[Silk Gimbal User Manual]
Contents
1. XPROHELI Silk Gimbal 2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved Page i User Manual XPROHELI xeroHel Sik Gimbal Revision History Verson Date Revison Description 10 7 21 2014 Manual Creation Sik Gimbal Page ii 2014 XPRO HELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHeli Sik Gimbal Table of Contents Revision L Welcome Waming amp Disclaimer 2 Overview FPV Video Opertating Modes Remote Operation Supported Cameras Sik Specifications Sik Setup Videos Unpacking your SILK 3 Silk Setup Overview landing Gear Stand Assembly Mount Sik to Landing Gear Stand Mounting and Balancing Your Camera Overview 9 Mounting Camera Adjusting Balance Mounting Battery Powering On Sik 4 XPX XP2 Installatioi Overview Mounting to your XPX Single Operator Dual Operator Mounting XPX Fight Pack 5 SILK SOFIWARE Overview Connecting Sik to Your Compute SRW B SNN RR RSSSSS GER Sea vouub Sik Gimbal Page 0 E2013 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal 1 Welcome Message from CEO On behalf of XProHeli would like to thank you for your support and purchase of the new Silk 3 Axis gimbal system Countless hoursof in shop R amp D and flight testing have gone into the Silk With over 8 prototypes2. gimbal now holds this angle Mode 4 Lock Mode camera remains pointed forward at all times doesnot follow hands Mode 5 Customized by userin Software package Sik Gimbal E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XeroHel Sik Gimbal Remote Operation When filming aerialson a multirotorit is recommended to operate the Silk in Mode 1 forsingle operator use For dual operator use 24 radio Mode 1 or Mode 4 isrecommended To set the Silk up fora 2 operatoran additional radio is required It istypical to mount the radio receiverto the back of the control box The Sik sRC control input pins picture above have the center 45v rail activated which provides powerto your receiver of choice Multirotor Requirements for Silk XPX Heavy Lift Quadcopter Recomended e Any multirotor with a suitable payload capacity Gross Multirotor Payload Sik 967g Camera Lens weight lt 900g Landing Gear Weight Sik Stand 330g If you are flying custom multirotor system or other non XProHeli platform make sure that your multirotor is cable of lifting the payload of the Sik The Sik is not compatible with DJ I Phantoms Be confident in the capabilities of your machine and understand the expected draw and curent of your electrical system given the estimated payload before flying the Sik While the Sik is one of the lightest 3 Axis gimbalsavailable failure to understand your equipments capabil
3. controller as both profiles are independent of each other Silk Gimbal Page 36 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Follow mode stabilization is determines the angles of the gimbal frame by estimating the angle values from each motors magnetic field if the motor accidently skipssteps from bumping into the gimbal the position estimation will be off and you will have to corect the camera postion by hand If the gimbal begins acting ematic simply poweroff the gimbaland powerbackon to restart the synchronization In rare cases you may have to perform a Gyro calibration long 5 second hold of mode button Follow YAW This mode isactivated on Profile 1 This mode only enablesthe follow mode feature forthe YAW axisand keepsthe PITCH ROLL axis in lock mode level to the horizon This mode isthe most popularforhandheld use and multirotor use Follow PITCH ROLL This mode is activated on Profile 2 This mode will allow both the PITCH and ROLLaxisto follow the frame ofthe gimbal with the following parameters Follow ROLL startdegrees Set the PITCH angle in degrees where the ROLL axis enters Follow mode Below this angle ROLL remains locked to the horizon The purpose of this setting isso the ROLL doesnot remain locked at high degree pitch angles Follow ROLL mix degrees Set the PITCH range in degrees where the ROLL axis gradually transitions from lock mode to follow
4. following Update the fimware Make changesto the settings of your controller Tune settings for optimal performance e Adjust settings for various modes of operation USING SimpleBGC GUI After you start the software and select the comect COM port from the list click Connect When the connection is established all board settingsand profiles will be loaded into the software You can re load the curent board parameters anytime by clicking the READ button After adjusting parametersin the software you should write them to the controller board by clicking the WRITE button Only the current profile parameters will be saved to the board To retum to the default settings select the USE DEFAULTS button To choose a different profile select it from the list of profiles located in the upper right comer of the window You can store different settings as five different profiles onto the controller board You can switch profiles saved on the board by choosing the profile in the software orby pressing the MENU button if configured on your controller board Remember that some settings are common forall profilesand can not be saved on a per profile basis Parameters such as sensor orientation hardware configuration RC inputs and motor outs are the same acrossall profiles The software startsin English To change the interface language choose one in the language menu and restart the program SAVE BACKUPS OF YOUR PROFLE S
5. switch of your DX8 radio Sik Gimbal Page 28 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Dual Operator f you want the landing gearto rotate with the gimbal while in flight preferred for 2 operator mount your yaw motortop plate to the Silk Stand as shown To begin find a flat clean area forthe assembly Dag Sik Gimbal Page 29 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal You can mount your XPX airframe to the Sik in an upright configuration however we recommend mounting the Sik to the airframe upside down to help align the Sik centered on the XPX Line up the two through slots on the front of the top plate and fasten the mounting plate using the 20 toggle screwsto the left and right lander pem nuts on your XPX Connect your power wiring from your DC to DC down converter BEC or 3S power source and connect any desired remote tilt wires to the control box from your receiver This is typically setup on AUX 3 output port of your AR8000 receiver and controlled on the FLAP switch of your DX8 radio Your XPX should now look like this Sik Gimbal Page 30 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Mounting XPX Hight Pack The flight pack forthe XPX ismounted on top of the frame The standard size 6S pack forthe XPX is 8000mah Your flight pack should be centered on
6. Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Quick Tp Forbest performance always make sure your gimbal is properly balanced for your camera setup Important Never powerup your SILK gimbal without your camera mounted Doing so can cause damage to the motors orthe IMU sensor cable 3 Silk Setup Overview This section outlines the setup of the Sik and mounting of your camera In general the first time you set up your Sik for your camera you should anticipate about 15 20 minutes of time to properly balance and complete the setup After thisis done the first time any subsequent adjustments needed for altemative camera setups should be able to be done shorter amount of time 5 10 mins max If you are planning to run several different camera configurations we recommend balancing and testing each setup before you film Once you find your adjustment points for your each of your setups you can make index markings on the adjustment points using a fine tip marker this will allow for much quicker adjustments later when you are switching gear Setup Steps in order Unboxing landing Gear Stand Setup Mount gimbal to landing gear stand Mount Camera Adjust Pitch Balance Adjust Roll Balance Adjust Yaw Balance Mount Handles Power up PPN UN Sik Gimbal Page 11 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Landing Gear Stand The Sik stand is desig
7. XPROHELI User Manual XProHeli Sik Gimbal Adjusting Roll amp Pitch Balance The Silk has several adjustments for the Pitch and Roll Axis Adjust your cameras center of gravity on the pitch and roll axis by loosening the set screws so that you can side the assembly in the opposite direction of the weighted side to balance the camera Be cautious when adjusting the left and right side pitch height adjustment plates The left and right side of the camera tray tube should remain parallel and square with the back roll frame to prevent binding of the pitch axis If either side is uneven to one another this can cause alignment issues Sik Gimbal Page 19 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal The height of the camera tray can be adjusted two ways First the primary adjustment sots on the left and right pitch ams can raise and lowerthe camera tray Second the camera tray height can be fine tuned by slightly loosening the clampson the camera tray and rotating the main tray forward orbackwards about the tube The sot on the camera tray can then be used to fine tune the front to back camera posttion helping to balance both Pitch Axis depending on yourcamera you may need to further adjust the height of the camera to also align the center of gravity with the Roll axis The goal isto get both the Roll and Pitch axisin line so both are evenly balanced Hint The Sik is considered balanced
8. and countless iterations tested and reviewed we finally feel we have created a light weight reliable gimbal system that will give the end userthe ability to capture amazing awesome footage that hasnever been seen before Our team at XProHeli respectfully requests that you take the time to read this manual to the fullest extent before using your new Sik for the first time We look forward to taking handheld and aerial video to the next level in the future and hope that you will continue the joumey with us If you have any questions concemsorneed help please do not hesitate to emailorcall us support xproheli com Phone 541 639 8828 Mailing Address XProHeli 20810 Sockeye Place Suite 4110 Bend OR 97701 Thanks Hans Skjersaa Sik Gimbal Page 1 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHeli Sik Gimbal A Waming amp Disclaimer The SILK gimbal is capable of capturing incredible footage and as exciting as it is we at XProHeli want to remind customers that operating RC aircraft multirotors drones guadcoptersetc with the SILK should be done with great care and precaution There have been several incidences of people throughout the world seriously injured by RC Helicopters even some deaths Multi rotors are nota toy People underthe age of 18 years old should not operate any multi rotor unless supervised by an experienced adult The propson the XP2 like other multi rotors ar
9. displayed at the bottom of the screen Overall cycle time and eror count is also displayed Battery voltage indicator with waming sector Bottom right of screen Performance Tuning Overview The Silk comes preconfigured with PID settings that perform exceptionally well with cameras ranging from 400 7509 These settings are regularly used by us for various camera configurations and net excellent stabilization results Depending on your filming style for handheld or aerial use you may find the need to tune a few parametersin the software such asthe reaction speed orthe start and stop points of the follow mode features If you are doing very high speed movesorare running a camera payload in the upperrange you may find even better stabilization quality by adjusting some of the PID motor power parameters Recommended PID settings for specific cameras are available from our training downloads page these will be updated on a regular basis Optionally manual PID tuning can be done aswell with reference to the Realtime Data tab See Manual PID tuning section Tuning Follow Modes Both Profiles 1 and 2 have active follow mode features Profile 1 Follow YAW active e Profile 2 Follow YAW Follow PITCH ROLL active Profile 4 Disabled Note that if you make adjustments to Profile 1 and want those changesto overto Profile 2 you must make sure to copy those values from Profile 1 to Profile 2 and write them to the
