Topotek Gimbals

Topotek provides a wide variety of camera gimbals which communicate with ArduPilot using a custom serial protocol. The smallest is the GIP335 which weighs 60g

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Warning

Support for these gimbals is available in ArduPilot 4.6 (and higher)

Where to Buy

These gimbals can be purchased directly from Topotek

Connecting to the Autopilot

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Connect the gimbal’s RX, TX and GND pins to one of the autopilot’s serial ports as shown above.

Connect with a ground station and set the following parameters. The params below assume the autopilot’s telem2 port is used and the Camera1 control instance,

  • SERIAL2_PROTOCOL to 8 (“Gimbal”)

  • SERIAL2_BAUD to “115” for 115200 bps

  • MNT1_TYPE to “12” (“Topotek”) and reboot the autopilot

  • MNT1_PITCH_MIN to -90

  • MNT1_PITCH_MAX to 45

  • MNT1_YAW_MIN to -180

  • MNT1_YAW_MAX to 180

  • MNT1_RC_RATE to 60 (deg/s) to control speed of gimbal when using RC targetting

  • CAM1_TYPE to 4 / “Mount” to allow control of the camera

  • RC6_OPTION = 213 (“Mount Pitch”) to control the gimbal’s pitch angle with RC channel 6

  • RC7_OPTION = 214 (“Mount Yaw”) to control the gimbal’s yaw angle with RC channel 7

  • RC8_OPTION = 163 (“Mount Lock”) to switch between “lock” and “follow” mode with RC channel 8

  • Optionally these auxiliary functions are also available

    • RC9_OPTION = 9 (“Camera Trigger”) to take a picture

    • RC9_OPTION = 166 (“Camera Record Video”) to start/stop recording of video

    • RC9_OPTION = 167 (“Camera Zoom”) to zoom in and out

    • RC9_OPTION = 168 (“Camera Manual Focus”) to adjust focus in and out

    • RC9_OPTION = 169 (“Camera Auto Focus”) to trigger auto focus

Configuring the Gimbal

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The camera gimbal can be configured using the “GimbalControl” application which can be downloaded from the Topotek Download Resources page

Ethernet Connectivity

Instead of using a UART serial connection, an Ethernet connection may be used to both control the gimbal and display live video stream from the camera

An example setup of a networked ArduPilot vehicle system is detailed in Ethernet Connected Vehicle Example

Two video streams are available on different RTSP URLs

If connected to a PC, VLC can be used to test the feed

  • Set the PC’s IP address so the first three octets match the camera’s IP address which, by default, is 192.168.144.108

  • Open VLC

  • Select “Media”, “Open Network Stream” and enter one of the RTSP URLS listed above

If using QGC, the live video can be configured from the “Application Settings”, “General” screen. Set “Source” to “RTSP Video Stream” and “RTSP URL” to one of the RTSP URLs listed above

Control and Testing

See Gimbal / Mount Controls and Camera Controls for details on how to control the camera and gimbal using RC, GCS or Auto mode mission commands