(OLD) Gremsy set installation for PixHawk

Table of Contents
Installation basics #

For the GeoTagging mode the AIR Commander Entire must be connected to the Camera via Sony Multiport Cable. Multiport cable was included in your geotagging cable set.

Installation for Gremsy T3v3 #

STEP 1

  • Let’s start with mount of Power Adaptor to the Gremsy gimbal
  • Connect included Gremsy power cable to the PWT OUT of the gimbal
  • Connect power cable to the lower connector (at the photo)
  • Use double self-adhesive tape, Zip Ties or self-adhesive zipper

List of cables

STEP 2

  • Mount the Entire unit at the other side of the bottom of gimbal.
  • SD Card should be aimed outside of the gimbal for easy handling in the fields.
  • Use double self-adhesive tape or self-adhesive zipper is suggested.

STEP 3

  • Connect Power Adaptor to the Entire (PWR connector) via Power cable
  • Connect Gremsy AUX port to the UNI A port of the Entire by AUX Cable
power

STEP 3a

  • AUX Cable has two separate twisted groups of cables. One has red wire included and is connected to UNI-A of the Entire. Second group of cables with single wire connectors at the end are unused AUX pins.

  • Unused pins of AUX port (black wires) can be used for any additional connection same way as original AUX cable included to the gimbal. In our case we remove these pins from AUX connector because all data and control signals are transferred via UNI-A connection.

STEP 4

  • Clean up wires under the gimbal by Zip Tie.

STEP 5

  • Mount the Camera and connect Multiport cable to the USBMULTI connector of the Entire

STEP 6a

  • Entire is able to control the camera instead of USB also via IR commands. IR commands are the only way to access and navigate in the MENU, also IR commands allows user to use shortcuts (user mappable in the camera MENU) at LEFT/RIGHT/DOWN arrows.
  • Use EXT Cable with IR LED and red sync wire and connect it to the EXT port of the Entire
  • Mount IR LED to the IR sensor of your camera (remember to enable RemoteCtrl function in the Camera menu). Optionally you can use our IR LED mount (not included).

STEP 6b

  • Insert HotShoe connector into HotShoe connector of the Camera
  • Connect the red wire from EXT cable to the HotShoe connector
  • Mount top bracket of the gimbal to the rest of HotShoe of the Camera
  •  function in the Camera menu). Optionally you can use our IR LED mount (not included).

STEP 7

  • Entire uses multiple simultaneous connections to access all necessary data for geotagging. At the top of the gimbal we need to provide you back the rest of unused AUX port pins and also interconnect the COM port. For this we use Interconnection board which is mounted at the top of Circular Damping Mount, however can be attached at any other mount you would like to use.
  • Insert two screws to Interconnection board and attach distance tubes as per photo
  • Mount the Interconnection board and pay attention to orientation to AUX and COM ports below the mount.
  • Interconnect Gremsy AUX at Quick Release to -> GIMBAL AUX port at the Interconnection board
  • Interconnect Gremsy COM at Quick Release to -> GIMBAL COM port at the Interconnection board
  • Port named EXTERN-AUX at the Interconnection board can be used for any other connection used at your drone by original Gremsy AUX cable

STEP 8

  • Extension BOX is very important in our design. This little unit is used to transfer multiple data signals via single serial bus to the Entire. Extension BOX has four UNI ports which are multiplexed to the DATA connection and transferred to the Entire.
  • Extension BOX should be mounted at the drone body.
  • There are two connections of the Extension BOX to the Interconnection board. One is DATA transfer of all UNI ports to the Entire, second is used to read the data stream from the Gremsy COM port for reading of actual gimbal angles.
    • Connection 1
      • Use UNI cable and connect DATA port of the Extension BOX to the DATA port of the Interconnection board
    • Connection 2
      • If you not plan to use separate Gimbal-PixHawk connection (99% cases), use UNI cable from port PORTx DJI of Interconnection board to the UNI-2 of the Extension BOX.
      • If you plan to use separate PixHawk connection use UNI cable and connect PORTx PX of Interconnection board to the UNI-2 of the Extension BOX.
    • Connection 3
      • If you would like to have connection of the gimbal to your PixHawk FC (drift correction / control) use PIXHAWK connector at Interconnection board instead of COM port at Quick Release (use cable provided by Gremsy).

