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Building a Gyro Cam Mount

I believe i stumbled upon a forum where the person who build that was posting on. I think its the one thats built with a 3D printer. I'm not sure how strong it actually is though. I really doubt it would stand up to the punishment of a motorcycle. As for the servo, I'm not sure which one he is using in that video. The original project that the person was working on they used a GS-1 gyro/servo (which I have). It does a great job holding the camera still, but it self centers after a second or 2. Since he never holds a position and is always moving the camera, I can't tell if thats what he is using. If thats the case, it won't work (I really wish it would). Its such a neat little package. Although with my most resent trek, I probably concluded that a servo that size is not strong enough and a larger package is definetly needed. A lot of cool projects out there.
 
It appears that you've chosen a Hitec HS-5485HB, which is a moderately-priced standard digital servo. I used to be heavily into nitro & electric RC (before I discovered what a money-pit those cars were!) and I would suggest sticking with digital servos due to their holding power. But can I advise getting a high-speed unit with greater speed and holding power? The HS-7940TH High Speed HV Coreless Titanium Gear Servo specs out at 0.07 / 0.06 sec end-to-end @ 6.0V/7.4V respectively.

photo.php
 
Hooli said:
Ran upon this...

[youtube]6jnJRil57Do[/youtube]
Click to expand...

He is using an adruino with a gyro on top connected to a servo and gopro mounting brackets. Easy to make and cheap. That is actually what i am going to start on this weekend.

Why is everyone suggesting a digital servo over an analog? What are the bonuses specific to this project?
 
Digital servos are x10 faster then analog. Hooli for sure knows more then me as I'm just getting started here, so please correct me if I'm wrong. But I believe analog servos can only cycle 30 times a second where as digital servos can cycle 300-400 times a second with the gyro. I do believe you need a gyro that is capable of working with a digital servo (maybe they all work with digital/analog, but I don't think so). So you get a much greater control over your position with digital.

As for the servo, I don't necessary need a super fast servo. I mean seriously, how fast do we really flick our bikes back and forth, not that fast. What is probably most important as you mentioned is holding torque. The ones I have tried in the past were small and just wouldn't cut it. This one is much larger and we will see how it does.

I did get my mounts in the mail last night and I will be needing to go to the hardware store now to gather a few things to fab up for the next trial. :teeth can't wait!
 
llenta said:
Digital servos are x10 faster then analog. Hooli for sure knows more then me as I'm just getting started here, so please correct me if I'm wrong. But I believe analog servos can only cycle 30 times a second where as digital servos can cycle 300-400 times a second with the gyro. I do believe you need a gyro that is capable of working with a digital servo (maybe they all work with digital/analog, but I don't think so). So you get a much greater control over your position with digital.

As for the servo, I don't necessary need a super fast servo. I mean seriously, how fast do we really flick our bikes back and forth, not that fast. What is probably most important as you mentioned is holding torque. The ones I have tried in the past were small and just wouldn't cut it. This one is much larger and we will see how it does.

I did get my mounts in the mail last night and I will be needing to go to the hardware store now to gather a few things to fab up for the next trial. :teeth can't wait!
Click to expand...

So I did some research into digital servos and omg they are awesome! I have 2 concerns though.

1. Do you really need a digital servo for recording a motorcycle ride? The digital servos I was looking at were constantly being referenced with helicopters and r/c cars were split second movement is needed.

2. A digital servo draws a lot of amps. At full load (don't think it applies) a small servo will draw 2amps. That is a lot of juice to draw and will require some batteries with a high Ma rating. The 2 batteries I used for my wings were 6v 5000Ma and that was to power 4 servos. The cost about 30 bucks a pop and I can charge them but in theory it would only last 2 hours if the digital servo was at full load.

Have you put a multimeter on the device to see how much power the servo is pulling and if so it is maxing out? If it is then you may need to up your volts to 5v. Also a digital servo is known to throw out a of lot of noise which will mess with the signal and the servo won't be spot on but I hear you can take some capacitors to the device and reduce the noise. I don't know to much about it since my journey into electronics started in Oct.

Can't wait to get started!
 
I would primarily be concerned with noisy servos if there was a tx/rx setup in operation. Since the OP is only using it for his camera that may be a non-issue here.

Of course, the only way to truly test this out is to set it up and get some footage. :cool
 
Hooli said:
I would primarily be concerned with noisy servos if there was a tx/rx setup in operation. Since the OP is only using it for his camera that may be a non-issue here.

Of course, the only way to truly test this out is to set it up and get some footage. :cool
Click to expand...

