Downloads for 32-bit boards

Hardware support

• Motors with encoders having a freedom of rotation more than 360º are supported: system will automatically search the nearest limit and return to home position.
• New option «Hardware» — «IMU Sensor» — «Misalignment correction»: allows correcting misalignment of the IMU sensor's internal axes relative to the camera's optical axis and motor's axes. Calibration is supported.
• New CAN_IMU sensor is supported via CAN or I2C interfaces.
• New encoder type is supported: RLS «Orbis» with the PWM 459Hz and SPI interfaces.
• Different type of encoders can be mixed in one system: PWM and SPI, PWM with different frequencies, SPI of a different type, etc.
• New parameter «Hardware» — «Outer motor tilt angle» that provides a support of non-orthogonal motor configurations.
• Encoder calibration is improved: allows to set the range of rotational angle and can be done in abnormal positions.

Start-up sequence, working positions

• New option to move all motors to a home position at startup (encoder firmware only).
• New menu command to switch into portrait mode (ROLL=90) and back. System keeps this mode on profile switching.
• 1-, 2-axis system: option to switch to different stabilization axes automatically at startup or by changing profiles.
• New flag «Hardware» — «Don't power ON motor at system start».

New parameters and functions

• New group of parameters «Advanced» — «Automated motion tasks» to set the speed and acceleration for automatically executed movements like «Look down», «Home position», etc.
• Implemented a calibration of motor non-linearities to improve stabilization quality by compensating the cogging effect (supported by the «Extended» and «Pro» boards only)
• New type of Adjustable Variables: 'relative'. It acts as a multiplier for applying to a user-editable parameter.
• New type of Adjustable Variables: look-up table. Allows a better control when setting dependency between signal and variable.
• New parameter «Follow mode» — «Follow range» allows setting the angle that defines the active range from zero to full speed in the follow mode.
• New option «Follow» — «Disable follow mode by holding menu button»: use it to disable follow mode temporarily by pressing and holding menu button without the need of switching profiles.
  
• New menu commands «Setup and start time-lapse motion», «Repeat time-lapse». Use it to program time-lapse motion sequence in few seconds without the need of GUI connection. Excellent tutorial from Tomasz Walczak.
• Scripting language: new command «SET_ADJ_VAR» with example of using it for drift-free time-lapse shooting
  

GUI improvements

• Parameters was re-arranged and better grouped by their meaning
• New menu «View» — «View level» to choose the level of complexity from «Basic» to «Developer». Developers can further adjust it in the configuration file «conf/view_level.properties».
• New backup manager that allows to save a snapshot containing all settings and calibrations to the cloud; One password-protected 'factory' and up to 3 'user' backups are supported.
• New option to save settings into .profile files based on templates. Can be used to selectively update parameters when copying the configuration from one system to others.

Bugfixes

• Serial port communication might impact stabilization in case of poor wireless connection.
• MavLink gimbal control was reversed for the YAW axis
• «Tiny rev.A» can not connect to the GUI via USB port
• GUI does not work after upgrading CP210x drivers to version 6.7.4 (done automatically by Windows 10)
  

New features

• New enhanced PID auto-tuning algorithm:
• Fast and reliable;
• Finds most optimal PID gains to minimize error of stabilization and prevent self-excitation;
• Flexible: can tune PID from zero or slightly adjust gains starting from the current values;
• Able to tune other parameters, like low-pass filters;
• Has safety interrupts to prevent damage in case of wrong system operation;
• No GUI connection is required — can be run by the menu button command;
• Allows to update PID settings in all profiles;
• New settings «Filters» — «D-term LPF filters» that can help to remove high-frequency oscillations in some setups and allows to set greater PID gains
• Notch filters are extended: can be used as peak filter; gain is set in dB instead of %
• Acceleration limiter setting is split per-axis
• New types of encoders are supported for YAW axis in the regular firmware: PWM and I2C.
• New option «PID Gain multiplier» to extend the range of  PID settings or link PID gain to adjustable variables, to tune it on-line by the analog potentiometer or RC.
• Serial API was extended by many new commands
• Option to disable of using gyro signal from the frame IMU for stabilization, but keep it for a frame angle detection; option to pass it through  low-pass filter with adjustable cut-off frequency. Both options  are useful in the case of high level of vibrations on the frame.
• Add a support of MavLink protocol for Ardupilot FC connection (beta state), that allows to increase a precision of stabilization and control over gimbal in automated missions.
• Option to backup/restore IMU calibrations to a file
• (Encoder version) Motor over-heating protection is improved: more precise model, virtual temperature is shown in the GUI to simplify tuning process; new safety action: alarm and cut-off motors
• (Encoder version) «Encoder field offset» parameter is calibrated automatically, no frame movement is required.
• Parameter «Magnetic linkage of a motor» will improve precision of stabilization; new auto-calibration function for this parameter
• Angle of motors can be used as a source in the «Adjustable Variables» to set a dependency of the system parameters on the camera-to-frame relative position, set by the inner (counting from the camera) and the middle motor's angles
• Option to enable 3rd serial port: UART2 (Rx: AUX3, Tx: n/c); option to swap pins with the RC_SERIAL port (Rx: RC_ROLL, Tx: RC_YAW). In the encoder-enabled version, ports are swapped by default.
• New menu commands to switch to selfie mode by rotating camera 180 degrees from current position or 0/180 relative to home position, by the YAW axis.
• Several new commands in scripting language; option to use dynamic variables linked to the RC signal sources
• Option to automatically switch to upside-down mode (both frame and camera) and auto-rotate camera when frame is rotated +-180 degrees over PITCH axis.

