xAircraft STELLA gimbal - Preview

The xAircraft STELLA...   110 grams a INCREDIBLE light & beautiful little gimbal.  

Check out the unbox and powerup video and also a full-flight test video.  This little gimbal ROCKS.

 

 The mail man delivered the xAircraft STELLA brushless gimbal today,  and I gotta say so far impressions are very positive,  

Some of the highlights for the STELLA:
* Completely RTF, pull the thing out of the box, attach to multi-rotor and plug it in.. done. go fly.
* Kit contains ALL required cables.
* GoPro video-out is pre-wired into the arm of the gimbal.
* SUPER LIGHT, only 110grams 

UPDATE:  STELLA is really compacy and fit mounted under DJI Phantom & Walkera qr x350
I have designed a 3D printed adapter plate for the Phantom & qr x350 available here.

After unpacking the STELLA, I quickly pluged the gimbal into 3S power, and realized that hand-holding the gimbal cause too much shake, when powering sitting on the table things worked perfect.  in practical use this have turned out to be a non-issue as I power my hex while its on the ground, the STELLA gimbal powers up along with the Flight Control systems.

Buildwise, considering the low weight, I am surprised how rigid the arms feel, I do not feel any flex in the arms or motors, and have not seen any signs of arm vibration while flying the gimbal.

Light weight is a big deal with aircrafts, because any weight that is not contributing to the flying, is holding you back. getting a lighter gimbal, means two things,  for one, less weight means longer flight, but the more important thing is better control, anytime the aircraft and flight-control system have less weight to manage, the aircraft is more responsive and precise in flight.  

 

 

 

FLYING the gimbal.   in flight the STELLA seems quite relaxed,    unlike some gimbals, it do not make any noise, I like a quiet gimbal.   the results are perfect, my biggest complaint when looking at the above test flight video, would be the lack of dampening of the pan moves.  the constant yaw corrections become painfully obvious when the pitch and roll is so well stabilized.
The other obvious benefit of the light gimbal is, well the 110grams,   I mounted the gimbal on top of my mini-hex, I already fly a GoPro on the mini-hex, the added 110grams of the gimbal really did not affect the flight of the hex,  which was a huge positive for me, I did try a 200grams gimbal before but that did not feel comfortable in flight, the STELLA have found a home with my mini-hex,  it is attached with 4 small zip-ties and I can install it in about a minute when I want stable video.

 

 
The setup screen for the Stella gimbal,   notice the options for mode 1 or 2.
Also note the option to choose easily speed or position mode for the angle of the gimbal,  to the right is the "initial angle" which set the default position,  my gimbal leaned a little to the left, so I applied +3 degrees to get it perfectly level.

 

Content of the cable pack,  the shot white cable is video out to the optional  xAircraft OSD module,
The buldled up cable is the USB cable, there is also a JST power cable alone with several options of cables to connect roll and pitch from your RX.

The instalation hardware,  to get the dampening balls into the round holes, roll them up and tuck them in. then push and pull a little until they sit right.    if you fly xAircraft quads, you probably have a x640 with a rail system, simply bolt the two rail clips to the gimbal and clip it to the rail system, that have to be the worlds easiest gimbal install.

 

My mini-hex with the gimbal in place, this is my main FPV multi, so you can see the little flightcam build into the body and the VTX antenna sticking out the back.  I do not intend to use the GoPro video to fly on this particularly multi.

My BLACKOUT MiniHEX with the STEALLA mounted on top - total with 3s 2200mah = 966grams 

Its not at all unique to have a small multi weight less than 1000 grams, but when loaded with a brushless gimbal and a GoPro Hero3, thats pretty amazing.

UPDATE:   WOW Andy from Switcherland cut his STELLA appart, (a little) and mounted it on the nose of his QAV400, its a perfect fit and the results are great.  

Visit his website for more details.

