Corrado - I will take a look at that and see if I can detect a change of state.
Regarding the article: http://hail.aos.wisc.edu/wp/?p=2373. Yes, I saw that when researching another issue I noticed with the camera. I would have thought that recent production models would have addressed some of what he addressed in the article by now.
In my experience for example, i can’t use the distance triggering because if i do after a while the camera doesn’t trigger anymore and gets congested. The only way to take 1 picure per second is to set it on the camera and only start it by remote. If i try to trigger it at same pace, about i pic per second, with distance (travelling at 4m/s and 1 pic every 4 meters) the camera shoots about 30-40 pics than stops.
As it is now, there is much to be desired and a lot to fix in the firmware of the flir duo pro r and the mavlink implementation.
Hey Guys,
Tried to skim over the discussion and seems you’re still looking for the answer to channel trigger.
Sounds like you have the params set correctly, all you need to do is hit the hardware safety switch, Arm may also bee needed, and attempt trigger.
Use Trig Cam Now. If cam shutter sound is on you will here it capture.
Make sure you have the gimbal Pan locked to match the aircraft heading WITHOUT smoothing
Justin, thanks for the info.
For confirmation - you were able to trigger the camera shutter to a FLIR Duo Pro via Mavlink - not PWM?
Rich
I don’t think the implementation of flir mavlink allows for triggering trough it. At least i read trough all the docs and couldn’t find it. I am afraid pwm is the only way at the moment. Even using pwm if you try to trigger it at around 1 time per second it hangs up and restarts sometimes.
I’ve been stuck with this trying to get the FLIR Duo Pro R triggering on a bench set up, using an Arduino board to to generate a PWM signal
I’ve managed to get get the camera to respond via PWM3, sending either a 1ms, 1.5ms or 2ms 5V pulse to the camera, although the app only registers PWM pulse if 5 continuous pulses are sent (frequency seems irrelevant, but I’m sticking with 50Hz - ie, a cycle of 20ms).
However, I cannot get the camera to trigger. I have configured camera PWM3 via UAS app Settings > Connect > Accessory port > PWM3 > Triggers on change > Two, and then have tried various combinations of LOW/HIGH, LOW/MID/HIGH etc but nothing seems to actually trigger the camera itself.
I have lodged several requests with FLIR, but haven’t had a constructive response yet. Only definitive answer is that MAVLink cannot be used for camera trigger, as that command is not implemented on the FLIR Duo Pro R. PWM3 is the only way ahead.
@snorkers This was my experience as well. PWM camera triggering was unreliable on the FLIR Duo Pro R and FLIR has made it clear that camera triggering via Mavlink is not supported, or for that matter many other Mavlink commands. You are able to geo-tag images via Mavlink, but that feature ties up 2 of your 3 available PWM channels. I have seen other posts and information on the web that suggests PWM triggering is un-reliable. I would definitely try upgrading the firmware the first chance that you get to 1.03.03 and see if that helps.
It’s unfortunate, but I don’t think you will see FLIR enhance their UAS cameras in a way that would impact sales of their DJI line of products.
Are you having any trouble with thermal vignetting on the sensor? Because of the thermal vignetting and lack of Mavlink support for this camera I returned my unit. Need to find a good home for my Gremsy Pixy F gimbal which was designed for this camera - and BTW works great.
Thanks Rich. I’m on latest firmware and hadn’t appreciated it would be such a problem.
FLIR have assured me that they are currently investigating the issue and will get back to me by 22 November. Will post their response if it’s any benefit.
EDIT: We’re also running tests next month on the accuracy of the thermal sensor, so that we can assess the impact of vignetting. Off topic, but will post any useful info
Thanks @Matt_C. I have been flying the Flir VUE Pro R 640 with 13mm lens and never noticed the phenomena, but that is a much smaller sensor body than the the Duo Pro R. It was readily apparent in the images from the Duo Pro R, almost 1/3 of the image. This is evidently due to heat generated from image processing affecting the thermal sensor under certain circumstances. I suspect overlaying the RGB image data with thermal for the MSX edge detection is the culprit. FLIR support advised they were working on a solution. With that said, I love the MSX technology - especially recent updates to the Mavic 2 DUO that allowed for RGB/Thermal image blending.
I could have lived with only three PWM inputs (pallette, IR/RGB, camera trigger), but the thermal vignetting and un-reliable camera triggering made it a no-go for me. A decent Mavlink implementation like the VUE Pro R or Duo (non pro) would have have helped tip the scales - but that is evidently a no go from FLIR. I agree that much of the premium price for the XT and XT-2 is the amazing integration and control. I had really hoped for a decent Mavlink implementation on the Duo Pro R - imagine having some of the same capabilities as the XT-2 on a non-DJI aircraft.
This looks promising:
Response from FLIR technician:
"The snapshot feature captures images from video. it only works when video is running. I’ve requested that our documentation of this feature be clarified. I set up a camera using a PWM signal simulator from Robozone and the Duo Pro R capture mode set to Video. After video had been started using a PWM set to Start/Stop Capture, the snapshot feature created JPG images from the video when a second PWM input set to Take Snapshot changed state.
I was also able to trigger single IR and RGB images using the Start/Stop Record feature with the capture mode set to Single."
Wow. Which means that you can’t use Mavlink for geo-tagging since the Duo Pro only has three PWM channels and two are required for Mavlink. Considering the existing problem with the thermal vignetting problem and this camera is a huge disappointment.
Get in touch… I’ll be happy to show you proper.
Hi Rich,
Were you able to get it working?
Thanks
Unfortunately not. FLIR confirmed that shutter control, among many other features is not supported. In fact, the only thing you can do with their MAVLINK implementation is pull GPS data from the FC for geo-tagging. It would help if the PWM shutter control was reliable, but this has been problematic for many DUO Pro owners as well.
I have set mine to shot every 1 second. Triggering it with pwm was unreliable and missed a lot of shots.
Basicly, as you say, i use mavlink just to inject gps in pics exif.
I’m just in the process of setting mine up, doesn’t the GPS that came with the Duo Pro R tag the images with location?
Yes it does but having an rtk gps onboard gave us more precise tags. That said, it was easier for us to connect te serial port of the flir to AC than to add another gps antenna just for the camera.
I have the Here RTK but I haven’t installed it yet and I do see the advantage of using it for location. I’m taking a look at the code right now to see if there is anything I can do to make things work. No promises because I’m slightly above dangerous with coding.haha, but I’ll take a look.
Are you able to use right click in mission planner and get the camera to point to a location?