Bugfixes

• Fixed problems with USB connection in «Tiny» boards
• RC control is slightly improved: smoother «Angle» mode, no overshoot after fast breaks
• Script parser: properly handles speed below 0.07 degree/sec for very slow time-lapses
• Fixed problems with the firmware upgrade under modern macOS versions
• Many minor improvements of the system performance in various conditions

New hardware:

• Support of ICM20608 gyroscope+accelerometer sensor.
• New option «I2C high-speed». Use it carefully: high-speed mode may cause I2C errors.
• Support for saving and restoring of calibration data to the IMU's EEPROM (if present).
• Support of analog encoder (rotary position sensor) on YAW axis in the regular firmware.
• New option «Advanced» «Order of hardware axes» that supports several configurations besides the standard «Camera PITCH — ROLL — YAW» configuration.
• Support of magnetometer sensor (compass) to prevent drift of gyroscope. Can be combined with the frame IMU or the main IMU.

Control algorithms:

• New setting: «RC» «Order of Euler angles» that allows extending the possible trajectories of a camera and the range of working angles.
• Improved the precision of RC control in the «Follow» mode
• New option «Follow» «Apply an offset correction when an axis is not following.»
• New option «Follow» «Follow rate inside dead-band» to apply very soft control to keep camera always in the center of the dead-band.

Sensors calibration:

• Regular calibration of Accelerometer and gyroscope does not discard the results of temperature calibration but improves it.
• ACC calibration at «normal» Z-top position does not discard the results of 6-point calibration.
• Magnetometer (compass) calibration was significantly improved:
  • you do not need a GUI connection (allows to calibrate in the field by menu button);
  • an ellipsoid approximation is used;
• New option to skip gyro calibration if gimbal is not fixed well during startup: it allows to start with fresh calibration for best quality, or to start immediately with the previous calibration.

IMU improvements:

• Advanced algorithms for correction of mutual drift in both IMUs.
• «2nd IMU above YAW» position is more reliable now.
• New option «ACC low-pass filter» that helps to improve the stability of the IMU angles. Under dynamic conditions like motion with short lateral accelerations.

Other functionality:

• New adjustable variables GYRO_HEADING_CORRECTION and FRAME_HEADING_ANGLE that helps to manually correct YAW axis drift.
• New option «Advanced» «Set to the normal position on profile switch».
• Better handling of high-speed control from scripts.
• Improved the range of working angles in 1- and 2-axes systems, making use of 2nd IMU or encoders; all possible 2-axes configurations are supported now.
• New menu command: «Untwist cables».
• New checkbox «Advanced» «Upside-down PITCH auto-rotation» to turn camera when turning frame upside-down.
• New option «Follow» «Use frame IMU, if possible» to use 2nd IMU for the «Follow Mode» control, to make it more reliable.
• New menu command: «Center YAW axis» to move a camera to the neutral position by YAW.
• New menu command: «Level Roll, Pitch to the horizon».
• New option «Service» «Blink profile number» — onboard LED will show currently selected profile.
• Proper handling of «gimbal lock» condition — when YAW and PITCH motor axes are parallel.
• (GUI) New «Emergency stop» option (stop motors in case of the big rate of I2C errors).
• (GUI) Serial-over-UDP connection is supported to configure remote devices via a network (WiFi, Ethernet, Internet).
• Menu button pressed 12 times in series will reset «Serial speed» setting to default value 115200.
• OuterP, OuterI gain increased 5x times.