10. mode To disable ROLL follow completely set the Roll start mix values to 0 90 To permanently enable the ROLL follow mode set start mix values to 0 0 Note The Silk is preconfigured in Profile 2 to only activate the follow PITCH feature Tuning Follow mode features Profile 1 2 There are a few primary variables that can be adjusted to change the reaction speed and settings of the YAW pan axis Dead band degrees Increasing this value will adjust the starting point 4 degrees from center that the camera beginsto follow yourhandsleft to write A smaller value here will tighten the reaction zone from the zero point and begin to follow to the left or right sooner A larger value here will give your hands more freedom of movement to the left and right before the camera beginsto follow You can set this range where your preference suites Sik Gimbal Page 37 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved XPROHELI User Manual XProHeli Silk Gimbal your needs The rotation of an outer frame orhandles does not affect the camera within this degree band This setting helps to skip small pan jerks when you operate gimbal by hands during fast or dynamic movements Expo curve you can specify the strength of the follow mode when the outer frame movesleft right or up down from a neutral position For example when the expo curve is enabled ie isnot flat small or medium declination of an outer frame will cause very fine c
11. symmetry are even and then tighten end cross brace clamp in place 2 5mm hex a 4 You can now tighten the left right leg tube clampsto the upper sik stand 7 64 hex The stand isnow assembled and ready to use Yours should look like this Sik Gimbal Page 14 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Mount Silk to Landing Gear Stand Remove the Sik from the case and cut any zip ties holding the frame in place from shipment Rest the top plate of the Silk on top of the stand so the two center holes align Fasten the top plate with 2 20 x 4 long stainless fasteners provided 5 32 hex tool through the top plate of the Sik and screw into the pressed in pem nuts of the Sik stand Buitin m Nuts Depending on your mounting preference or mode of operation with the Sik Le 2 operator you also have the option of mounting the gimbal to the stand using the lower plate as shown below This plate isalso used to rest the gimbal on stand when used for handheld operation Sik Gimbal Page 15 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Sik Gimbal Page 16 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal A IMPORTANTTI Asa supplementto this guide it is HIGHLY recommended to watch the Silk balancing setup video on our XProHeli youtube channel A IMPORTANTTP Before balancin
12. to Sil hittps www youtube com watch v R5a0BgFnDB4 Silk Care https www youtube com watch Battery Charging https www youtube comwatch v 10si2esiEjk In the Box https www youtube com watch v S048rTSTTrq Balancing your Silk httos www youtube com watch v nSfPxMQeWxA Mounting Handles amp Rods hittps www youtube com watch v KxPSZ31L_hl Mounting to Multirotor hiitps wwnw youtube com watch v GS71Bh3DtIA Software Configuration hilps www youtube com watch v LjdlhiBAxFc 6 Point IMU Calibration hitps www youtube com watch v Xb64 QisyvE amp feature youtu be Sik Gimbal Page 9 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Unpacking your SILK Silk Base Package no case Sik Assembled Ready to Film 1 Set Multi Function Landing Gear Stand 2 Basic Handles 15mm 2 10 Rods 15mm w coupler 2 Adapter Clamps 15mm w Mount Screws 1 D Ring Screw for Camera Mount 2 4200mah 3S LiPo Batteries 1 Basic E4 LiPo Charger Silk Pro Pack with Case Sik Assembled Ready to Film Custom water jet foam transport case 1 Set Multi Function Landing Gear Stand 2 Basic Handles 15mm 2 10 Rods 15mm w coupler 2 Adapter Clamps 15mm w Mount Screws 1 D Ring Screw for Camera Mount 2 4200mah 3S LiPo Batteries 1 Basic E4 LiPo Charger Sik Gimbal Page 10 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights
13. DUCTS SOLD OR SUPPLIED BY XPROHELI THIS INDEMNITY SHALL APPLY WITHOUT REG ARD TO WHETHER THE CLAIM DAMAGE LIABILITY OR EXPENSE IS BASED ON BREACH OF CONTRACT BREACH OF WARRANTY NEGLIGENCE STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHER TORT Sik Gimbal Page 3 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XeroHel Sik Gimbal _ sure to take the time to read this manual and watch the setup videos There slots of great information in this manual and in ourvideos that wil help make you successulin capturing amazingly smooth footage 2 Overview The SILK 3 axis camera stabilization system is designed specifically for lightweight mirrorless DSLR cameras such asthe Sony Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera and the Panasonic Lumix The SILK frame is built from light yet strong vibration resistant CNC aluminum The Sik s lightweight design allows for relatively comfortable handheld use and islessload demanding on multi rotor platforms resulting in longer flight times and extremely smooth stable video performance The SILK isa handheld or aerial plug and play gimbal requiring very little setup to operate For almost all mimorless DSLR cameras in the 3509 8509 weight range the Sik requiresno changesto the settings to operate incredibly well The SILK s controller utilizes the latest stabilization algorithms from Basecam Electronics Alexmos in conjunction with the latest 32 bit ARM pro
