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Building a Gyro Cam Mount

Well I agree that there are much better roads to test this camera set-up. But I needed to swing by work and 9-35-92 would be a better test then 101 would. It was a good enough first test. I have to make some improvements then I can hit some better roads (with dry pavement). :)
 
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So I made some adjustments to the way the camera was mounted (still not with the proper mounts) and it seemed to make a big difference. I was able to remove a lot of the vibrations, at least enough so that the camera was able to record. My proper mounts should be here on Tuesday, so I will continue to improve things as time goes on.

I went out on the Mellow Ride sweeping the last group so that I could pull over and fix things if needed without having to worry about people behind me. Luckily for me, this only happened once. Here is the first leg of the journey from 9-35-STP. The only mishap was a few miles out from STP where the camera tried to commit suicide. Actually it was my tape that gave way as the whole set-up held together just fine. A few zip ties for re-reinforcements and it held up the rest of the day just fine.
(I have lots of video but I'm only uploading the first leg as YouTube takes forever for me to upload)
[youtube]wJYmrWWY6BY[/youtube]

[youtube]lb1krjn6oqE[/youtube]

After watching all my videos, I realized that the gyro needed to be adjusted. Its doesn't seem to be holding the camera perfectly vertical as it seems to be leaning a little with every turn. It also doesn't seem to be correcting itself with small movements. It also seems to drift, which is a common issues with gyros. I will work on that later.

I took all the components for this setup off and completely re-assembled them in a different manner. I'm trying to find the best, most compact and stable arrangement as my eventual goal is to have this rig be a stand alone unit that I can move from one bike to another.

I will be out again tomorrow with a smaller group of people. Hopefully I will get some more footage at a more spirited pace. So far I'm happy with the progress that I have made. This is definitely a work in progress that is progressing in the right direction.

Happy New Year Everybody:party
 
llenta said:
....

After watching all my videos, I realized that the gyro needed to be adjusted. Its doesn't seem to be holding the camera perfectly vertical as it seems to be leaning a little with every turn. It also doesn't seem to be correcting itself with small movements. It also seems to drift, which is a common issues with gyros. I will work on that later.

....
Click to expand...

one issue that u might have already fixed w/ new mounts... the axis of rotation is not inline w/ the centerline of the camera. so when the servo rotates, the camera falls on its side instead of just rotating. this is prob also making it more difficult for the servor to make adjustments, slinging around all that weight.

the lack of perfectly vertical and leaning a little w/ every turn is of course... cornering forces. the faster u go, the worse it gets.
 
stangmx13 said:
one issue that u might have already fixed w/ new mounts... the axis of rotation is not inline w/ the centerline of the camera. so when the servo rotates, the camera falls on its side instead of just rotating. this is prob also making it more difficult for the servor to make adjustments, slinging around all that weight.

the lack of perfectly vertical and leaning a little w/ every turn is of course... cornering forces. the faster u go, the worse it gets.
Click to expand...


I have pondered the issue of the gyro not being exactly in line with the servo, thus, they will never rotate the same amount. This won't be a problem later when everything is mounted together. But currently the height that they are off (~1-2cm) probably doesn't make that much difference considering the radius that they are rotating about. If it really is an issue, then it will be fixed at a later time.

I did try to rearrange how things were put together and start stacking components to see how compact I can make things. I also tried to make a little support for the servo so that the weight wouldn't be an issue (I think this is going to be my greatest challenge with the whole project). Well, I got up to the top of 9 and realized that the camera had turned off. I don't know how long it actually recorded for, but I know that this set-up won't work because of too much vibration. So I took the camera off the mount and continued on. At some point throughout the day there was so much of a beating put on the bike that the servo actually broke without the camera being attached. I'm not actually sure what roads we were on, but they were not the smoothest. The servo actually still works, it just has a little wiggle in it. I'm actually using a fairly small servo because I was trying to do things really cheap. I might actually have to get a larger (stronger) servo to make this work.

As with most projects, sometimes you have to take a step backward to go forward.
 
llenta said:
I have pondered the issue of the gyro not being exactly in line with the servo, thus, they will never rotate the same amount. This won't be a problem later when everything is mounted together. But currently the height that they are off (~1-2cm) probably doesn't make that much difference considering the radius that they are rotating about. If it really is an issue, then it will be fixed at a later time.

I did try to rearrange how things were put together and start stacking components to see how compact I can make things. I also tried to make a little support for the servo so that the weight wouldn't be an issue (I think this is going to be my greatest challenge with the whole project). Well, I got up to the top of 9 and realized that the camera had turned off. I don't know how long it actually recorded for, but I know that this set-up won't work because of too much vibration. So I took the camera off the mount and continued on. At some point throughout the day there was so much of a beating put on the bike that the servo actually broke without the camera being attached. I'm not actually sure what roads we were on, but they were not the smoothest. The servo actually still works, it just has a little wiggle in it. I'm actually using a fairly small servo because I was trying to do things really cheap. I might actually have to get a larger (stronger) servo to make this work.