Encoder-enabled firmware:

• Option to emergency stop if the motor angles reported by the encoder differs a lot from the angle reported by the 2nd IMU.
• Encoder-to-motor gearing ratio can be adjusted.
• In the case of geared setup, the uncertainty of the motor or the frame angle detection at startup can be removed with the help of 2nd IMU.
• Option to enable Briefcase position auto-detection on-the-fly when in «Follow» mode: just hold the camera by hand and turn frame ±90 degrees.
• More reliable soft limits; option to enable/disable them for each motor independently.
• Back-EMF compensation is applied at full battery voltage amplitude. It allows getting the maximum speed from the motor (that is limited by the Kv parameter of a motor) even with the low «POWER» setting.

Serial API

• CMD_CONTROL command with the extended format allows specifying different control modes for each axis.
• CMD_AHRS_HELPER command allows accessing internal IMU attitude in DCM form, to use it in the external system or to replace or correct it by the information acquired from the high-grade external IMU.

• User-written scripts (see Language Reference and user manual)
• IMU temperature calibration and compensation.
• New tool «Analyze» to make an analysis of system response.
• Notch filters have adjustable gain (0…100%)
• «Motor outputs» settings group is changed to per-profile basis
• GUI and firmware support Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) module communication (experimental)
• New setting group «Outer PI controller» to adjust values for outer (cascade) PI controller (default value is 100 suit most setups)
• New option «Swap frame and main sensors» to use frame IMU as main IMU and vice versa
• New option «Gyro dead band» to cut off gyro noise around zero (that may be audible as 'white noise' in heavy setups)
• New option «I2C high-speed». Use it carefully: high-speed mode may cause I2C errors.

Bugfixes:

• Problem with SSL connection during firmware upgrade is solved
  
• Frame upside-down command loads default profile after reset
• Frame upside-down detection doesn't work if «skip gyro calibration» is disabled.
• Acceleration limiter does not work properly with the big speed setting in the «Follow» mode: camera overshoots target position

ENCODER version:

• New encoder type «Analog». See updated manual //www.basecamelectronics.com/files/SimpleBGC_32bit_Encoders.pdf
• Different encoder types may be assigned to different axis
• Option to adjust sound volume in the 'beep by motors' mode in the 'Service' tab
• Bug fixed: upside-down frame switching is not correct
• Several bugs fixed related to encoder calibration

• (GUI): new option to enable auto-detection of system startup in the upside-down mode
• (GUI): New interactive dialog to detect sensor orientation
• (GUI): New interactive dialog to calibrate sensors
• Second UART port to process Serial API commands: Rx goes to RC_ROLL, Tx goes to RC_YAW. It can be enabled in the RC tab —>«RC_ROLL pin mode“
• Spektrum satellite new binding and data format options (used in the ”Bind RC» command and to decode spektrum protocol)
• Bug fixed: in the Follow mode when the camera is pitched down about 90 degrees, its not controlled by YAW
• Bug fixed: calibration of accelerometer in the simple mode did not reset extended mode calibration, making a result of simple calibration not correct.
• Bug fixed: «Estimate angle from motors» doesnt work in 2.43b6
• Minor bug fixed with firmware update dialog.
• Recovery firmware works now with USB connection on v.3.1 «Tiny» boards.

• New GUI tab "Adjustable variables"  to change system parameters remotely in real-time:
•   10 slots for trigger-type controls
•   15 slots for analog-type controls
• New sound model: if "Beep with motors" option is enabled, gimbal plays various sounds instead of simple beeps.
• New Serial API commands to communicate with external I2C devices
• New Serial API commands to store up to 128 bytes of user data in the EEPROM (may be usefull for third-party GUI or external application developers)
• New RC signal source "API_VIRT_CH1…32" controlled via Serial API to simplify gimbal control (see examples in the specification)
• PID Auto Tuning should give more precise results because of decreased error threshold
• Better error handling on writing parameters to the board via slow connection.
• (GUI) New menu option to save all profiles into single file. This file can be loaded back by standard "Load from file…" command
• (GUI) New menu option to write all profiles to the board.
• Updated examples for Arduino: SBGC_Serial_API_Examples.zip (27Kb 24.08.2015)
• (GUI) New command to backup/restore whole EEPROM (including all calibrations)
• Analog joystick auto-detection: if signal at startup is outside +-50 of neutral point, analog input is disabled. Option can be enabled in the RC tab.

