New K2 gimbal settings

[CraigCam]

Greetings all. This post is for those who know how to get into system settings and know how to change them. It’s for the A03 = K2 switch and gimbal tilt settings.

As most believe, the 3 position gimbal tilt switch has only two settings. Position 1 and 2 are mirrored in the system settings for rates and expo curves which is why nothing happens when switched. You can change position 2 rates and get a second more slightly angled up default position and also smooth out the gimbal tilt roll travel time. I’ve posted this before but my position 3 settings where still not quite right as that’s the highest angle mode. My older values while giving me a much higher angle could bring props into the shot and was “bouncy” at the high angle. The bounce will stop with a bit of downward roll on the camera but it was a tricky adjustment while flying.
I recently redialed my numbers by setting the H on a table and setting up a tape measure against a wall to see the angle difference and travel. Today I’m trying them in flight. Assuming they work as hoped, I will post results and values later. On the bench, it looks promising as I’ve hopefully found a smoother and more controllable 3rd high angle position that compliments my middle position with a cinematic transition.
If there is enough interest to this thread, I’ll make a tutorial.

 

[Ty Pilot]

Interesting to see what you find, Craig. Like you I've never been a big fan of the way tilt works out of the box.

 

[CraigCam]

It’s tricky because behavior stationary is not subject to all the flight changes. I did a long sunset shoot the other day and I can’t see the subtle bounce on the ST while filming. This is a whole retweak of my custom settings. I’ve gone with negative expo values to make the curves taper less towards higher speed at full up or down position. Currently, on the bench, in position 3 with the camera straight down, I can move the gimbal slider to full up from 0 position and get a super nice slow roll up to my highest angle. These settings also allow me to go from potion 2 to 3 with the tilt fully up and as it’s rolling up to the new position, move the tilt slider slightly down and hold the position I’m going for. So it’s a switch flip while moving the slider downward slightly and again, on the bench seems very smooth and cinematic.
Thanks for the interest.

 

[rdonson]

I’m interested as well!

 

[PatR]

Me too. The 920+ uses the same arrangement but the bottom switch position makes the lower half of the slider’s rotation mostly useless and the top half too sensitive. What you do with the H is bound to help the 920.

 

[CraigCam]

I did one test yesterday but had some bounce from the dust cover making contact with RS body and that transferred vibration a bit. Tried again with different set up this am and need to look at that video. For sure I’ve got better curves for the tilt speed but not sure if I’ve got 3rd position right. I’m going to look at the video and then try a different value on the offset. I’ll be back once I’ve got positive results all around.

 

[Mickeyboo]

This may be useful to some of you:
BE CERTAIN THE TILT SLIDER IS COMPLETELY UP BEFORE PROCEEDING

1.Tap Channel settings

2. Tap OK

3. Tap A03

4. Tap K2

5. Tap Edit

6. Tap + or - beside "speed" in the lower left of your screen to set the desired ms or sec. It should be factory set to 10ms. After tapping + for several taps it will turn to seconds. I've got mine
set very slow at 10 seconds for full up and down tilt. This allows me to perform reveals on what it is I'm recording. For example the other day I was shooting a stream bed birdseye view and then as I fly forward the slow upward tilt revealed the surroundings.

7. Tap Save

8. Tap the return button twice.

Note: K2 will be colored Red upon the second tap of the return button when exiting the control settings. This is normal.

9. Move slider switch all the way to the downward most position and wait for camera to fully transition to 90deg down.

10. Move slider switch to the up most position. That's it! You have now reconfigured the camera to make it's full motion within the time you entered.

 

[CraigCam]

My soon to be posted values deal with the same edit sequence to get in. What I’m altering is rate and expo curves. I’ll try the speed trick but I’ve done that before and I’m under the impression the 10ms is the delay between movement and action and not speed of roll. Speed of roll is relative to rate and slope of chosen curve. By applying expo, you can make the moves logarithmic rather than linear. A positive expo value will flatten the center out making the slider less sensitive to jerky movement. The second switch also is a now a higher camera angle that gives more sky then foreground for great clouds and sun/moon angles on rise or set. The 3rd position is the one I’m tweaking to find a perfect just below props in shot high angle that holds steady. I’m thinking of how to produce a simple tutorial once I feel it’s right.

 

[Mickeyboo]

Yes, perhaps that will make things smoother, when Ty Pilot posted a way to smooth out the rate curves on the ST16 controller he used a line curve but I think I got better results by using the expo. By better I'm referring to less interference (it seems) when using the pad for flight. I've been too busy to throughly test the above but so far I like what I've seen. My posted suggestion regarding what you posted was not dealing directly with your comments but since people come and go on this forum I thought how to slow down the tilt might be relevant to the overall conversation about gimbal operation.

 

[CraigCam]

It’s all related I think. The topic intended is for gimbal tilt adjustment and the ms setting is somewhat mysterious so it’s valid. Putting an expo curve on the pan knob is helpful also. I’ll watch my videos today and finalize my numbers.

