F450 F550 Style Multicopter GoPro SJCam FPV Gimbal by tednv

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

The original design was a good starting point, but it was essentially a duplication of the aluminum frames that are being sold with gimbal kits, so I decided to take it a step further. My previous frame had an aluminum frame that had an fpv camera zip tied to the bottom with wires everywhere. The velcro piece that held the camera on was so annoying and blocked most of the camera buttons and the screen, and there were many other issues that I tried to address. By no means is this design perfect, but it's an improvement over the popular original aluminum frames that are out there
Add FPV camera ring underneath your HD action cam so you can actually see what you're shooting without having to use wifi on your camera, and so that you can have a stabilized FPV image. Wiring for FPV camera goes through conduit so that it does not interfere with gimbal operation
Instead of having double sided tape holding your gyro/accelerometer to the gimbal, there is a pocket with screw holes that will secure and protect the board so that components don't break off on hard landings or crashes
Middle bracket shape is changed to allow for pointing straight down while hovering, original style frame does not allow for straight down shooting without tangling up wires
Combine controller board and top arm so that you don't need screws holding them together
Combine top board with dampened 10mm rod brackets so that you no longer need aluminum brackets and adapters to hold your on 10mm rods
Add an On/Off switch so that you can turn off your gimbal when you are doing things like calibrating your magnetometer and accelerometer (which requires flipping your multicopter around in all directions while powered on, which can fry your BGC board)
Add a hard stop for middle bracket to prevent it from flipping over and tangling up your wires
Remove as much material as possible without making the frame weak to reduce weight
Some things you may need:
Mini FPV camera - https://amzn.to/2GKDOmY or similar
Action cam GoPro or SJCam or any of the clones that are all the same size
A landing system that uses 10mm tubes - https://amzn.to/2KR80iJ or similar
Some thin silicone wire for FTP camera wiring - https://amzn.to/2x8LAr4 or similar
Aluminum frame 2 axis gimbal - https://amzn.to/2Lon3Br or similar
Mini switches - https://amzn.to/2xaehE8 or similar
This build reuses rubber dampeners from landing gear and gimbal kits, so be sure to get the ones similar to links above if you don't want to buy any extra parts
Yeah, that's an IR blocked zoom lens with a UV filter on a $30 sjcam7000 clone, works great!! I use a fisheye for my FPV, most people like a normal lens but I like having a wide field of view when I'm flying FPV. I bought my own 10mm rods, the rods that most of these kits come with are very fragile, are too thick and heavy
I'm also working on a landing system based on this one that uses standard size carbon fiber rods and all 3d printed parts, with a modular battery box, adjustable center of gravity, and a mount for an F450/F550 style multicopter that's cleaner than using zip-ties or whatever these kits usually call for... so stay tuned!!
UPDATE #1: this gimbal with motors, fpv camera, and motors is lighter than the old aluminum brackets without any components!
UPDATE #2: Now included are 3 new files for V2 direct mount top bracket. This is if you use a different type of landing system or don't have rubber bushings for the top brackets. The dampers for bottom plate are cheap and easy to find, but the top rubber bushings are nearly impossible to find and they aren't really needed. So V2 addresses this issue since you can now use this system without those bushings, and since you're already using dampers for bottom plate, there is no need for them. This also makes it a lot easier to remove and install the gimbal for maintenance or if you want to fly without it. I also moved the switch behind the plate so that it is more protected between the two 10MM tubes instead of being on the side