14. ETTINGS The first thing you should do prior to making any adjustments or changesto the the software issave a backup of your gimbals Profile settings to your computer To do this connect the gimbal to Silk Gimbal Page 33 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHeli Sik Gimbal the GUI and Select Profile 1 Save As then save the profile to a specified backup folder on your computer Do this fro Profiles 1 2 and 4 SimpleBGC GUI Layout SimpleBGC GUI hasa fairly intuitive layout with several sections 1 Connection COM port selection and connection status 2 Profile Select rename load and save different profiles The Sik Profilesare configured asfollows a Profile 1 Follow Mode Pan only b Profile 2 Follow Mode Pan Pitch c Profile 3 Unused 3 clicks set manual tilt angles defined in service tab d Profile 4 Lock Mode follow modes off Note to switch modeson the Silk while connected to the GUI simply select Profile 1 2 or 4 and click write 3 Configuration Central part of the window organized into seven tabs i Basic Tab Basic gimbal stabilization settings Do not change these settings unless you are familiar with their functions See performance tuning section for more details Sik Gimbal Page 34 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved XPROHELI User Manual XProHeli Silk Gimbal ii Advanced Tab More precise tuning options for fine
15. ationary on the stand however you can powerthe gimbal on while holding it too To poweron simply switch the rocker switch to the on position The LED on the rocker switch will iluminate indicating that it isin the ON posttion Sik Gimbal Page 25 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal A WARNING POWER YOUR SILK FROM A 3S5S 11 18 5V POWER SOURCE ONLY NEVER PLUG IN A 6S POWER SOURCE AS HIS WILL FRY YOUR CONTROLLER 4 2 Installation Overview Mounting the Silk to your XPX or XP2 Monsterguadcopterforthe first time requires approximately 10 minutes of time You want to make sure you have a clean flat area to work in If you are in the field assembling your quad you want to be consciences of not setting your quad upside down where there is dirt or foreign debris asyou do not want any unwanted itemsto enterthe motors of the quad orthe gimbal Itisprefemed to use a table or even the top side of your transport case to stage the assembly If you plan to supply powerto the Sik from your flight battery make sure that you are using a 3S power source Failure to do so will FRY your controller You can use up to a 5S power source 18 5v but be wamed that this will require you to adjust the PID power settings in the software Since the XPX usesa 6S power source a BEC or DC to DC down converter must be used otherwise you can use a separate 3S battery pack Mounting
16. cessor Each Sik includesa licensed bootloader which will allow you to upgrade the controller s fimware ata later date when any software improvements are made The Sik s electronics are mounted to the back of the frame allowing usersto detach the SILK from their multi rotor for handheld use The SILK typically comesin two primary configurations Sik Basic Pack Sik Pro Pack T si eT WA MN Powering the Sik isa 35 Lipo 4200mAh battery pack providing enough power for 2 2 5 hours of continuous run time The Sik is powered on by a LED rocker switch mounted on the top rear frame tube POWER Sik Gimbal Page 4 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI xXeroHel Sik Gimbal FPV Video The Sik s control box hasa built in HDMI to AV composite converter for down converting the video sgnal of the camera to be transmitted overa standard 5 8ghz or lower FPV transmission system The AV output wire of the converter located on the back of the boxcomesthrough a standard 3 pin Molexconnector compatible with almost all FPV transmitters wy Opertating Modes The Sik hasa mode function button on the bottom of the controller that allows you to access multiple handheld operating featureson the fly Each Sik issetup by us with the following functions Mode 1 Follow Pan only Mode 2 Follow Pan Pitch Mode 3 Set Camera angles by hand motors tum OFF for 2 seconds hold camera at desired angle
17. crements until the oscillations stop iv Repeat stepsii and iii until high frequency vibration occurs You may feel vibration by hand and see a noisy line on the gyro graph At this point you have identified the maximum values for P and D for PITCH for your setup Decrease each slightly and proceed to step v v Repeat steps i through iv for ROLL Stabilization of ROLL may cause instability in PITCH If so reduce P and D slightly forPITCH Crossaxisinterference ismost pronounced when the gimbal construction is less rigid Vi Repeat stepsi through v for YAW Sik Gimbal Page 39 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHeli Sik Gimbal vii Increase I for PITCH until low frequency oscillation appears Then decrease I dightly to keep the gimbal stable You can reduce I asmuch as 20 if needed Vii Repeat step vil for ROLL and YAW ix When all axesare tuned test the gimbal While tuning you can reference the gyro data in the Realtime Data graph to estimate stabilization quality The picture below isan example of 3 manual deflections of the camera on the pitch axiswith the orange line representing the stabilization back to level Each axis should have a smooth retum in the Realtime Data tab asshown E Naas Camera E Quick In general a well tuned configuration will net less than 1 degree of emoron ROLL PITCH and YAW axis normal operation Sik Gi
18. e f desired the Sik can even be setup to run lightercameras such as the GoPro Hero3 or Garmin Virb Elite Note that these sub 100g cameras require some counter weights we typically use peel amp stick rim weights to balance the roll and pitch axis Popular cameras compatible with Sik Sony NEX 5 7 Panasonic Lumix GH4 Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera SonyA7 e is Sik Gimbal Page 7 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XeroHeliSik Gimbal Silk Specifications Supported Cameras 300 8509 with lens Max Camera Body Dim 55 x4 x3 5 WxHxD Sik Weight 967g gimbal only landing gear 3300 Working Rotation Rang Yaw Axis 360 Tit Axis 90 Roll Axis 45 Input Power 35 111 System Reguirements GUI Mac OS Windows Linux Motors Brushless rewound 14 22 poles Battery 4200mAh Li Po 11 1V used handheld Battery Weight 333g Run Time 2 2 Shrs 4200mAh Materials Aluminum amp 3K Carbon Fiber 100 Designed and Assembled in Bend OR USA compatible up to 5Sinput power not recommended A Sik Gimbal Page 8 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Silk Setup Videos In addition to this manual several SILK setup videos are available below The videos include information on installation setup balancing and how to program the remote control functions of your radio or 24 operator radio with the SILK Intro
