Mobius 3 Axis Vertical Brushless Gimbal

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Gimbals
November 2014

MCG300.jpg
  "Vertical" Mobius 3 Axis

Introduction

I decided to put a compact 3-axis gimbal together for my Talon and while reading the Talon thread on RCG, poster Noircogi pointed to a thin (15mm) gimbal motor he had used from RCTimer which also has a hollow shaft. The hollow shaft makes it easy to route the motor wires and the video cable without affecting the motion freedom. The motor wires are nice ultra-flexible silicone and you can fit three sets through the shaft opening.

MCG315.jpg
RCTimer hollow shaft motor


To help with compactness and also gimbal balance, I drilled two holes in the Mobius case and turned the lens 90 degrees so I could mount it on its side. I use an 18mm X 40mm piece of Align PU Gel under the camera as an anti slip and anti-vibration pad. With just a couple of rubberbands, the camera is well secured enough that you could run it horizontal as well.

After a few iterations in SolidWorks, I printed a few different versions to zero-in on the balance and clearances not to mention a few different rubber-band ideas. It balances perfectly with no added counterweight as long as you have the "C" lens and the PU Gel pad. Here is how it looks in SolidWorks:

MCG310.jpg
3D Model (SolidWorks)


Envelope specs are shown in the drawing image below. As far as rotational, here are the numbers "as-built":

  • Roll: +/- 80 Degrees
  • Pitch: +/- 50 Degrees
  • Yaw: +/- 160 Degrees


MCG313.jpg
Envelope drawing


Parts List

Motors, Controller & Hardware

3 RCTimer GBM2804 hollow shaft gimbal motors
Storm32 v1.1 or newer brushless gimbal controller
20 M3x8 socket head cap screws
20 M3 flat washers
6 M3x6 flat head screws
Align PJ Gel Pad
Small wire ties

3D Prints

Camera Mount Plate - Mob_Mnt_Plate_v03
Camera Mount Motor Plate - Mob_End_Plate_v01
Gimbal Pitch Arm - Mob_G_E_Pitch_Brkt_v003
Gimbal Yaw Arm - Mob_G_E_Yaw_Brkt_v004
Base Motor Bracket - Yaw_Motor_Brkt_v001

Tools needed

2.5mm ball end driver (allen wrench)
Phillips head screwdriver
3mm tap and tap drill
Wire cutters

Camera

Mobius with lens '2C' modified for vertical mount

Files

Here are the print files if you would like to give this a try. The zip contains the 5 printable pieces and image files, simply richt-click the link and select "Save Target" for the download. If you would like the native SolidWorks files, please drop me a line (below) and I will accomodate.

Mobius Compact Gimbal v3 ZIP

Control Board

I won't go into details here other than to say my latest favorite controller (also from RCG poster Noircogi!) is the Storm32 unit from ReadyToFlyQuads.com. These work better than any of the previous "Martinez" open source boards and I would highly recommend them.

Comments? Questions?

email me!