STEP 9

  • Connect the PixHawk cable to the Cube Telem1, Telem2 or GPS1 (needs connector rework)
  • (Entire needs separate connection to Gremsy connection)

STEP 10

  • Thread the cable (or cables) down through the body of the drone

STEP 11

  • You have two options depending on used flight stack (ArduCopter/PX4):
      • For ArduCopter you need to connect the only the Telem1 or Telem2 (or GPS1 with connector rework) to the Extension BOX UNI-3 connector. Triggering and camera control will be done via MavLink or HereLink buttons (Solex app) or our Android app.
      • For PX4 flight stack the Camera triggering needs to be done via PWM (AUX OUT) from flight controller. Use SBUS/PWM Cable for PWM signal connection from PixHawk AUX to UNI-1 port of the Extension BOX. Telem1 or Telem2 to the Extension BOX UNI-3 connector.

STEP 12

  • Configure proper Telemetry port to the budrate of 1 500 000bps
  • Configure proper Telemetry port to the MavLink2 protocol

STEP 13

  • Search section named SRx (x is number of port you used)
  • Make sure all SRx items are set to 0

STEP 14

  • Following settings is valid for Gremsy Firmware v574
  • Power on the Gimbal and connect the gTune application to the gimbal via BlueTooth or WiFi
  • Click to SETTINGS -> CONTROLS -> Confirm YES
  • For DJI users, or for PixHawk users without gimbal-PixHawk connection set MSG RATE of all to 0 only ORINETATION set to 25 (25Hz, can be set higher for higher accuracy)
  • Once configuration is done, you can switch back for SBUS or other control method. If you would like to use MavLink control (use PixHawk-Gimbal connection), please follow proper Gremsy manual for MavLink configuration.

STEP 15

  • Power ON the Drone and the Gimbal
  • Check if the Entire is powered ON via Power Adaptor
  • Check if the Extension BOX is ready (blinking blue or green)
  • Once Entire becomes ready (STATUS Blue) use your phone or any other WiFi equipped device and access Entire’s WiFi hotspot.
  • Open Entire’s configuration page at http://entire or http://192.168.10.1 for apple devices.
  • Firstly check if Entire is running latest firmware (MENU – Firmware) at: https://shop.airpixel.cz/entire-firmware/
  • Entire FW update can also contain firmware update for the Extension BOX. If does, the Entire will update FW in the Extension BOX automatically. Process takes only few seconds, however during the update Extension BOX is available and STATUS LED is OFF. Entire’s STATUS LED is Purple during the update. Do not disconnect Extension BOX during update!

More about Firmware update.

STEP 16

  • Click to “UNI port A” bar at the overview page
  • In new window select the Extension BOX mode
  • Bar should become highlighted “online” after few seconds (or orange for FW update)
  • Extension BOX should start blinking GREEN (Active)
  • At the overview page you should now get four new UNI ports available (1/2/3/4)

STEP 17

  • Open MENU –> Miscellaneous (Other) –> Mavlink baudrate set to 1 500 000.
  • Click to “UNI port 3” bar and in new window select MavLink.
  • Port should become “online” in few seconds.

 

  • Numbers under icon are input GPS/ATTI stream coresponding to incoming GPS updates frequency and Attitude update frequency. Optimal is 50/10, but numbers may float a bit.

STEP 18

  • Click to “UNI port 2” bar and in new window select Gremsy.
  • Port should become “online” in few seconds.

STEP 19 a

  • Turn the camera USB mode to MASS STORAGE
  • Navigate to Camera MENU -> SETUP->USB Connection
    • Set to Mass Storage
    • confirm OK
  • For newer cameras (like A7RIV) is this step bit more complicated:
    • Check if MENU->NETWORK->Ctrl w/ Smartphone is OFF
    • Check if MENU->NETWORK->PC Remote Function is OFF
    • Navigate to Camera MENU -> SETUP->USB Connection
      • Set to Mass Storage
      • confirm OK

STEP 19 b

  • Enable GeoTagging via MENU->Logging mode-> Direct EXIF (or SD card)
  • Enable HotShoe capturing via MENU->Capture detection->Hotshoe sync
  • Now you can also preview GPS data and gimbal angles in the Entire’s GUI
  • MENU->(Geotagging)Settings->GPS Data Preview
  • Data shown in the preview are updated online and should react to gimbal movements

STEP 20

  • Open the MENU -> Miscellaneous
  • Scroll down to GeoTagging features
  • And insert X, Y, Z offsets.
  • When GPS is used, offset is counted from body center (if correct offset is configured in the FC). If your flight controller does not have configured antennas offsets, configure offset from the camera to the antenna.
  • When RTK is used, offset is counted from body center (if correct offset is configured in the FC). If your flight controller does not have configured antennas offsets, configure offset from the camera to the antenna A.
 