19. e sharp and can cause serious damage to people and property Never ly around people who are unaware of the damage these devices can cause Itis your responsibility to know the laws and regulations in your area that you are flying and itis your responsibility as a pilot to make sure you are not trespassing on other people s property You as the owner operator are responsibly forall liability of your setup Never fly around crowds and never fly around livestock animals Use common sense liability Disclaimer XProHeli shall not be responsible forany special incidental or consequential damages including but not limited to personal injuries damage to property injury to others including that to life and health resulting from any application and use of any XProHeli products including but not limited to camera stabilization systems multi rotors quadcopters hexcopersoroctocopters The Purchaser and any Pilot in Command PIC assumes full and unlimited responsibility forall applications and uses of any products sold by XProHeli Sik Gimbal Page 2 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal INDEMNITY XPROHELI AGENTS REPRESENTATIVES AND EMPLOYEES ARE TO BE HELD HARMLESS FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS LIABILITIES DAMAGES AND EXPENSES INCLUDING ATTORNEYS FEES ACTUALLY INCURRED ON ACCOUNTOF DEATH OR INJ URY TO ANY PERSON OR DAMAGE TO ANY PROPERTY ARISING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY PRO
20. f the motor With the 2 clamps aligned and loose carefully side the rod through the clampsand centerthe rod so itiseven You can now tighten the inner clampsand install the handles If you have any accessory clamps you can of course put those on prior to the handles Sik Gimbal Page 23 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Mounting Battery The provided 4200mah battery pack can be mounted directly to the back of the 15mm rod clamps Using the provided Velcro squares cut the Velcro to size and then peel and stick the short side of the Velcro to the rear of the rod clamp 1 Your battery pack 4200mah XPH 3S comes with a strip of long sided Velcro Mount the battery pack horizontally to the back of the clampsasshown Sik Gimbal Page 24 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Connect the provided banana to 3 way male J STadapterhamess to the battery One of the 3 male leadswill be used to provide powerto the Sik The othertwo leads can be used to powera light setora on board monitor 12v out Powering On Silk Prior to powering on your Sik forthe first time you should have already gone through the process of mounting and balancing your camera and yourcamera should be mounted and ready to go Your power source battery or fight pack from your multirotor should be hooked up itis preferred to power the Sik while st
21. g your camera make sure you have the lenscap removed and all needed accessories mounted to your camera don t forget the batteries Mounting and Balancing Your Camera Overview The main goal for properly mounting yourcamera to the Sik isto achieve good center of gravity alignment balance on the Pitch Roll and Yaw axis of the gimbal This is vital to the Silk s performance gimbal that is out of balance on one axiswill lean to the heavy side of the axis putting unnecessary strain on the brushless motors and cause them to oscillate The better balanced your setup the better your video stabilization will be Mounting Camera The SILK comes with 1 wide base CNC D Ring standard 1 4 20 thread to mount your camera The Camera ismounted through the camera tray sot The front to back position of the camera can be adjusted to help balance the camera s center of gravity front to back To account forthe true center of gravity of the camera make sure all the necessary batteries and flash cardsare loaded in the camera Also make sure that you have the lenscap removed If you choose to run fiter sunshade hood make sure you have that installed too Basically you need to make sure yourcamera isin the same configuration asit would be when you film Sik Gimbal Page 17 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XeroHel Sik Gimbal Sik Gimbal Page 18 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved
22. ities can result in a crashed multirotor damaged gimbal damaged camera and a not so happy pilot Be a happy pilot and do your research Sik Gimbal Page 6 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI xXeroHel Sik Gimbal Supported Cameras The Sik gimbal is capable of supporting any small DSLR camera in the 3009 to 850g weight range with a wide variety of lens combinations When making a choice in lenssize XProHeli recommendsa wider size lensto use with the Sik Lens sizes from 12 14mm pancake style up to a 20mm work very good with the Sik If you plan on running a camera with an adjustable zoom lens make sure that you keep the zoom settings static while you balance the camera and while you operate it on the Sik The movement of an auto zoom lens will alterthe center of gravity of the camera so make sure you have it locked in place orset to where you want it before setup Making the proper adjustments to the Sik to balance the camera isvital to good video capture performance The preset power settings forthe Silk work extremely well out of the box forcamerasin the 450 750 gram range The software settings forthe Sik can be fine tuned later increasing the performance even further It is recommended to start with the provided settings and work from there The most common settingsthat people tend to adjust isthe follow mode speed valuesto either speed up or dow down the reaction of the operating mod
