Gimbal & Payload

What is a gimbal on a drone

Optical payload, or gimbal,  is now an essential part of any drone used for surveillance, mapping, or photogrammetry. This cameras provide stabilization to remove the vibrations coming from the drone’s body. Stabilization is achieved with the help of brushless motors, in multiple axes, with the data coming from different sensors embedded in the device (IMU and encoders).

MotioNew provides different models of camera gimbal drone and payloads suitable for different needs and applications. If you want to equip your fixed wing drone with gimbal camera or your VTOL drone with gimbal camera, you have come to the right place. We provide various models of gimbal cameras including but not limited to gimbal models with a single sensor – which can be either a day light sensor, or a night sensor, or gimbal camera with multiple sensors (more than two sensors) with usually a day sensor and a night sensor, or gimbals with a day sensor and a laser range finder (LRF). The laser range finder can be used to estimate the distance of the drone with the target, and some model are capable of giving the GPS coordinates of the target location.

Night Sensor Options for Gimbal Drones

When talking about a gimbal drone with a night sensor, it can be a gimbal thermal camera, or an infra red (IR) gimbal camera. IR gimbal cameras project an IR light into the environment, and the special sensor which is able to capture the reflected light. The maximum distance is limited by the power of the IR projector. On the other hand, gimbal thermal camera operated based on the temperature and detects the temperature difference between the environment and objects in the environment to do the detection.

Zoom Capabilities of  Gimbal Drone Cameras

Being able to zoom on the target is one of the most desired functionality of a gimbal in drone. The UAV usually flies at a high altitude, and the desired objects are not longer than 3-4m in length. Consequently, to have a clear visual details of the object, it is necessary to be able to zoom on the object. Installing a good lens on the gimbal camera with optical zoom capability makes sure that the image quality will not reduce while zooming on the object. MotioNew gimbal cameras range from 10x optical zoom levels to 40x optical zoom level. On the other hand, some models install a fixed lens on the gimbal in order to reduce the cost, as well as the size and weight of the gimbal drone. A fixed zoom gimbal camera uses digital zoom in order to magnify the objects, and different models have up to 32x digital zoom capabilities. The term hybrid zoom level is usually used when both the optical and digital zoom capabilities are used to multiply the power of the zoom levels.

what is the difference between a 2 axis gimbal and a 3 axis gimbal drone?

In order to have a clean output stream from the gimbal and remove the effect of vibrations of the drones body from the images, stabilization is an important role of the gimbals. So we need a drone camera gimbal stabilizer. Most of the gimbals are 3 axis gimbal stabilizer which do the stabilization on 3 axis (roll, pitch, and yaw stabilization). There are also some model that only do the stabilization on 2 axis, called 2 axis gimbal drone. Obviously, 3 axis gimbal drones have a better performance, but the 2 axis gimbal drones are cheaper. While the stabilziation can be done on 3 axis, the control of the gimbal is only performed on 2 axis. Using a remote control or by using some automatic commands from the onboard autopilot, the pitch and yaw axis of the gimbal can be controlled to follow a target.

Advanced Features and Output Options of  Gimbal Cameras

Our gimbal cameras use the sensors from known manufacturers like Sony and Panasonic. Coming with different Mega Pixels (MP), they have Full HD and 4K output video resolution. Different gimbal models have HDMI video output or Ethernet video output (IP video output), and the frame per second video output (fps) can be 30fps or more (e.g., 60fps). A full resolution copy of the gimbal footage is recorded onboard on the SD card (or TF card), while a lower resolution video output is transmitted to the ground side with a wireless transmission system, and can be recorded on the ground side as well. Some extra information form the UAV or the gimbal itself can be shown using an On-screen display (OSD). This information includes the current zoom level of the gimbal camera, the roll and pitch (pan and tilt) positions of the gimbal, and some extra information from the drone like the speed, position of the target, and so on.

AI Functionality in New MotioNew Gimbal Camera Models

New models of Our gimbal camera models come with Artificial Intelligence (AI) functionality for object detection, object recognition, and object tracking. They can identify human and car out of the box, with the possibility to train them to identify customized objects based on your needs and application. For example if you are doing wildlife monitoring and protection, you may want to train the AI model to detect and identify specific wildlife species. After that, you can lock on the detected target and track it automatically. Even if the target goes behind an obstruction momentarily – e.g., behind another object, building, or a bridge, the gimbal will not lose lock and will continue tracking the target after it becomes visible again.

Considerations for Choosing a Drone with Camera and Gimbal:

If you want a drone with camera and gimbal, you should first pay attention to the size and maximum payload of your drone. If your drone can not carry a lot of weight, the model of the gimbal for drone should be chosen such that it is light weight. We have Hawkeye series gimbal cameras with small sizes and weights, fitting within the palm of your hand, as well as larger models which weigh more than 20kg and are suitable for installation under a helicopter.

Range of Prices for MotioNew UAV Gimbal Camera Models

UAV gimbal camera models fall within a wide range of prices to suit the needs of different applications. Whether it is going to be used in surveillance missions, fire fighting missions, public safety, inspection, search and rescue missions, or disaster prevention, we have the right option of gimbal for drone for you. The cost of a single unit of gimbal camera can be as low as 300$, while higher end models with embedded artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities can cost more than a few thousand dollars.