Offset is in millimeters!

offset_polarity
offsets

STEP 21

  • Your setup is ready to be used at this point
  • Entire has Self-Test routines for GeoTagging to easily check if all wiring is working well
  • Make sure that all equipment is turned ON and camera is set to MASS STORAGE MODE
  • Click to MENU->Configuration test and let the Entire to do a self-test
    • At the beginning of the test, one photo will be triggered
    • Entire will check if HotShoe sensor has properly recognized trigger
    • Entire will check all necessary input data connections
    • In case of any problems, result will provide hints to solve the issue
    • Test photo will not be geotagged in the test method!
selftest
Installation for Gremsy T3v2 #

Our installation set is directly compatible ONLY for v3 gimbals (T3v3 S1v3 and so on, and T7).

  • Optionally you can use any gremsy gimbal with COM port, however wiring must be customized.
  • Check image for T3v2 rework wiring –>
  • Once wiring is reworked, follow installation steps for T3v3
T3v3 to T3v2
Overall wiring scheme #
Options of Gremsy connection #
  • Gimbal control
    This  option is used to control of the gimbal Pitch and Yaw via AIR Commander Link.
  • Force SBUS mode
    This option forces gimbal to use SBUS mode. At latest firmwares of the Gremsy (765 and later), gimbal locks in MavLink mode, once Entire is connected. Entire can force gimbal to use SBUS mode via MavLink (with this option enabled). You have to set gimbal to SBUS control mode also via gTune app. If you would like to use MavLink control of the gimbal, leave this option disabled and enable “MavLink forwarding“.
  • MavLink forwarding
    With this option enabled will the Entire forward all input MavLink data (received from PixHawk)  to the Gremsy gimbal and also all data received from the gimbal are forwarded to the PixHawk. This option is used when gimbal is controlled via MavLink ot you need to get direct communication with gimbal for example from ground station.
  • Gimbal tuning (Herelink)
    This option enables remote configuration of stabilization parameters. Remote settings of those values are available only from MavCam (HereLink app).
What are your Feelings
Installation basics

For the GeoTagging mode the AIR Commander Entire must be connected to the Camera via Sony Multiport Cable. Multiport cable was included in your geotagging cable set.

Installation for Gremsy T3v3

STEP 1

  • Let’s start with mount of Power Adaptor to the Gremsy gimbal
  • Connect included Gremsy power cable to the PWT OUT of the gimbal
  • Connect power cable to the lower connector (at the photo)
  • Use double self-adhesive tape, Zip Ties or self-adhesive zipper

List of cables

STEP 2

  • Mount the Entire unit at the other side of the bottom of gimbal.
  • SD Card should be aimed outside of the gimbal for easy handling in the fields.
  • Use double self-adhesive tape or self-adhesive zipper is suggested.

STEP 3

  • Connect Power Adaptor to the Entire (PWR connector) via Power cable
  • Connect Gremsy AUX port to the UNI A port of the Entire by AUX Cable
power

STEP 3a

  • AUX Cable has two separate twisted groups of cables. One has red wire included and is connected to UNI-A of the Entire. Second group of cables with single wire connectors at the end are unused AUX pins.

  • Unused pins of AUX port (black wires) can be used for any additional connection same way as original AUX cable included to the gimbal. In our case we remove these pins from AUX connector because all data and control signals are transferred via UNI-A connection.

STEP 4

  • Clean up wires under the gimbal by Zip Tie.

STEP 5

  • Mount the Camera and connect Multiport cable to the USBMULTI connector of the Entire

STEP 6a

  • Entire is able to control the camera instead of USB also via IR commands. IR commands are the only way to access and navigate in the MENU, also IR commands allows user to use shortcuts (user mappable in the camera MENU) at LEFT/RIGHT/DOWN arrows.
  • Use EXT Cable with IR LED and red sync wire and connect it to the EXT port of the Entire
  • Mount IR LED to the IR sensor of your camera (remember to enable RemoteCtrl function in the Camera menu). Optionally you can use our IR LED mount (not included).

STEP 6b

  • Insert HotShoe connector into HotShoe connector of the Camera
  • Connect the red wire from EXT cable to the HotShoe connector
  • Mount top bracket of the gimbal to the rest of HotShoe of the Camera
  •  function in the Camera menu). Optionally you can use our IR LED mount (not included).