23. ked or unchecked for proper motor direction b Click Write 7 Copy INVERT valuesand make sure they are the same for Profiles 2 amp 4 Sik Gimbal Page 44 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal 8 Select Profile 1 click write 9 With motors ON and gimbal frame level go to Followmode tab and Click AUTO in OFFSET section When finish click write Make sure these values are the same through Profiles 1 2 amp 4 Sik Gimbal Page 45 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Troubleshooting PROBLEM ible Causes Solutions Power Supply is E Checkall connections Motors Don t Spin ac um Double check POWER polarity is inverted nga POWER value set E too Balance the Camera Camera not Check Motor windings balanced Roll Pitch ABC phase There isa broken resistance 14 5 16 Sei eae motor winding or ohms mena one phase of o PanABC phase motor hasfailed resistance 11 5 12 5 POWER not set ohms high enough Increase PowerValue During fast YAW Bad Accelerometer rotations camera Calibration Perform 6 Point IMU calibration horizon deflectson Sensorismounted Align Sensor Square with Axis Rolland slowlycomes crooked not parallel back level to motoraxis During Fast motion with acceleration camera deflects and Ty to increase Gyro Trust value in Thisisnomalaffectsof Advance tab default Sik val
24. mbal Page 40 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XeroHel Sik Gimbal Setup for 2 Operator RC Control Connecting RC system to the Sik is optional Operation with a 2 operator using a RC system will allow control and aiming of the gimbal independently from the direct physical movements of the gimbal unit Several different RC protocolsincluding standard PWM Sum PWM and Futaba S Busare supported Setup foreach of these control systemsis slightly different in the software for Futaba and Sum PWM referto online Basecam Manual for proper setup Typical 2 operator setup using Normal PWM receiver Tit RC_PITCH Roll RC ROLL Pan RC YAW Pinout Sgnal 5v Gnd Sik Gimbal Page 41 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHeli Sik Gimbal RC Settings in GUL i ROLL YAW Controlsthe position of the camera il CMD Allows you to execute specified actions Configure your 2 or 3 posttion switch on your RC transmitter fora specified channel and assign itto the CMD channel Its range is split into 3 sections LOW MID HIGH When changing the position of your RC transmitter switch the signal jumps from one section to another and the assigned command is executed ii FC ROLL FC PIICH Used to mark any PWM input to be a signal from the extemal flight controller Thisisan advanced feature that we do not recommend RC MIX You can mix 2 inputs
25. n some postions but in others it tendsto fall to the left or right side of the camera then you need to make a furtheradjustment by rotating the top carbon fiber tube either left or right to counter balance the heavy side Once yourassembly is balanced it is recommended to make a reference mark on the camera tray by using a markerora piece of tape so that you can quickly align your camera to the proper position when you dismount and remount the camera if you are running multiple lensesorcameras now would be a good time to make index marks for this balanced position Using different color markers works well Sik Gimbal Page 22 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XeroHel Sik Gimbal Mount Handles The Sik utilizes standard 15mm small rig components clampsand handles for adapting the Sik for handheld use Multiple configurations can be achieved for various shooting styles The versatility and popularity the 15mm rod system givesyou a wide range of additional accessoriesto run with your gimbal ie cold shoes monitor mounts and also allows you to run any 15mm rod componentsthat you may already have Mounting the handles begins with assembling the 2 10 15mm rodswith the male to male threaded rod adapter LI d Mount the 2 15mm rod clampsto the top plate ofthe Sik There are several sets of through holesto choose from itismost common to mount the rail clampsto the holesaligned atthe centero
26. n the controller Unless you are an advanced userand are comfortable configuring the sensor and making the proper adjustments we do not recommend you change the firmware Future fimware releases will be carefully monitored and test at XProHeli before making a recommendation to upgrade If there isa firmware version that we feel is superiorto the original shipped version we will put togethera step by step video on the firmware upgrade processand necessary adjustments Connecting Silk to Your Computer Connect the board to yourcomputer with a mini USB cable The first time you connect the board to your computer it may install the drivers automatically If not you can download the latest drivers from the following link www slabs com products mcu pages usbtouartbridgevcpdrivers aspx After you install the driver a new virtual COM port will be created You need to choose this COM port in the SimpleBGC GUI software application to initiate the connection Caution Itis safe to connect both USB and the battery simultaneously but be very careful not to reverse the polarity of the battery because it will bum out the controllerand may damage yourPC Sik Gimbal Page 32 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Download the SimpleBGC GUI amp User Manual impleBGC GUI 2 40b8 zip SimpleBGC 32bit 2 40b8 GUI User Manual The SimpleBGC GUI software application enables you to do the
27. ned to be used asboth a stand and asa functioning landing gear for your multirotor The upper stand siot allows you to park your gimbal and temporarily set it on the stand Thisis really useful for balancing your camera and isalso a nice feature to use when the Sik isin handheld operation asyou can use the stand to set the gimbal on while it is not in use Silk set on stand The two upper platesof the Sik allow two different landing gear configurations when mounting to a multirotor 1 Locked to Airrame 2 Locked to Stand E landing gear Landing gear rotates fixed to Airframe With gimbal Sik Gimbal Page 12 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved XPROHELI User Manual XProHeli Sik Gimbal Assembly The landing gearstand forthe Sik ships in 3 main parts Upper Sik Stand Left Right Legs Rearcross brace optional but recommended Upperstand left Lea Right 1 9 Rearcrossbrace On flat surface begin assembling Upper Silk Stand vertical tubes to left and right leg tube clamps Sik Gimbal Page 13 2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal TO SE With clamps loose adjust angle of legsso top plate of Silk stand is level and left and right legsare even distance apart Line up the rear of the legs with the cross brace to help align Y y Ci J Insert ends of cross brace clamps onto left right legs Make sure legsand stand
