[Beta Test Invitation] SIYI Gimbal & ArduPilot Integration: Time & GPS

Hardware Vendors SIYI
22

You are not using ArduPilot control and integrating ArduPilot attitude data?

23

Ok, reply removed. Weā€™ll follow by email because weā€™re not using the Ardupilot attitude loop anymore.

24

Hi @SIYI,

Weā€™ve been testing the new A8 camera/gimbal firmware for three days now, and it appears to be working flawlessly. We havenā€™t had any tilt issues, and the stabilization is very good.

We did find a bug with the QGC. After the firmware update, the zoom control available on SiYi QGroundControl stopped working. All the other functions are working.

Our test setup:

  • Quadrotor, CUAV V6X
  • ArduCopter 4.5.0-dev
  • A8 Mini with the most recent gimbal/camera firmware
  • SiYi QGroundControl on MK15
  • Camera connected via Serial
2 Likes
25

Following for test with Mission Planner Simulation for A8 mini

  1. ArduPilot send time data to SIYI gimbal for time information in photo attributes.
  2. ArduPilot send GPS data to SIYI gimbal for GPS information in photo attributes.
1 Like
26

Hi @SIYI,

Iā€™m testing this new camera/gimbal firmware for A8 mini.
Issues:

  1. Whatever resolution I use for streaming (HD, UltraHD) it always reports 30 FPS while actually streaming at 25 FPS.
    I check reported FPS either through gstreamer or VLC (rtsp://192.168.144.25:8554/main.264).
    I check actual FPS with gstreamer (or by counting # of frames per period of time):

gst-launch-1.0 -e rtspsrc location=rtsp://192.168.144.25:8554/main.264 ! rtph264depay ! h264parse ! avdec_h264 ! videoconvert ! fpsdisplaysink sync=false

  1. Overheating. When operating indoor the whole gimbal - camera, chassis, base heat very much, resulting in LED indicating IMU overheat (not always) and gimbal starting behaving very glitchy - stabilizing incorrectly, skewing, or slowly rotating somewhere.

Stabilization is much better comparing to standard firmwares which doesnā€™t integrate ArduPilot attitude data. On standard firmware it was almost impossible for me to fly aggressively - every full stop from 15m/s speed resulted in strong gimbal glitching, skewing and stopping stabilizing. On this firmware Iā€™ve catched similar glitch only once.

Do you have test firmware pack for ZR30? We use it extensively and have all mentioned problems too.

Quadrotor, CubeOrange+
ArduCopter
A8 Mini with the most recent gimbal/camera firmware (7.3.4/0.2.3)
Camera connected via Ethernet
Gimbal connected via Serial

1 Like
27

As advised, reached out to support for assistance. However, Iā€™ve yet to receive any response or acknowledgment of the issue. Could someone please provide an update or further guidance?"

28

Hi Arthur

I quickly browsed the support email box and it seems like we didnā€™t receive an email under your name at least for last week.

Would you mind letting me know the email title and date, please? Also to which email addresses you sent it.

Thanks
Frank

29

Hi Frank,

I sent the support email from gart.feo@hotmail.com to support@siyi.biz on 11/28/2023 at 22:10 and the subject of the email was ā€œTechnical Issues with SIYI ZR10 - Autofocus and Absolute Zoom Functionalityā€.

Best Regards,
Arthur

30

I installed an A8 mini, connected to ArduPilot via a UART. I want to use RC targeting angle mode so I can use a head tracker to point the camera in the direction my head is pointing, but if I set MNT1_RC_RATE = 0 (to use Angle mode), I get this:

31

Does it mean that it works as expected?

32

Not at all, it bobbles around and rotates left and right. It should point in the direction I select without moving randomly. In this video, the head tracker is not moving up and down. the RC channel for tilt (pitch) is not changing - so why is the gimbal moving up and down?

33

We had the same issue. Try setting the MNT1_RC_RATE > 0. It should solve the pitch oscillations.

1 Like
34

I can do that and it does work, but I also want to be able to use it with MNT1_RC_RATE = 0 so it will work with my head tracker.

35

@timtuxworth i had the same issue. i installed the gimbal drone -style - camra on the botton. it fixed the bobbinh motion but now with the rate=0 the range of motion is not what i wanted - the photos show the min and max potitionl interesting thought that from mission pkanner in payload control tab it behaves as expected
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36

@timtuxworth,

I have not investigated this but I suspect the bobbing is related to the gimbal being mounted upside-down from the regular orientation (e.g. ā€œregularā€ is with the camera below the vehicle).

2 Likes
37

I have seen this issue with mine too, although the camera was mounted in the regular orientation (below the drone).

38

Thanks Randy - Iā€™ve mounted it ā€œupside downā€ now (underneath the vehicle) - it does seem better.

2 Likes
39

Iā€™d like to use the SiYi FPV app to control my A8 Mini, Iā€™ve downloaded and installed the latest version of the app 2.5.15.691 and it runs, but it says itā€™s "disconnectedā€™. How do I connect it to the camera. There is nothing in the manual that explains this.

1 Like
40

If you didnā€™t change A8 miniā€™s IP addresses, please just choose SIYI Camera 1 in the IP addresses settings

1 Like
41

Hi @SIYI,
I have drifting issues with A8 mini camera even with a stationary indoor test:

  1. The copter is just standing still at a table
  2. At the beginning camera is looking forward
  3. Then I pitch it with RC maximally downward (-90 deg) and release RC stick
  4. Camera starts slowly drifting upward few degrees, but still reports -90deg
  5. Then I pitch it with RC to look forward and release RC stick
  6. Camera starts slowly drifting downward few degrees, but still reports constant pitch

So, even such a simple test gives some drifting. Though the gimbalā€™s gyro is calibrated.

Also, you may notice episodical small sharp jumps of the video (left-right, up-down, several pixels), though the gimbal is not shaking. Looks like smth connected with the camera, not with the gimbal.

1 Like