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User Manual 

XProHeli Silk Gimbal

 

 

Silk Gimbal 

Page 2 

©2014 XPROHELI. All Rights Reserved.  

Warning & 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, quadcopters etc…) 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 not a toy. People under the age of 18 years old 
should not operate any multi-rotor unless supervised by an 
experienced adult. The props on the XP2 like other multi-rotors are 
sharp and can cause serious damage to people and property. 
 
Never fly around people who are unaware of the damage these 
devices can cause. It is your responsibility to know the laws and 
regulations in your area that you are flying and it is your 
responsibility as a pilot to make sure you are not trespassing on 
other people’s property. You as the owner/operator are responsibly 
for all liability of your setup. Never fly around crowds and never fly 
around livestock/animals. Use common sense. 

Liability Disclaimer  

XProHeli shall not be responsible for any 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, hexcopers or octocopters. The Purchaser 
and any Pilot in Command (PIC) assumes full and unlimited 
responsibility for all applications and uses of any products sold by 
XProHeli. 

 

 

Summary of Contents for Silk Gimbal

Page 1: ...ilk Gimbal Silk Gimbal Page i 2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved TheAppTimes Silk Gimbal User Manual This user manual provides information on the specifications installation and functions of the XProHe...

Page 2: ...User Manual XProHeli Silk Gimbal Silk Gimbal Page ii 2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved Revision History Version Date Revision Description 1 0 7 21 2014 Manual Creation...

Page 3: ...ilk Setup Videos 9 Unpacking your SILK 10 3 Silk Setup 11 Overview 11 Landing Gear Stand 12 Assembly 13 Mount Silk to Landing Gear Stand 15 Mounting and Balancing Your Camera 17 Overview 17 Mounting C...

Page 4: ...bal system that will give the end user the ability to capture amazing awesome footage that has never been seen before Our team at XProHeli respectfully requests that you take the time to read this man...

Page 5: ...are unaware of the damage these devices can cause It is your responsibility to know the laws and regulations in your area that you are flying and it is your responsibility as a pilot to make sure you...

Page 6: ...IES DAMAGES AND EXPENSES INCLUDING ATTORNEYS FEES ACTUALLY INCURRED ON ACCOUNT OF DEATH OR INJURY TO ANY PERSON OR DAMAGE TO ANY PROPERTY ARISING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY PRODUCTS SOLD OR SUPPLI...

Page 7: ...gs 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 processor Each Silk includes...

Page 8: ...h almost all FPV transmitters Opertating Modes The Silk has a mode function button on the bottom of the controller that allows you to access multiple handheld operating features on the fly Each Silk i...

Page 9: ...ny multirotor with a suitable payload capacity o Gross Multirotor Payload Silk 967g Camera Lens weight 900g Landing Gear Weight Silk Stand 330g If you are flying a custom multirotor system or other no...

Page 10: ...re you want it before setup Making the proper adjustments to the Silk to balance the camera is vital to good video capture performance The preset power settings for the Silk work extremely well out of...

Page 11: ...only landing gear 330g Working Rotation Range Yaw Axis 360 o Tilt Axis 90o Roll Axis 45o Input Power 3 S 11 1V System Requirements GUI Mac OS Windows Linux Motors Brushless rewound 14 22 poles Batter...

Page 12: ...ilk https www youtube com watch v R5aqBqFnDB4 Silk Care https www youtube com watch v i_dfyVp0p3M Battery Charging https www youtube com watch v 10sI2esiEjk In the Box https www youtube com watch v S0...

Page 13: ...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 Silk Assembled Ready to Film Custom wate...

Page 14: ...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 poi...

Page 15: ...bal and temporarily set it on the stand This is really useful for balancing your camera and is also a nice feature to use when the Silk is in handheld operation as you can use the stand to set the gim...

Page 16: ...ssembly The landing gear stand for the Silk ships in 3 main parts Upper Silk Stand Left Right Legs Rear cross brace optional but recommended On flat surface begin assembling Upper Silk Stand vertical...

Page 17: ...n distance apart Line up the rear of the legs with the cross brace to help align Insert ends of cross brace clamps onto left right legs Make sure legs and stand symmetry are even and then tighten end...

Page 18: ...h 2 20 x long stainless fasteners provided 5 32 hex tool through the top plate of the Silk and screw into the pressed in pem nuts of the Silk stand Depending on your mounting preference or mode of ope...

Page 19: ...User Manual XProHeli Silk Gimbal Silk Gimbal Page 16 2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved Use lower plate for 2nd operator use or handheld stand...

