right suddenly? Once it gets behind you it straightens out again?

Well the DYS is capable of pan, but for the reason you mentioned, I don't bother wiring those pins. I just use the 3rd axis to soften yaw movements. (im referring to my Iris+ here, not Solo)

I'm quite sure that you could add panning to the Solo in the same way you can to an Iris or any other 3DR Drone. The underlying code is all in there You'd have to supply the cables, would likely need to solder them, and do the research to find the corespondent pins and then tune it all (both the gimbal and the Solo, separately, with different software). And like you said, what would be the point with the legs in the way?..although.... with retracts you could get the landing gear out of the way, but to install those you'd have to move the compass and the antenna, and so it goes on. If your gonna mod that much maybe it's better to do it on an Iris