 

[CraigCam]

So I think I got this down. There is a trick to it and it involves being ready to roll the gimbal tilt down slightly as the camera rolls up towards its highest point in the 3rd down position on the tilt switch. I viewed numerous videos from different drones and cameras to be sure these parameters carry over universally. I will post pics of the ST screens of my edits. None of these affect flight so these are safe changes to make. I also realize having my hoodman or Ty Pilots ST mount is key so I can use two hands for this switch but I’m getting good at left hand only. My last practice was in over 18 mph winds with gusts in high 20s and I maintained steady high angle look on a crazy cloud that looks like a flying saucer. I see no foreground jerkiness anymore at all. I promise to post them later today after my morning flight.

 

[CraigCam]

Here is the settings. Go to channel settings and press A03 in the channel output blocks. This will place the K2 box on the left to red. Hit that and press edit. Set the input for position zero by placing the gimbal tilt switch all the way up. Set the rates to -75/+75% (which the default) and a new positive expo of 43.5%. Hit save. Switch the gimbal switch to middle position (1) and set rates of -115/115% and an expo of negative 41.8%. Hit save. Finally, move the switch all the way down to position 2. Set the rates to -68/+68% and the expo to 40%. Hit save.

Toggle back through all three by moving the gimbal switch to be sure they are input correctly. I hit save again all the way around just because. Exit back out and connect to your H and Camera.

You should now have a functioning 3 position gimbal switch with variable speed rates and high angle (slider full up) points that are different from each other. The expo curves represent slider speed and sensitivity. I chose to make my most used position, which is the middle one, the quickest responding tilt with the sharper curve of the negative expo. You can of course play around with this endlessly and always go back by hitting default on your edits later.
Here are pics of the three curves and values.

 

[DMJpix]

Sirs,
a bit late to this conversation and hopefully not too off subject,

...my biggest complaint with the tilt control is to get it to stop smoothly where I wish. It reverses direction very easily; bouncing from going down to back up. With CraigCam settings above, I have found that position #2 nearly eliminates "the bounce". What is it about those settings that would be accomplishing that?

 

[CraigCam]

I believe it’s the expo curve relative to percent of travel. The default on position 0 (full up) and 1 (middle) is a straight line. The center is the no motion point that in theory the beep indicates. The problem is with the default is no buffer around the zero point. When you add expo, you change the line to a curve and move the slider from a linear behavior to a logarithmic behavior. With this change, the center stop is less touchy and easier to set. The position 2 change allows for a higher angle that stops before props get in shot under normal hover. This is the one that bounces when pushed to full up. What you can do is as you flip the switch from position 1 (the now middle higher angle) to position 2, have your left index finger at the ready on the tilt slider. Once you hit the switch and the gimbal starts moving up, you simultaneously start moving the tilt slider down towards the middle stop position. With practice, you can get a smooth stop of roll up at a high angle with no gimbal bouncing.

With the Plus, it’s like they stole my curves as this method works very well with the gimbal curves they defaulted. I do miss my middle higher angle the 480 yields with my curves but I can compensate with the position 2 (velocity mode) control by being quick on the slider stop. It’s something I practice regularly both on the bench and in flight so it becomes second nature. For sure juggling two sticks and several switches takes time to get confident with. The remote needs to be secure so third party rigs found here or the Hoodman belt really help free up the hands more. I was able to “modify” the ST bracket on a Hoodman to work with the ST16s changed form factor with a bit of careful bending.

 

[Sureshot]

I modified and saved my ST16 gimbal tilt settings.
Then I Re-booted the ST16 and checked to verify the new settings.
Then started up the H and the gimbal tilt still functioned like the stock settings.
Is my software current?
st_system_V03.01.b30
st_app_V01.00.45
autopilot V1.35
gimbal V1.25
camera V3.2.34(A) CGO3-Pro

 

[rdonson]

This is what US Yuneec has for H firmware

Downloads Typhoon H

 

[Sureshot]

This is what US Yuneec has for H firmware

Downloads Typhoon H

After comparing version numbers, my H and ST16 are current.
The ST16 shows the modified gimbal tilt settings, but the gimbal is still working with the default values.
I have re-booted both the ST16 & the H, but with no change.

I did modify the roll & pitch expos last month, and that worked.
-Bill

 

[CraigCam]

This is odd... of course every firmware change resets the ST so you do have to go back in and re program them. But they should hold. My best advice is to consider doing the factory reset on the controller, then double check everything is centering right on the camera controls and if not, calibrate everything. Turn on the H and let the camera bind and show up on the screen.

Then try putting in the K2 settings and make sure you are seeing the save verify it’s working. I often make the curves then double check they are there and hit all the save tabs one more time while I’m in there. You should see immediate results with tilt and pan controls upon rebind and should not have to restart the TH. Hope this helps.

 

[Sureshot]

I have concluded that the "gimbal stubborn bit" must be turned on.

 

[CraigCam]

So you got it?