3DR Solo gimbal adapter for pocket camera

thingiverse

Warning! If you use this, Solo and gimbal warranties will be void! Use at your own risk! This is add-on to Solo gimbal. With this it is possible to use almost any light pocket camera. In picture there is Canon Powershot S100. It is not necessary to make any modifications to Solo or gimbal. Switching cameras takes only about 5 minutes Most important thing is to do balancing very carefully. When Solo power is off and camera power on, set gimbal to level. It should stay exactly in level, no turning to any direction. If you turn gimbal to any position, it should stay there. After every flight touch gimbals all 3 motors with fingers, are motors hot? They must be cool. Test also Solos 4 motors, they should not be hot. They are probably warm, but may not be hot. Test also battery. I may be warm but not hot. If battery or any of the 7 motors are hot, stop flying immediately, and try to find error. Custom Section Parts list 3D-printed parts. There is one stand for Canon S100, and one for other cameras, select one 6pcs M3 x 10 mm screws 6pcs M3 nuts 1 camera screw, 1/4 inch, thread length about 8 mm 1psc M10 x 70 mm full thread bolt Several M10 nuts, washers, springs and other weight material Probably you need also leg extensions. In Thingiverse there are several models, for example here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1521835 Instructions I have printed parts with normal settings: layer height 0,3mm, infill 30% Drill holes open with 3mm drill, and camera screw hole with 6,5 mm drill. Clean nut spaces With gimbal you get small weights to balance different Gopro models. Fix 2,7 g weight to upper connection place. Remove possible other weights Remove green clip (1 screw) Test that base part will fit to Gopros place. May need some light work, use knife or file Put nuts to their places. Two nuts will be covered by camera stand, I have put there also some paper etc, so nuts stay in their place Fix camera stand to base with 4 screws, Camera center of gravity should be in the middle of the base part, there are marks. If you use other camera than Canon S100: Put camera to desired place. Measure camera screw place, and drill hole with 6,5 mm drill. Turn camera part face down. Install arm to gimbal. The hole should fit to 2,7 g weight. It may need some fine tuning with knife or file. Fix arm with 2 screws Put hdmi cable to hole Put felt pad sticker between camera and stand Install camera Removing: Remove camera Remove hdmi cable Remove 2 screws Turn camera face down. Open clip in the bottom, remove arm Remove base Install green camera clip Install possible original balance weights Install Gopro Balancing Fix camera to gimbal with camera screw. Turn Solo off. Turn camera on, lens must come out. Use exactly the same camera settings as you are planning to use in photography. Put 10 mm bolt to balancing hole. Add there nuts, washers, springs, wires etc, until camera is balanced in left/right direction. You have 3D-printer, so you can also make your own light weights from plastic :-) Then move that bolt forward or backward, until the camera is balanced in front/back direction. Turn camera face down. It should stay there. If it turns to some direction, then you must take camera off, loosen those 4 screws, and adjust camera stand to right position. Probably you must make several adjustings until the camera is in right position. Check that this bolt does not touch props in any position Set gimbal to level. It should stay exactly in level, no turning to any direction. If you turn gimbal to any position, it should stay there. If you are taking ortophotos (camera straight down), check that balance arm has free space to move. May need to use shorter balance screw? Propellers air flow hit to the arm. Is some kind of air cover needed? In the beginning make only short flights, and after flight test that gimbal motors are cool. They may not be hot. Flight Use low speed Do not make fast turns Do not fly in strong winds After every flight test motor temperatures (7 motors) They may not be hot. Warnings Use this at your own risk! Probably there is no gimbal repairing service, if you break something, you need to buy new gimbal. Gimbal motors are designed for light Gopro. Now there is about 300g more weight, admittedly well balanced. Gimbal warranty will be void. No modifications to Solo are needed. All connectors are original, so they are according to the specifications. Gimbal and camera (Canon S100) weight is about 570g. This is more than payload capacity 500g, which is mentioned in manual. In Solo development guide there is text, that gimbal recommended weight is 390g, but maximum allowed payload weight 700g. In this system weight is near the front props, not in the middle. This gimbal adapter is not officially accepted by 3DR, so Solo warranty will be void. Solo motors must work harder. In motors there may be hidden fault in wires or poor soldering. In normal use they work, but now these may come out, and cause crash. Look the last picture. FAQ Yes, it is a gimbal for Canon Powershot S100 and almost any other pocket size camera! Yes, it works. You can adjust camera with same controls as Gopro. Solo keeps horizon level No, you can not trigger camera remotely. I have used CHDK and time lapse, that takes pictures at 3 second intervals No, you can not see live video from this camera. Canon cameras has HDMI, but with it you can only look pictures from memory card. It is possible to use av2hdmi converter, and it works (This is in one of the pictures above). Picture goes black every time when the camera takes photo, but anyway you can adjust camera with it. Here is the adapter for HDMI converter: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2072116 Yes, this is for taking photos. Heavy camera has tendency to jitter, and videos are not stable. But photos are good. Only 2 - 5 out of 1000 photos are shaken. I continue testing with other rubber absorbers Yes, you can make for example multipoint cable cam route with Gopro, change camera, and fly again, and camera turns as Gopro Yes, in orbit and some other flight modes Solo turns camera according to flight plan Yes, it works also in Tower app. The default flight speed is too fast for this 3 seconds interval, you must use slower speed Yes, I have tested it during tens of flights, several flight hours, tested about 100 cable cams, orbits, selfies, Tower, taken more than 2000 pictures Yes, you can take georeferenced stabilized ortophotos (camera straight down). This Canon model has gps Yes, probably you can use almost any other light camera, that weights less than about 200g. And also flirs, cellphones and action cameras Yes, the camera is bigger, so in heavy wind and in fast speed it may have difficulties to keep camera steady and in target No, probably this does not fit to backpack, camera is bigger than Gopro. Some cutting is needed? I have not tested, I don't have backpack. Total weight (camera + gimbal) is about 570g, so it is more than official payload capacity 500g mentioned in manual. Solo warranty will be void. Flight time is about 10 - 11 minutes (15% battery left) Official Solo gimbal specifications: http://dev.3dr.com/hardware-gimbalbay.html