Most Popular Open-Source Gimbal for ArduPilot in 2025

it does. you can find the official doc on setting it up here STorM32 Gimbal Controller — Copter documentation

Those aliexpress cheapie V1.3x storm32 does ROI as well I assume?

Basically there are two types of ROI flight pattern I want to do with a fixed wing:

  1. Orbit directly above the target 100-200m AGL.
  2. Observing cliff face or tree lines from 200-300m away flying figures of eights adjacent to it, banking into those vertical features (does not require a 360 gimbal).

What are the downfalls i should look out for using this gimbal, especially those from aliexpress?

I’ll try to answer your questions one-by-one;

Those aliexpress cheapie V1.3x storm32 does ROI as well I assume?

Yes, but this is more about the autopilot software you use. Mechanically, v1.3x boards+gimbal sets on aliexpress are able to communicate via autopilot, for example ArduPilot, and point the camera to a specific point. So, you should check tutorials for this one.

Orbit directly above the target 100-200m AGL.

With V4.1 board you’ll get smoother and more precise shooting because it has better motor drivers basically. And most importantly, on V1.3x boards, if the camera IMU (position sensor) fail, it can’t recover by itself so you’ve to land the drone and restart the gimbal controller manually. You don’t have that problem at all in V4.1 board.

Observing cliff face or tree lines from 200-300m away flying figures of eights adjacent to it, banking into those vertical features (does not require a 360 gimbal).

It sounds like you actually need 3-axis gimbal for this but I may not have understood the scenario correctly.

Hope it helps!

Thanks for the detailed reply it helps alot.

Forgive my newbie question (really new to this), but when you say camera IMU position failure, do you mean a corrupt/misread data from that sensor? What are the common causes for that?

Yes I’m aware I do need a 3 axis gimbal, but not a slip ring 360 type with unlimited yaw.

No worries mate! We’ve all been there :slight_smile:

but when you say camera IMU position failure, do you mean a corrupt/misread data from that sensor? What are the common causes for that?

You’re right! I2C bus is, by its nature, really sensitive to disturbances from e.g. the motor signal wires or you can say electronic noise from outside. Detailed information can be found here

Yes I’m aware I do need a 3 axis gimbal, but not a slip ring 360 type with unlimited yaw.

I got it! :+1:

Just came across this topic and find it really interesting! I teach some university courses where we use Ardupilot and am always on the lookout for hardware that can be used an a lower cost but teach principles that can apply to more expensive equipment that students may encounter later on in their careers/studies.

I have used some of the Aliexpress type gimbals before with Ardupilot, but it would be great to try something reliable /up-to-date. A question for those of you using this board or planning to - what are you using physically for the gimbal components/chassis? Something 3D printed along with the motors, etc?

@alaz do you still have any boards left? And/or can I buy from your online store and ship to the US?

You can see here some options of where to buy Storm32 boards: Where to buy STorM32 components - STorM32-BGC Wiki

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Thank you! I appreciate it.