Camera tilt - SOLVED

[tlastrange]

Apologies if this has been posted here... I just saw a reference to this procedure on FaceBook and it actually worked.

About a month ago, I had a crash that bent my gimbal arm. I straightened it as much as I felt comfortable - fearing I would break the thing. I was left with the dreaded tilted camera.




I was hoping for some kind of electronic horizontal calibration that would allow me to tell the gimbal where horizontal was. There's no way to do it through the Assistant.

The camera is attached to the gimbal motor shaft purely (I guess) by friction. Removing the back cover of the horizontal gimbal motor reveals this small circuit board.



The little "D" shaped object right in the middle of the circuit board is the motor shaft.

1. Put the camera/gimbal clamp on.
2. Carefully lift the little circuit board. It's attached to the ribbon cable so be careful.
3. I used a pair of needle nose pliers to twist the shift in the opposite direction of my tilt.

A little trial and error seems to have gotten me VERY close to level again!




You can see that my gimbal arm still isn't perfectly vertical but the camera and gimbal now seem to be level to the ground. I haven't flown it yet so time will tell if I've just loosened things up to the point where the camera will just eventually fall off.

I ordered a replacement camera/gimbal exactly one day before I saw this solution (bummer)! I have that replacement in hand and now I need to figure out if I keep it for a spare or return it

Your mileage may vary...

--
Tom L.

 

[Dirty Bird]

I am sure this solution will help a lot of people suffering from tilted cameras, but I am confused and would appreciate a clarification. I can see you have rotated the D-ring into which the shaft fits, and I am assuming that the D-ring is simply press-fit into the motor so it gets rotated from the force of an impact. But what did you grab hold of to twist it into alignment? Does the D-ring slip within the motor that easily?

Admin: This topic should be stickied.

 

[tlastrange]

It's not a D ring. The "D" is actually the shaft itself. The shaft is a "D" shaped rod, you're just looking at the end of the shaft.

When you lift the circuit board, you'll see it:

 

[Dirty Bird]

So what you did was hold the camera steady, grabbed the shaft with the needle-nose, and rotated the shaft against the press-fit into the camera itself? Surprised that doesn't have a set screw. It would be so much easier if DJI just enabled the gimbal section within the Assistant so you could adjust the cam via software. How hard could that be?

 

[andrew]

Eureka! I just did this and it solved my tilt problem... Thank you!

 

[tlastrange]

Dirty Bird, yes, that's all there is to it. The gimbal clamp was enough to hold the camera steady.

I'm with you on software calibration. It would be great to tweak it a degree at a time rather than twisting the motor shaft with a pair of pliers...

 

[Dirty Bird]

Good find tlastrange. A lot of people will find this fix helpful!

 

[andrew]

Well, unfortunately the solution was temporary. Took her out to fly today and it reverted back to a tilted position. I can say with confidence that it's software, just needs to be calibrated. Be damned if I'm going to buy a new Gimbal because of the lack of calibration software available. C'mon DJI.

 

[davephantom]

I have a minor tilt that just came gradually and is very subtle but also very annoying. I have never had even a hard landing (hand catch) but think just putting on the gimbal clamp may be the issue or turning off the lens cap? It could also be the latest firmware, there are so many variables when these things happen its hard to identify the cause.

In any case, sorry to hear this is not actually a fix and I hope we have software calibration soon so my gimbal is fully functional but video is not useful until fixed!

 

[lsteigerwalt]

Seems to work on this end as well...not perfect but a hell of a lot better.

 

[lsteigerwalt]

For a workaround until fixed if you have premiere import the video choose effect tools motion and you can tilt the video. Then use still title and put a rectangle at top and bottom hiding frame tilt., make the title same length as video.. Zoom out the video 106% and you have use able video again. Works like a charm.

 

[fastsmiles]

Be careful with the gimbal clamp, I actually bent my gimbal slightly taking the clamp on and off. I don't use it any more.

 

[Fplvert]

:? So is this a common problem with all gimbals? The vision + seems to have a pretty nice design, is it more fragile than the go pro versions?

 

[andrew]

I attempted the work around again and it seems to be working this time. Crossing my fingers.

 

[4wd]

Be careful with the gimbal clamp, I actually bent my gimbal slightly taking the clamp on and off. I don't use it any more.

It does concern me, a couple of times I pushed it on slightly wrong and it was pushing the gimbal to one side.

 

[tlastrange]

Very weird. Went out for a flight today, calibrated the compass, and the tilt is back. I need to open it up to see if the motor shaft is where I left it. It's looking more like I'll end up using the replacement camera/gimbal I have sitting on my desk...

 

[Mako79]

Plug into PC and run the IMU calibration in the Phantom assistance software.
I know the NAZA/IMU (inertia measurement unit) talks to the gimbal. If you turn on your phantom and move the sticks around, the gimbal moves. After a crash or a heavy bump, the IMU gets out of whack. The IMU is the stabilisation brain that keeps the phantom balanced.

I did a calibration just recently because my backpack with the phantom in it was the wrong side up in my car for a week (yes, it's winter here). The Gyro MOD reading in the phantom assistance was 3.2. Calibration is required.

Let me know how you go..

 

[Dirty Bird]

Very weird. Went out for a flight today, calibrated the compass, and the tilt is back. I need to open it up to see if the motor shaft is where I left it. It's looking more like I'll end up using the replacement camera/gimbal I have sitting on my desk...

Interesting. You are the second person who has had the tilt return after rotating the shaft. Please report back if the shaft is in the same position you left it yesterday.

 

[tlastrange]

Mako79, I've done multiple advanced IMU calibrations. Does't have any affect on my damaged gimbal.

 

[Studbaker]

Hi

I have the same problem. After searching on the net, is seems that this is a big problem. I hope that DJI is adding the gimbal calibration in the next software version.

Erik