Gimbal Control via MAVLink ‘has no attribute’ protocol v2

ArduCopter Copter 4.3
1

Having trouble with MAVLink control of Gremsy Gimbal.

As recommended by Gimbal protocol v2, I am sending command ‘GIMBAL_MANAGER_ CONFIGURE’ however it is NOT in:

  • pymavlink.dialects.v10.common.xml
  • pymavlink.dialects.v20.common.xml
  • pymavlink.dialects.v10.common.xml
  • pymavlink.dialects.v20.common.xml
  • neither in as above standard.xml, ardupilotmega.xml or minimal.xml

What am I missing? Is this because it is WIP? If so, I don’t mind reverting back to Gimbal protocol v1 but that is also limited. I tried control using Gimbal protocol v1 and gimbal would only travel below -40deg and past 40deg (e.g. won’t do 15deg… just goes to 0) using the DO_MOUNT_CONTROL.

Is there a fully functional gimbal control command on either of the mavlink or gimbal protocols that works?

@tridge

2

You need to use ArduCopter 4.3.3 and the GitHub - ArduPilot/mavlink: MAVLink micro air vehicle marshalling / communication library fork

3

Hi @SatoshiBatata,

I think in general it is best to not try and talk directly to the gimbal but instead send the mavlink commands to the autopilot. I’ve created a wiki page here with most of the gimbal related commands that can be used including some of the v2 commands.

I’m sure there are exceptions to the above advice especially when dealing with very advanced features (e.g. gimbal tracking an object using a built-in AI camera) but for simply moving the gimbal around to point at a location or a given angle it should be possible to go through the autopilot I think.

AP hasn’t implemented the MAV_CMD_DO_GIMBAL_MANAGER_CONFIGURE message yet but I’ve been thinking about it. I agree they could be useful for deconflicting control of the gimbal.

We could bring the message into the ArduPilot mavlink repo (which is maybe what pymavlink uses?) but it’ll take a bit more time for AP to implement it.

1 Like
4

I did it through uart like you said and I think it worked through the AP. I’ve gone back to v1 protocol and I discovered there was a ‘dead zone’ set by the gremsy gimbal so after adjusting that it’s been working well. It wasn’t easy to find, I realise now the gimbal was ignoring the commands.

That’s good to know as I was determined I needed it, I’ll read up more about conflicting devices. I’m happy to stay with v1 for now as simple positioning was all i needed :slight_smile: I’ll definitely keep an eye on any updates to stay in the loop which helps, thanks a lot!

1 Like