Navio2 gimbal RC_OUTPUT problem solved

Hi guys!

Yesterday I’ve mounted and connected my 3-axis handmade gimbal based on Storm32 controller.
In APM 3.4-dev (on Navio2) set mnt_type=1 (servo) and assigned RC6, RC7, RC8 input/output for pitch, yaw and mode. The gimbal worked fine holding ROLL, and I could manipulate YAW and PITCH axises using two knobs on my remote.

Today decided to check how is works in flight. That was terrible! Just armed, all 4 motors started pulsing from idle to almost maximum rpm in stabilize mode, however, that was good decision to hold the drone by hands.

Further I passed thru some experiments and found out that in case if RC_OUTPUT is 490 Hz, and RC6-11 are linked to pass through, motors are grammatically pulsing even in idle. Moreover, I’ve found that there no parameters regarding RC9 in APM.

Thus, I had to set RC_OUTPUT to 50 Hz and just after that the whole system begun to work perfectly.

Have no idea if it is related to Navio2 or APM, but I see that I cannot assign 490Hz to 1-4 output as I wish. Only 50Hz works in case I need to connect a gimbal.

On my next setup I will definitely use Mavlink protocol to manage Storm32 controller or even connect another one RC controller directly to Storm32.

Cheers, Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Auxiliary function switches on channels 5-8 are still not supported and could lead to erroneous PWM generation on motors’ channels. We do ask to not set auxiliary functions on RC5…8. You can set the RC_SPEED to 490Hz and use gimbal on channels >8. We are working on a long term fix.

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Dear Igor,
I’ve tried to use RC10 and 11 - the same result as 6,7,8. Is it the problem issued by APM software or by Navio2?
Cheers, Andrew

You need to make sure that no function except for motors is enabled on channels <8. The problem is mixed ArduPilot and Navio2. We will solve that.

Actually I have tried to assign all the RC below RC8, they work the same except RC9, which doesn’t work at all. Currently that is not an issue, I am happy that my drone flies and my gimbal performs its job.

50Hz seems enough for large drones and their ESCs, as I see.