Camera Gimbal
Project Details
Type
Class
Start Date
End Date
Members
Grade
Academic Project
ME5711 — Fundamentals of Robotics
Nov 2019
Dec 2019
2
A-
Objective
The goal was to create a gimbal for a phone camera to stabilize the shot. The main concept to be used in programming the gimbal is the utilization and demonstration of PID loops. My team was also motivated about this project after having recently learned about PID loops in our Controls class.
Responsibility
We decided to implement PID loops for two servo motors without the use of external libraries. The method used for tuning the gain values for the PID loops was Ziegler-Nichols. The inertial measurement unit (IMU) BNO055 was used as the main sensor and an LCD display is used to display sensor calibration status. We designed and created a housing for the electronics as well as a way to hold the gimbal. I was in charge of arranging the electronics in a way where the buttons are placed in a comfortable position for easy access.
Results
The PID loop works as expected, but it is not perfect. The reaction time is a little slow because servos do not have a speed setting and have a speed limit. The servo gearing also creates a resistance and has jittering issues due to the 1 degree resolution of the servo.