Can the dual gimbal for the m300 be used to carry the P1 and the R2A?
I’d like to try to knock out 2 birds with one flight.
Untested by me, but there is no physical reason that it shouldn’t work.
I have done a similar test with an M210 using an x4s and the R2A which worked fine. Obvious hit to flight time, but results were good.
1kg (R2A) + .8kg (P1) is well under the 2.7kg payload capacity of the M300.
Other considerations:
Most likely you’ll be planning a mission for the P1 and not the R2A as it is a DJI gimbal and the R2A is a dummy sensor. Therefore it would be wise to think about field of view and which lens to use to suitably accommodate both sensors. The R2A’s a5100 camera uses a 18mm lens.
Be sure to do a CG calibration prior to mission as you are adding a fair bit of extra payload weight and it could cause undesirable results if you don’t.
Is the 24mp image from the a5100 not suitable enough for your desired output? All of the Ortho’s that I’ve gotten from the R2A are pretty good (all NADIR photos obviously). No facade photos, but who needs those when you have a survery grade LiDAR point cloud. Most are just looking for a 2D ortho to accompany their deliverables anyway.
I have been thinking about this too, but mostly because I am very green. I, like you suggested am looking for a 2d ortho, but I have not yet found what the best quick, easy, and cheap orthomosaic software for this. Do you have a suggestion as to what software I should use to create flat 2d ortho’s using the R2a photos?
To go along with this conversation, has anyone ran a camera on the upper mount above the m300 to have a better image to fly with other then the fpv camera? From what I’ve read the m300 is still limited to what cameras it runs and some only run on the lower mount (P1). Not sure what the Z30 can do, but interested if it could give me a better image to fly manually with.
Better than the FPV camera on the M300?
How far are you trying to go?
I admit the OEM FPV camera has its limits… but its pretty good when you compare it to other industry offerings.
I would personally not use a Z30 over the M300 1080p FPV view. I think that it’s a marked improvement over the previous generation of fpv cameras and the vectoring is also appreciated. It is a 178° camera so you are seeing a pretty wide image so I could see why you might desire to have a different view however I personally have not tested any other cameras on the top mount while using the R2A. However I have mounted the R2A on the top and as long as you do the CG calibration, it works fine for the small percentage of use cases where you would need an upwards facing LiDAR scanner that needs GNSS LOS.
Not trying to go far at all. Just want a more focused and adjustable image to fly manually with confidence. The FPV camera is pretty good for what it is, but the depth perception, too wide of angle and all the telemetry in the way makes me want a more comfortable image to be flying with. I guess those damn FPV drones with the goggles have spoiled me. I am going to test out that upward mount for the R2A under a bridge. Thanks for the help.
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If you’re gonna mount the R2A on the top and fly under a bridge, if it’s ANY GPS signal block/loss, your data is unusable (bad ghosting, etc). the bridge would have to be very similar to the one Harrison flew and featured in one of his videos. solid surface bridge scenarios will not allow the R2A to perform correctly. Been there, done that. Even handheld at a 45 degree angle walking parallel to the bridge, trying to get usable data for full 360 LiDAR data set. no go…
Well you could mount an air unit on the M300, and use the video from that if you want. It would honestly be a better image than the Z30 by far. I’ve done this plenty of times with an i2.
You are correct. I tested it out before I attached the R2A and got errors right in the middle. So yeah, going to have to find a funner bridge to practice on.