STEP 7

  • Entire uses multiple simultaneous connections to access all necessary data for geotagging. At the top of the gimbal we need to provide you back the rest of unused AUX port pins and also interconnect the COM port. For this we use Interconnection board which is mounted at the top of Circular Damping Mount, however can be attached at any other mount you would like to use.
  • Insert two screws to Interconnection board and attach distance tubes as per photo
  • Mount the Interconnection board and pay attention to orientation to AUX and COM ports below the mount.
  • Interconnect Gremsy AUX at Quick Release to -> GIMBAL AUX port at the Interconnection board
  • Interconnect Gremsy COM at Quick Release to -> GIMBAL COM port at the Interconnection board
  • Port named EXTERN-AUX at the Interconnection board can be used for any other connection used at your drone by original Gremsy AUX cable

STEP 8

  • Extension BOX is very important in our design. This little unit is used to transfer multiple data signals via single serial bus to the Entire. Extension BOX has four UNI ports which are multiplexed to the DATA connection and transferred to the Entire.
  • Extension BOX should be mounted at the drone body.
  • There are two connections of the Extension BOX to the Interconnection board. One is DATA transfer of all UNI ports to the Entire, second is used to read the data stream from the Gremsy COM port for reading of actual gimbal angles.
    • Connection 1
      • Use UNI cable and connect DATA port of the Extension BOX to the DATA port of the Interconnection board
    • Connection 2
      • If you not plan to use separate Gimbal-PixHawk connection (99% cases), use UNI cable from port PORTx DJI of Interconnection board to the UNI-2 of the Extension BOX.
      • If you plan to use separate PixHawk connection use UNI cable and connect PORTx PX of Interconnection board to the UNI-2 of the Extension BOX.
    • Connection 3
      • If you would like to have connection of the gimbal to your PixHawk FC (drift correction / control) use PIXHAWK connector at Interconnection board instead of COM port at Quick Release (use cable provided by Gremsy).

STEP 9

  • Connect the PixHawk cable to the Cube Telem1, Telem2 or GPS1 (needs connector rework)
  • (Entire needs separate connection to Gremsy connection)

STEP 10

  • Thread the cable (or cables) down through the body of the drone

STEP 11

  • You have two options depending on used flight stack (ArduCopter/PX4):
      • For ArduCopter you need to connect the only the Telem1 or Telem2 (or GPS1 with connector rework) to the Extension BOX UNI-3 connector. Triggering and camera control will be done via MavLink or HereLink buttons (Solex app) or our Android app.
      • For PX4 flight stack the Camera triggering needs to be done via PWM (AUX OUT) from flight controller. Use SBUS/PWM Cable for PWM signal connection from PixHawk AUX to UNI-1 port of the Extension BOX. Telem1 or Telem2 to the Extension BOX UNI-3 connector.

STEP 12

  • Configure proper Telemetry port to the budrate of 1 500 000bps
  • Configure proper Telemetry port to the MavLink2 protocol

STEP 13

  • Search section named SRx (x is number of port you used)
  • Make sure all SRx items are set to 0

STEP 14

  • Following settings is valid for Gremsy Firmware v574
  • Power on the Gimbal and connect the gTune application to the gimbal via BlueTooth or WiFi
  • Click to SETTINGS -> CONTROLS -> Confirm YES
  • For DJI users, or for PixHawk users without gimbal-PixHawk connection set MSG RATE of all to 0 only ORINETATION set to 25 (25Hz, can be set higher for higher accuracy)
  • Once configuration is done, you can switch back for SBUS or other control method. If you would like to use MavLink control (use PixHawk-Gimbal connection), please follow proper Gremsy manual for MavLink configuration.

STEP 15

  • Power ON the Drone and the Gimbal
  • Check if the Entire is powered ON via Power Adaptor
  • Check if the Extension BOX is ready (blinking blue or green)
  • Once Entire becomes ready (STATUS Blue) use your phone or any other WiFi equipped device and access Entire’s WiFi hotspot.
  • Open Entire’s configuration page at http://entire or http://192.168.10.1 for apple devices.
  • Firstly check if Entire is running latest firmware (MENU – Firmware) at: https://shop.airpixel.cz/entire-firmware/
  • Entire FW update can also contain firmware update for the Extension BOX. If does, the Entire will update FW in the Extension BOX automatically. Process takes only few seconds, however during the update Extension BOX is available and STATUS LED is OFF. Entire’s STATUS LED is Purple during the update. Do not disconnect Extension BOX during update!