Hooli that is a good point. My concern would be that the gyro says be at X while the servo is at Y because of chatter. I am not sure if this applies but it is a concern of mine.

CHECK THIS OUT.

The video in this thread of the gyro that guy is selling lead me to this

http://www.shapeways.com/model/207257/3_axis_camera_gimbal_for_gopro__back_cage_.html?gid=ug5911

He is selling the mounts for 20 bucks! The cost of the whole thing is 200au but that is because you get the gyro and chip he made. I think the cage alone is what you would want for a GoPro but the only issue I see is how the gopro is secured in the mount. Looks like it is asking to come off! I am going to buy a mount and test it out.
 
I hope all this Geek Speak isn't getting in the way of poserizing your 675. :x
 
Ok, I really don't know, but I have to ask this question.


The gyroscope uses gravity in order to establish itself perpendicular to the ground, correct?

Is the gopro going to be able to pivot on all axes or just side to side?

If the gopro is on an up/down axis, won't the force of acceleration make the camera gradually look downward as you continue to accelerate?

By the same token, if you were in a long turn wouldn't the effects of centrifugal force compete with gravity and make the camera gradually start to tilt? And if that's the case, won't there be a delay as you straighten out and where the gyro straightens out 2 or 3 seconds after you have?

Seems like it might cause sea sickness, but the project is completely beyond me.
 
Erbuck said:
Ok, I really don't know, but I have to ask this question.


The gyroscope uses gravity in order to establish itself perpendicular to the ground, correct?

Is the gopro going to be able to pivot on all axes or just side to side?

If the gopro is on an up/down axis, won't the force of acceleration make the camera gradually look downward as you continue to accelerate?

By the same token, if you were in a long turn wouldn't the effects of centrifugal force compete with gravity and make the camera gradually start to tilt? And if that's the case, won't there be a delay as you straighten out and where the gyro straightens out 2 or 3 seconds after you have?

Seems like it might cause sea sickness, but the project is completely beyond me.
Click to expand...

nope

[youtube]Uby89TmSR0A[/youtube]
 
The camera (GoPro or Contour) won't tilt forward or backward when accelerating or braking because its only on a single axis movement. Assuming that the mount holds the camera securely (which hasn't been my case up to this point), the only direction of movement will be on the yaw axis (side to side).

As for the gyro. If you get a "heading hold" gyro, you can input in a set position and it will give a signal to the servo to hold that position no matter what for any duration of time. This is why a normal gyro won't work.

For camera mount that stabilize multiple axis usually use multiple gyro's and multiple servos (a set for each axis of rotation). We are only building a rig for a single axis of rotation, so only one set is needed.

As far as power, I have just been using a cheap battery pack that I picked up from radioshack and use (4) AAA batteries. Seems to work just fine and I have been powering everything for probably 3-4 hours now.
 
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Erbuck said:
Ok, I really don't know, but I have to ask this question.


The gyroscope uses gravity in order to establish itself perpendicular to the ground, correct?

...
Click to expand...

a gyroscope detects changes in angular momentum and is independent of gravity. it references itself to whichever direction it was pointing when you turned it on.

what you are thinking of is an accelerometer.
 
definately interesting.

i imagine the camera used on the yamaha moto gp bikes has some very deep coding to make it so smooth and responsive.
 
Jeff, BTW, when you and I briefly talked about Dorna's gyro cam for their GP feeds the other day, you can read a little bit about their system in their press release from 2010, when they first started using it:

Press Release
"For years, Dorna Sports' Technical and R&D department have been looking for a compact electronic module aimed at tracking the exact position of the bike on a race course and determining its lean angle in real time.

It was not until November 2009 and the Valencian Grand Prix that the ideal solution was found, as UAV Navigation offered their services. The Spanish company, specialised in Flight Control Systems, made the most of the experience they acquired in the Red Bull Air Race in order to bring a package adapted to the constraints of MotoGP, with two accelerometers, a triaxial gyroscope, a GPS and a micro-chip providing real-time data on the location of the bike and also the exact coordinates of the three gyro sensors, thus giving a better indication of the bike behaviour on track.

This data stream is processed in real-time to control a miniaturised motor placed in the Gyroscopic OnBoard camera, which rotates its lens according to the movements of bike..."
Click to expand...

Told ya, brah. GPS! :laughing
 
sinncere said:
Jeff, BTW, when you and I briefly talked about Dorna's gyro cam for their GP feeds the other day, you can read a little bit about their system in their press release from 2010, when they first started using it:

Told ya, brah. GPS! :laughing
Click to expand...

having a gyro AND accelerometers make their devices quite a bit more robust.

GPS!!!!
 

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