Topotek Gimbals¶
Topotek provides a wide variety of camera gimbals which communicate with ArduPilot using a custom serial protocol.
![../_images/topotek-gimbal.png](../_images/topotek-gimbal.png)
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¶
![../_images/topotek-autopilot.png](../_images/topotek-autopilot.png)
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
Control and Testing¶
See Gimbal / Mount Controls for details on how to control the gimbal using RC, GCS or Auto mode mission commands