Page 20: ...ount your camera The Camera is mounted through the camera tray slot 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 for...

Page 21: ...User Manual XProHeli Silk Gimbal Silk Gimbal Page 18 2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved Camera Tray Mount Camera using provided D Ring Camea Mounted...

Page 22: ...ty on the pitch and roll axis by loosening the set screws so that you can slide the assembly in the opposite direction of the weighted side to balance the camera Be cautious when adjusting the left an...

Page 23: ...itch Axis depending on your camera you may need to further adjust the height of the camera to also align the center of gravity with the Roll axis The goal is to get both the Roll and Pitch axis in lin...

Page 24: ...an axis similar to the roll and pitch axis by holding up the top pan axis plate at a 90 degree angle If the pan axis is weighted to far to the left or right side or weighted to far forward or too far...

Page 25: ...fiber tube either left or right to counter balance the heavy side Once your assembly is balanced it is recommended to make a reference mark on the camera tray by using a marker or a piece of tape so...

Page 26: ...lso allows you to run any 15mm rod components that you may already have Mounting the handles begins with assembling the 2 10 15mm rods with the male to male threaded rod adapter Mount the 2 15mm rod c...

Page 27: ...n 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 Your...

Page 28: ...r to powering on your Silk for the first time you should have already gone through the process of mounting and balancing your camera and your camera should be mounted and ready to go Your power source...

Page 29: ...f you plan to supply power to the Silk 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 b...

Page 30: ...ile in flight preferred for single operation mount your yaw motor top plate to the Silk Stand as shown You can mount your XPX airframe to the Silk in an upright configuration however we recommend moun...

Page 31: ...d 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 ou...

Page 32: ...Rights Reserved Dual Operator If you want the landing gear to rotate with the gimbal while in flight preferred for 2nd operator mount your yaw motor top plate to the Silk Stand as shown To begin find...

Page 33: ...the two through slots on the front of the top plate and fasten the mounting plate using the 20 toggle screws to the left and right lander pem nuts on your XPX Connect your power wiring from your DC to...

Page 34: ...dard size 6S pack for the XPX is 8000mah Your flight pack should be centered on the quad and secured with the Velcro strap NOTE The SILK MUST HAVE A 3S POWER SOURCE TO OPERATE Plugging in a 6S 22 2V p...

Page 35: ...iginal shipped version we will put together a step by step video on the firmware upgrade process and necessary adjustments Connecting Silk to Your Computer Connect the board to your computer with a mi...

Page 36: ...nt profile parameters will be saved to the board To return 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...

Page 37: ...d save different profiles The Silk Profiles are configured as follows 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 s...

Page 38: ...pgrade Firmware and SimpleBGC GUI software versions and update options Upgrade firmware at your own risk 4 Control Panel Graphic visualization of gimbal orientation angles for all three axes Black arr...

Page 39: ...the start and stop points of the follow mode features If you are doing very high speed moves or are running a camera payload in the upper range you may find even better stabilization quality by adjus...

Page 40: ...low ROLL start degrees 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 is so the ROLL does not rem...

Page 41: ...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 center to the left or right and is not...

Page 42: ...rofile 4 LOCK MODE Start with the PITCH axis then ROLL then YAW Begin by deflecting the camera with your hand on each axis and watch the speed and smoothness of the return action of the GYRO data on t...

Page 43: ...test the gimbal While tuning you can reference the gyro data in the Realtime Data graph to estimate stabilization quality The picture below is an example of 3 manual deflections of the camera on the...

Page 44: ...ming of the gimbal independently from the direct physical movements of the gimbal unit Several different RC protocols including standard PWM Sum PWM and Futaba S Bus are supported Setup for each of th...

Page 45: ...be a signal from the external flight controller This is an advanced feature that we do not recommend RC MIX You can mix 2 inputs together before applying them to the ROLL PITCH or YAW axis This featu...

Page 46: ...wed 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 For...

Page 47: ...d Yaw axis Recovery Steps 1 Load Write 2 40B8 Firmware this can be done using the 2 41B4 GUI in the Upgrade tab 2 With Motors OFF in GUI Load and write Backup Profiles 1 2 4 Note IF you did not backup...

Page 48: ...ge 45 2014 XPROHELI All Rights Reserved 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 t...

Page 49: ...mounted crooked not parallel to motor axis Perform 6 Point IMU calibration Align Sensor Square with Axis During Fast motion with acceleration camera deflects and then slowly comes back level This is...

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