Gyro Stabilised Camera Platform
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Stabilised Platform Specification |
The camera platform is a Pan and Tilt unit into which Watson Industries have installed gyro stabilisation and control.
Each axis comprises a servo-motor, driving the platform through anti-backlash gearing, a precision potentiometer for positional measurements and a pair of limit stops. Furthermore, Watson Industries have installed a Gyro module into each axis and a Servo-drive module, primarily used to derive power for the motors, along with a Joystick Controller to operate the platform, all of which contain a microcontroller.
The two Gyro modules each contain a rugged vibrating-structure gyroscope, whose angular rate signal is converted from analogue to 16-bit digital form. The effect of temperature variation on the DC bias of the gyro is corrected and then the digital angular rate signal is output to the Joystick Controller on request. The pan Gyro module is located inside the Pan and Tilt unit and the tilt Gyro module is located on the platform that is rigidly mounted on tilt axis.
The Joystick Controller assesses the desired motion of the platform based on an operator’s use of the joystick. It then compares this desired motion against the real motion of the platform, sensed by the two Gyro modules, developing an error value. A servo-control algorithm, known as a P.I.D., uses the current (Proportional), past (Integral), and future (Differential) value of this error to derive a motor voltage that will drive the error to zero. In other words, the servo-control system ensures that the motion of the platform exactly matches that of the joystick.
Currently Watson Industries are providing gyro stabilised tripod heads to Lighthouse Films for various projects as well as units for use as seaborne thermal imaging systems.
Copyright 2008 Watson Industries Ltd ©