28. ontrol even if term is Configured high But the strength of control exponentially grows when angles of declination becomes close to 60 degrees It givesa big freedom in camera operation from fine and smooth control to very fast movements OFFSET it isa very important to properly configure the initial position of the motors magnetic poles because alll further calculations use this information For YAW axis you can adjust the zero point heading relative to the frame heading so if you notice that the camera is offset just slightly from centerto the left orright and isnot straight in line you can raise or lower this value to adjust the camera angle ForPITCH and ROLL axis there isan option to calibrate offset automatically To do this power on system hold frame leveled and pressAUTO button Don t forget to write setting when finished If the camera after power on isnot leveled you need to adjust the offset setting Thisis preconfigured when shipped Speed This value allows you to adjust the speed of the camera rotation fora specific axis A higher value nets a fastercamera movement a lower valuesnetsa dower camera movement Don t set too high of values that the motorscan t handle MAX 10 If the value istoo high the motors will skip stepsand the stabilization synchronization will be off causing the gimbal to act erratic ff a high value is desired make sure to have the acceleration limiter set so that it will help to set a larger s
29. peed value without causing the motors to skip or miss steps Sik Gimbal Page 38 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Manual PID Tuning For novice Silk users we do not recommend immediately diving into motor and PID tuning This section isforadvanced users who are familiar with all the parameters of the software Always remember to make a backup of your profile settings so you can easily reload and have record of your original PID settings Prerequisites To start with fine tuning your PIDs you should have your original Sik Profile settings loaded Your motor polarity should be correct and your IMU sensor should be calibrated and configured properly Tuning isachieved by referencing the Real Time Data tab in the GUI You should have the gimbal on a table mounted and locked to the Sik stand The battery should be fully charged forthe tuning process Tuning Process Set gimbal to Profile 4 LOCK MODE Start with the PITCH axis then ROLL then YAW Begin by deflecting the camera with your hand on each axisand watch the speed and smoothness of the retum action of the GYRO data on the Real Time Data graph Your goal in tuning isto raise the P and D value foreach axis ashigh as possible without causing high frequency feedback or unwanted vibrations i Set 1 to a small value of 0 04 orless ii increase P until the motor startsto oscillate Increase D in small in
30. the quad and secured with the Velcro strap NOTE The SILK MUSTHAVE A 3S POWER SOURCE TO OPERATE Plugging in a 6S 22 2V pack will fry your gimbal If you ordered a RIF XPX with the Silk we will provide a DC to DC down converter BEC which can be used to power the Sik and any other 3S FPV accessories Sik Gimbal Page 31 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal A IMPORTANT Your Sik comes preconfigured with a basic tune that works very well with cameras from 400 7509 Don t make changesto the software unless you know what you are doing Make sure you backup your Profile settings prior to making any changes DO NOTLOAD USE DEFAULTS and overwrite the controller Doing this will reset your gimbal controller completely and you will have to perform the setup recovery procedures 5 SILK SOFTWARE amp TUNING Overview This section provides information and instructions on the SimpleBGC Software and how to make specific changesto your software settings to help with getting the best performance from your Silk The 32 bit controller in each Sik comes with a licensed bootloader from Basecam Electronics Alexmos This license allows you to download and flash your controller with the latest fimware when new releasesare available Please note that any upgradesor downgradesto the fimware on your Sik are will most likely require you to reconfigure all the settings o
31. to stick commands This fitter avoids fast stick movements but add commands This fter avoids fast stick movements but adds some reaction delay to stick movement Sik Gimbal Page 43 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved XPROHELI User Manual XProHeli Silk Gimbal Silk Recovery Procedures Overview This section provides instructional stepsto bring your Sik back to the original pre configured settings In the rare event that you have to reflash your controller due to a file or erased memory bank you can also use this section asa recovery guide Prior to performing the recovery steps your camera should be mounted and balanced and your gimbal should be mounted to the Sik stand so that the gimbal can move about freely on the Roll Pitch and Yaw axis Recovery Steps 1 Load Write 2 40B8 Firmware thiscan be done using the 2 4184 GUI in the Upgrade tab 2 With Motors OFF in GUI Load and write Backup Profiles 1 2 amp 4 Note IF you did not backup your Profiles please email support and we will send you a copy of each 3 ConnectBattery Motors Tumed OFF in GUI 4 Perform GYRO Cal PressCal Gyro 5 Perform 6 Point IMU Calibration https www youtube com watch v Xb64 QisyE amp feature youlu be 6 Set Motor Polarity by powering MotorsON and click AUTO under Motor Configuration Basic Tab a Gimbal should rotate each axisand identify direction of movement When complete the INVERT boxes wil be chec