• Bug fixed: in Follow mode, when ROLL is locked, «INIT.ANGLE» has no effect.
• New command LOOK_DOWN: Camera pithes down to 90 degree with the speed configured in the RC tab.
• New command HOME_POSITION: Camera goes to home position (set by INIT.ANGLE for each axis) with the speed configured in the RC tab.
• Add a 4-second delay after the «Upside-down mode» command is switched, to let to rotate gimbal to new position.
• (GUI) New option «Remember last used profile», to make the profile (activated by RC or menu button) default. If disabled, system always starts with profile set as default from the GUI.
• (GUI) Firmware upgrade now works under Mac OS and Linux (see User manual for details)
• (GUI) Option to log realtime data to CSV file for further analysis

• 4xPWM servo output with adjustable rate to output virtual channels decoded from RC input, or driven by Serial API
• PID auto-tuning
• Adaptive PID gains
• Digital filters to remove resonances: 3 x Notch filters, 2nd-order low-pass filter
• Bug fixed: upside-down settings lost after switching to different profile
• «Frame upside-down» command now inverts RC control for YAW, together with inverting YAW motor and rotating second IMU
• Bug fixed: should  ignore CMD channel during system init
• MOTORS_ON command resets system to home position
• New option for second (frame) IMU: «Below YAW + PID source». It means, if Frame IMU is mounted below YAW motor, it can be used as data source for PID controller, and in some cases can give better result, than main IMU.
• (GUI) UI elements re-arranged to adopt new settings and make groupping more consistent
• (GUI) Separate LPF setting for RC and Follow Mode
• (GUI) New setting «RC Inverse» (you can use it or switch Min. and Max. angles, as before)
• Last used profile is saved as default when switched by service button, RC CMD command of from GUI.
• Bug fixed: s-bus fast mode was not decoded correctly

New features

• New button command «Frame upside-down». Use it to quickly re-configure system for new frame position (YAW motor is inverted, second IMU orientation is updated).
• «Beep by motors» option: motors emit sound instead of internal buzzer, when motors are energized.
• Lost of synchronization detection:
  • better recovery from this mode
  • notification by LED and buzzer (enable «Errors» checkbox in the «Service» tab)
• Smooth motor start at power-on
• Option to disable RC limits in SPEED mode (set min=max)
• Improved PID and IMU algorithms lets to achieve precision +-0.06 degree in dynamics, +-0.02 degree in static
• Stable work at bigger ROLL angles (system keep stability up to +-80 degree for ROLL inclination)
• Short beep on each press of menu button (if buzzer confirmation mode is enabled in GUI)
• (GUI) New extended debug variables RMS_ERR_X, FREQ_X helps to detect problems caused by oscillations
• (GUI) New «Erase EEPROM» menu command
• (GUI) Profile name is stored in the board after renaming. Max. 48 ASCII characters allowed (or less, if national characters used)
• (GUI) New option in the RC tab: «INIT.ANGLE» to set initial angle of the camera at system startup, if RC control is not applied.

Changes in settings (you need to take it into account when using profiles, saved for previous version)

• Follow speed rate is decreased 4x times, range is increased to 0…255, to make adjustments finer.
• Range for I setting was increased 2x times (old 0.01 equals new 0.02).
• Range for P, D setting was increased 4x times (values will be updated automatically after upgrading).
• Upper limit for PID values increased to 255 (2.55 for I).
• Upper limit for RC speed was increased to 255 and its effect was decreased 4x times to get finer step in adjustment.

Bugfixes

• Changing sensor orientation in GUI does not reset calibration data.
• Fixed problems with RC control in Follow mode and Follow<->Lock transition.
• Battery voltage sensor drifting with time issue was fixed (but may be required to re-calibrate it).
• Bugfix: calibrate poles and direction did not work as expected.
• Add UART parity setting auto-detection from firmware side. Together with GUI auto-detection, it allows to connect Bluetooth modules with Parity=No|Even (but with Parity=No, module doesn«t allow to upgrade firmware).
• PID distribution between motors is more correct when frame is picthed and if ROLL and YAW motors differs a lot.
• Bug with the Serial Control fixed (board hangs after first command sent via Serial API).
• IMU: better handling of corrupted sensor data (wrong calibration, vibration, accelerated motion, etc.) and faster reach of settle point.