More about Firmware update.

STEP 16

  • Click to “UNI port A” bar at the overview page
  • In new window select the Extension BOX mode
  • Bar should become highlighted “online” after few seconds (or orange for FW update)
  • Extension BOX should start blinking GREEN (Active)
  • At the overview page you should now get four new UNI ports available (1/2/3/4)

STEP 17

  • Open MENU –> Miscellaneous (Other) –> Mavlink baudrate set to 1 500 000.
  • Click to “UNI port 3” bar and in new window select MavLink.
  • Port should become “online” in few seconds.

 

  • Numbers under icon are input GPS/ATTI stream coresponding to incoming GPS updates frequency and Attitude update frequency. Optimal is 50/10, but numbers may float a bit.

STEP 18

  • Click to “UNI port 2” bar and in new window select Gremsy.
  • Port should become “online” in few seconds.

STEP 19 a

  • Turn the camera USB mode to MASS STORAGE
  • Navigate to Camera MENU -> SETUP->USB Connection
    • Set to Mass Storage
    • confirm OK
  • For newer cameras (like A7RIV) is this step bit more complicated:
    • Check if MENU->NETWORK->Ctrl w/ Smartphone is OFF
    • Check if MENU->NETWORK->PC Remote Function is OFF
    • Navigate to Camera MENU -> SETUP->USB Connection
      • Set to Mass Storage
      • confirm OK

STEP 19 b

  • Enable GeoTagging via MENU->Logging mode-> Direct EXIF (or SD card)
  • Enable HotShoe capturing via MENU->Capture detection->Hotshoe sync
  • Now you can also preview GPS data and gimbal angles in the Entire’s GUI
  • MENU->(Geotagging)Settings->GPS Data Preview
  • Data shown in the preview are updated online and should react to gimbal movements

STEP 20

  • Open the MENU -> Miscellaneous
  • Scroll down to GeoTagging features
  • And insert X, Y, Z offsets.
  • When GPS is used, offset is counted from body center (if correct offset is configured in the FC). If your flight controller does not have configured antennas offsets, configure offset from the camera to the antenna.
  • When RTK is used, offset is counted from body center (if correct offset is configured in the FC). If your flight controller does not have configured antennas offsets, configure offset from the camera to the antenna A.
 

Offset is in millimeters!

offset_polarity
offsets

STEP 21

  • Your setup is ready to be used at this point
  • Entire has Self-Test routines for GeoTagging to easily check if all wiring is working well
  • Make sure that all equipment is turned ON and camera is set to MASS STORAGE MODE
  • Click to MENU->Configuration test and let the Entire to do a self-test
    • At the beginning of the test, one photo will be triggered
    • Entire will check if HotShoe sensor has properly recognized trigger
    • Entire will check all necessary input data connections
    • In case of any problems, result will provide hints to solve the issue
    • Test photo will not be geotagged in the test method!
selftest
Installation for Gremsy T3v2

Our installation set is directly compatible ONLY for v3 gimbals (T3v3 S1v3 and so on, and T7).

  • Optionally you can use any gremsy gimbal with COM port, however wiring must be customized.
  • Check image for T3v2 rework wiring –>
  • Once wiring is reworked, follow installation steps for T3v3
T3v3 to T3v2
Overall wiring scheme
Options of Gremsy connection
  • Gimbal control
    This  option is used to control of the gimbal Pitch and Yaw via AIR Commander Link.
  • Force SBUS mode
    This option forces gimbal to use SBUS mode. At latest firmwares of the Gremsy (765 and later), gimbal locks in MavLink mode, once Entire is connected. Entire can force gimbal to use SBUS mode via MavLink (with this option enabled). You have to set gimbal to SBUS control mode also via gTune app. If you would like to use MavLink control of the gimbal, leave this option disabled and enable “MavLink forwarding“.
  • MavLink forwarding
    With this option enabled will the Entire forward all input MavLink data (received from PixHawk)  to the Gremsy gimbal and also all data received from the gimbal are forwarded to the PixHawk. This option is used when gimbal is controlled via MavLink ot you need to get direct communication with gimbal for example from ground station.
  • Gimbal tuning (Herelink)
    This option enables remote configuration of stabilization parameters. Remote settings of those values are available only from MavCam (HereLink app).