As with most projects, sometimes you have to take a step backward to go forward.
Click to expand...

This is a great project and I believe you can remove the stutter or lazy gyro with an adruino board and some coding. Also if you need a better servo might I suggest you try a HS-805BB. It can take 34 lbs per inch so it should in theory be able to hold your camera and a small dog.
 
Entoptic said:
This is a great project and I believe you can remove the stutter or lazy gyro with an adruino board and some coding. Also if you need a better servo might I suggest you try a HS-805BB. It can take 34 lbs per inch so it should in theory be able to hold your camera and a small dog.
Click to expand...

I know nothing when it comes to computer programing. I know that there was one other person online (somewhere) that did program their own board and write their own software for this same project. But that persons set-up was really expensive if I remember correctly (it worked though).

As for the servo, I agree, the HS-805BB is a beast of a servo. Problem is that its analog and has nylon gears. I was using a digital servo and want to stay that way. The response time on digital servo's is x10 faster then analog, thus it can make much more accurate (and quicker) adjustments. They are a little more expensive, but I already have the components for digital servos, and they should work for me right out of the box. If I wanted to run an analog servo, I would need to get a different control module. So...I ordered a HS-5765MH. Not only does this thing have just as much torque as the HS-805BB, but it has metal gears. It is about twice the size as the one as I was trying out so hopefully it will have less of an issue holding position. Also, the metal gears should hold up better then the nylon gears due to the punishment our motorcycles give us. I will take pictures when it comes in to show the difference between the old and the new.

Thanks for the input.
 
llenta said:
I know nothing when it comes to computer programing. I know that there was one other person online (somewhere) that did program their own board and write their own software for this same project. But that persons set-up was really expensive if I remember correctly (it worked though).

As for the servo, I agree, the HS-805BB is a beast of a servo. Problem is that its analog and has nylon gears. I was using a digital servo and want to stay that way. The response time on digital servo's is x10 faster then analog, thus it can make much more accurate (and quicker) adjustments. They are a little more expensive, but I already have the components for digital servos, and they should work for me right out of the box. If I wanted to run an analog servo, I would need to get a different control module. So...I ordered a HS-5765MH. Not only does this thing have just as much torque as the HS-805BB, but it has metal gears. It is about twice the size as the one as I was trying out so hopefully it will have less of an issue holding position. Also, the metal gears should hold up better then the nylon gears due to the punishment our motorcycles give us. I will take pictures when it comes in to show the difference between the old and the new.

Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

This is a totally awesome project and I was doing a lot of thinking in regards to it. I went out and bought a used wii motion + controller for 8 bucks and will be taking it apart for the gyro. Once that is complete I will be wiring it up to the adruino and testing it out. Thanks for the idea and if you need help tuning the gyro let me know.

The reason I am going with the adruino is because I believe the response time/tuning will be more accurate but only time will tell. The camera setup you have is epic.

Here is my big question. How do we power it from the bike? It has to be simple right? I am not sure how you would do it but the arduino can be powered by 5v which I am sure I am dumb down from the bike.

Here is the code for the Wii Motion + to work with the adruino

http://randomhacksofboredom.blogspot.com/2009/06/wii-motion-plus-arduino-love.html
 
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Entoptic said:
Here is my big question. How do we power it from the bike? It has to be simple right? I am not sure how you would do it but the arduino can be powered by 5v which I am sure I am dumb down from the bike.

Here is the code for the Wii Motion + to work with the adruino

http://randomhacksofboredom.blogspot.com/2009/06/wii-motion-plus-arduino-love.html
Click to expand...

I went to that website and read all of a few sentences before I was lost :rofl

I am powering the whole unit with a 6V battery pack. I want this to be a self contained unit so that it can be portable. Let me know how that coding works for you. Maybe we can share our knowledge to get something that works real good.
 
llenta said:
I went to that website and read all of a few sentences before I was lost :rofl

I am powering the whole unit with a 6V battery pack. I want this to be a self contained unit so that it can be portable. Let me know how that coding works for you. Maybe we can share our knowledge to get something that works real good.
Click to expand...

sounds awesome! Yea that page reads hard!
 
llenta said:
I went to that website and read all of a few sentences before I was lost :rofl

I am powering the whole unit with a 6V battery pack. I want this to be a self contained unit so that it can be portable. Let me know how that coding works for you. Maybe we can share our knowledge to get something that works real good.
Click to expand...

Holly Shit Batman you guys are way over my head. Just checked out the Quadcopter the writer is makeing Cool as my generation says:cool
[youtube]gHHe1mXzjhs&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
 
Hooli said:
Ran upon this...

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

Hahaha..

He wants like $200 plus for it.

And I am not 100% sure what it gets you.

Saw his video a few months ago, when I was looking for a way to mount my GoPro to a heli I want to build.
 
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