32. to your XPX Before mounting your Sik to your XPX you should have already gone through the Sik setup instructions above You should know how to fly your quadcopterand your Sik should be operational and working good Before your first fight be sure that all the active Sik Gimbal Page 26 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal remote tilt functions are operating correctly be sure to add thisto your pre flight checks before take off To Begin find a flat clean area to do the assembly Dag Single Operator f you want the landing gearto be locked to the airframe while in flight preferred for single operation mount your yaw motor top plate to the Sik Stand as shown You can mount your XPX airframe to the Sik in an upright configuration however we recommend mounting the Sik to the airframe upside down to help align the Sik centered on the XPX Line up the two through sots on the front of the top plate and fasten the mounting plate using the 20 toggle screwsto the left and right lander pem nuts on your XPX Sik Gimbal Page 27 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHeli Sik Gimbal Connect your power wiring from your DC to DC down converter BEC or 3S power source and connect any desired remote tilt wires to the control box from your receiver Thisis typically setup on AUX 3 output port of your AR8000 receiver and controlled on the FLAP
33. together before applying them to the ROLL PITCH or YAW axis This feature enables you to control the camera from two sources a joystick and RC transmitter for example You can adjust the proportion of the mix from 0 to 100 ANGLE MODE The RC transmitter will control the camera angle directly The full RC range will move the camera from min to max angles as specified above If the RC transmitter stick does not move the camera standstill The speed of rotation dependson the SPEED and acceleration limiter settings SPEED MODE The RC transmitter will control the rotation speed If the stick is centered the camera stands still If the Sik Gimbal Page 42 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved XPROHELI User Manual XProHeli Silk Gimbal stick is deflected the camera startsto rotate but doesnot exceed the min max range specified Speed is sightly decreased nearthe minmax bordersto yield steady accelerations The speed of rotation is proportional to stick angle and the SPEED setting RC control inversion is allowed in both control modes MIN ANGLE MAX ANGLE Sets the range of angles controlled from an RC transmitter or in Follow Mode To reverse the control set the higher value first and lower value second Forexample if you want to configure a camera to go from leveled position to down position set 0 90 or 90 0 to reverse movement LPF Sets control signal filtering The higher the value the smoother the reaction
34. tuning you should not need to adjust any of these parameters ii RC Settings Settings to control gimbal roll pitch yaw orientation with RC inputs iv Service Specify the behavior of the MENU button located on the bottom of the control box and tune the battery monitoring service v Follow Mode Settings related to this special mode of camera control vi Realtime Data Realtime sensor data monitoring This screen is helpful in tuning your gimbal performance vii Firmware Upgrade Firmware and SmpleBGC GUI software versions and update options Upgrade firmware at your own risk 4 Control Panel Graphic visualization of gimbal orientation angles forall three axes Black amows display the angles Blue arrows are a 10x time magnification to provide higher precision Red marks show target angles that the gimbal should hold Thin blue lines show the peak deflection from the central neutral point Blue digits show peak deflection amplitude which providesan estimation of stabilization quality Vertical red barsto the right of the scales show actual power level from Oto 100 5 READ WRITE USE DEFAULTS buttons are used to transfer settings to from the controller board 6 MOTORS ON OFF button manually tum on off powerto motors Sik Gimbal Page 35 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal 7 Tips status or eror messages in red color are
35. ues acceleration then slowly comes should not cause this back level ae pe Thisis from BAD gyro Recalibrate Gyro 5 second pressof Er calibration menu button or through GUI SensorFeedbackas Checkthe Realtime Data graphsto Pesta result of too high D determine which axisis problem ions parameter and lower D value Sensorfeedbackas result ae of too high D orP LowerP Value Increase D value xe parameter Wrong COM port GUlcannotconnect selected GUl and to board firmware version mistmatch Ty different COM port check driverinstallation Check Fimware and GUIverson Sik Gimbal Page 46 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved
36. when the camera remains static in all positions and cannot fall to either side of any axis axis If the camera isnot perfectly balance the gimbal wil stil work very well but it will cause the motorsto work harder Best stabilization performance isachieved when you have a perfectly balanced gimbal For wider camerasorcamerasthat are weighted heavierto one side you can fine tune the roll adjustment using the 4 set screws at the back of the roll frame Sik Gimbal E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XProHel Sik Gimbal Adjust Pan Balance To adjust the pan axis you will need to slightly loosen the 2 clamps at the bottom of the pan axis motor The pan axisadjustment is made by sliding the top carbon fibertube front back and by rotating itto the left or right Adjust the pan axis similarto the roll and pitch axis by holding up the top pan axisplate at a 90 degree angle If the pan axisis weighted to farto the left or right side or weighted to far forward too far back it will fall to the weighted side Adjust this by siding the tube inward or outward for front to back balance and rotating the tube left to right for side to side balance A perfectly balance pan axis will hold postion by its self in all 360 degrees of motion Sik Gimbal Page 21 E2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved User Manual XPROHELI XeroHel Sik Gimbal PAN BALANCE R If you find that the pan axisseemsto be balanced i
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