Gremsy Gimbals

This page describes how to set up a Gremsy Gimbal with Skynode

Supported Gimbals

Currently, we support the following Gimbals from Gremsy

• Pixy U

• S1V3

• T3V3

• Pixy PE

• T3 PE

The supported way to interface with these gimbals is using the MAVLink gimbal protocol v2. We discourage the use of legacy control modes such as PWM or S.BUS or the MAVLink gimbal v1 protocol.

Software configuration

• Download and install the gTune 1.4.7.2 for Windows from here, along with the Windows USB drivers available here

• Download the latest Gremsy gimbal firmware for your specific model here and use gTune to flash it onto your gimbal

• Power on the Gimbal, attach it to your computer using a micro-USB cable and then connect to it with gTune.

• Select "Controls" and then "Herelink". Do not enable Herelink, but use this tab to set the tilt deadzone to zero

• Still under "Controls", select "Mavlink", this time select YES when prompted to enable MAVLink input

You may need to configure and tune your gimbal further for your specific payload depending on it's weight, center of gravity and desired behavior

• Power on Skynode, connect to it via USB-C and change the following parameters using Auterion Mission Control's Advanced mode

  1. MAV_2_CONFIG = 401 (PPB)

  2. MAV_2_MODE = 10 (Gimbal)

  3. SER_PPB_BAUD = 115200

  4. MAV_2_FORWARD = 1

  5. MAV_S_FORWARD = 1

  6. MNT_MODE_IN = 4 (MAVLink Gimbal v2)

  7. reboot

  8. refresh parameters or restart AMC

  9. MNT_MODE_OUT = 2 (MAVLink Gimbal v2)

Hardware setup

• On the payload side, the AUX channels of the gimbal can be leveraged to route the required signals such as USB, Ethernet and power through the gimbal. A custom cable will typically need to be made to match your payload. An example for the Workswell Wiris Pro is shown below

Note that the first two pins of the gimbal's AUX port are connected to the 12V supply rail and ground. These can be used to power a payload, but they are not suitable to carry data signals through the gimbal. Applying 12V to a data line could seriously damage a camera!

• Use Gremsy's Pixhawk UART cable to connect the gimbal's COM2 to the Pixhawk Payload Bus UART port labelled GPS2 and use your custom cable to grab the payload data signals from the gimbal's AUX channels and feed them into the Pixhawk Payload bus. Don't forget to supply the Gimbal with power using Gremsy's UBEC module.

Wiring Pixy U to the Pixhawk Payload Bus

• A finalized bench setup could look something like this

Pixy U with Workswell Wiris Pro connected to Skynode via the Pixhawk Payload Bus