Mobius 3 Axis Vertical Brushless Gimbal
November 2014
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| "Vertical" Mobius 3 Axis |
Introduction
I decided to put a compact 3-axis gimbal together for my Talon and while reading the Talon thread on RCG, poster Noircogi pointed to a thin (15mm) gimbal motor he had used from RCTimer which also has a hollow shaft. The hollow shaft makes it easy to route the motor wires and the video cable without affecting the motion freedom. The motor wires are nice ultra-flexible silicone and you can fit three sets through the shaft opening.
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| RCTimer hollow shaft motor |
To help with compactness and also gimbal balance, I drilled two holes in the Mobius case and turned the lens 90 degrees so I could mount it on its side. I use an 18mm X 40mm piece of Align PU Gel under the camera as an anti slip and anti-vibration pad. With just a couple of rubberbands, the camera is well secured enough that you could run it horizontal as well.
After a few iterations in SolidWorks, I printed a few different versions to zero-in on the balance and clearances not to mention a few different rubber-band ideas. It balances perfectly with no added counterweight as long as you have the "C" lens and the PU Gel pad. Here is how it looks in SolidWorks:
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| 3D Model (SolidWorks) |
Envelope specs are shown in the drawing image below. As far as rotational, here are the numbers "as-built":
- Roll: +/- 80 Degrees
- Pitch: +/- 50 Degrees
- Yaw: +/- 160 Degrees
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| Envelope drawing |
Parts List
Motors, Controller & Hardware
- 3 RCTimer GBM2804 hollow shaft gimbal motors
- Storm32 v1.1 or newer brushless gimbal controller
- 20 M3x8 socket head cap screws
- 20 M3 flat washers
- 6 M3x6 flat head screws
- Align PJ Gel Pad
- Small wire ties
3D Prints
- Camera Mount Plate - Mob_Mnt_Plate_v03
- Camera Mount Motor Plate - Mob_End_Plate_v01
- Gimbal Pitch Arm - Mob_G_E_Pitch_Brkt_v003
- Gimbal Yaw Arm - Mob_G_E_Yaw_Brkt_v004
- Base Motor Bracket - Yaw_Motor_Brkt_v001
Tools needed
- 2.5mm ball end driver (allen wrench)
- Phillips head screwdriver
- 3mm tap and tap drill
- Wire cutters
Camera
- Mobius with lens '2C' modified for vertical mount
Files
Here are the print files if you would like to give this a try. The zip contains the 5 printable pieces and image files, simply richt-click the link and select "Save Target" for the download. If you would like the native SolidWorks files, please drop me a line (below) and I will accomodate.
Control Board
I won't go into details here other than to say my latest favorite controller (also from RCG poster Noircogi!) is the Storm32 unit from ReadyToFlyQuads.com. These work better than any of the previous "Martinez" open source boards and I would highly recommend them.
Comments? Questions?