 

 

Before you ask.. I got the STELLA from xAircraft America and I paid for it out of my pocket.

xAircraft STELLA RTF Brushless Gimbal    

 

 

 

 

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Comments

[Rob]

Thanks for the response Bo.

I think there are two problems.

I've turned the gains down and it flies like its on rails now. :)

Only thing is when taking off it tends to pitch forwards a bit so i'm thinking I might try and move the stella back a bit.

Thanks

Rob

[Bo Lorentzen]

Hey Rob, sounds to me like the aircraft is not balanced. the stella have to move forward enough to let the battery be balanced.
I flew mine using the NAZA, my gains were probably turned down a bit..but its been a while. :-)

[Rob]

Hi Bo,

I just test flew my BO Hex with the stella on it pretty much the same as you've got here and I've got a strange problem I was wondering if you came across. The Hex flies wonderfully with out the stella but now that its on there is oscillates really fast in the air. I only took it a few feet off the ground because of how badly it was oscillating. Its almost like the stella on the rubber bobbins is shaking too much and causing the whole air frame to oscillate. It could be the Naza gains which are on their defaults (pretty low) but i'm going to try turning them down even more and see if that helps. Anyway if you have any ideas or this has happened to you I'd be grateful for any information.

Thanks

Rob

[Bo Lorentzen]

Got a stack of 5 inch on there.

[Rob]

Thanks for the clarification Bo. One more question. Are you using the 5" or 6" props on there?

I'm thinking that i'll go with the 3S setup as its quite a bit lighter

Cheers

Rob

[Bo Lorentzen]

Hey Rob, For me the 3S worked great. I have never flown the mini-hexa on 4s. however there is no such thing as too much power.

When flying with the top-mounted stella, smooth is the ticket, very gentle moves on the stick. its not a racer, more a glider with the camera on top.

[Rob]

Hi There Bo,

I love the reviews but I have a question about your blackout video with this on top of it.
i'm in the process of building a blackout hex and one of these gimbals. My only question is do you think the standard 3S setup is fine for this or would you go to a 4S setup to get a bit more power. Mostly i want good flight times and a nice smooth platform. I'm not into the super crazy fpv stuff like some blackout pilots. I realise adding the 4s setup will add a lot of weight so i'm wondering if i'd really get much benefit in actual efficiency or if it would just be higher performance.

Thanks

[Bo Lorentzen]

Hey Christian, yes it can be mounted under the belly, however I would probably go for a 3 axis walkera gimbal instead these days. and mount the "rail" on the flat part centered on the blade. you will need the tall video legs. :-)

[Christian]

Is there any way to mount this on a blade 350qx

[Sterling Morris]

I'm trying to buy your 3D printed adapter plate, but the page seems to be gone now? Do you still have them available? I am looking into getting a Stella (currently using the Beholder Lite) so I can get an FPV setup without having to DIY the whole thing.

[Bo Lorentzen]

Hey George,
That is a great question, I should have expanded on that in the video.
Speed and position is the main ways of moving a gimbal,
Position means if the stick move 45 degrees your gimbal will move 45 degrees. meaning it is a fixed position based on the stick position (or more likely the dial/slider position)
SPEED is my favorite, unlike the position, speed let you set a constant speed, so give just a little stick and the gimbal will start moving until you center the stick/slider/dial. that mean you can start a very slow and smooth pitch move and stop it by re-centering the stick.

GAINS. is how dramatic the gimbal react to the amount of stick you give it, low gains means you need to more the stick a lot for a specific move, high gains mean you can move the stick a little and get the same move.

Hope that makes sense.

[George Lutz]

I am new to the Stella, can you help me understand the Speed vs POS mode? I also need help understanding the Stick Control Gain? Thank you.

[Soren von Perner]

I saw the progress, looks awesome.
You really are good at it !

[Bo Lorentzen]

@Soren - I am still playing with the hanging vs compression for the Phantom.

[Soren von Perner]

Can you start a shop after your design is finish for mounting Stella on Phantom ?

I buy one from you :-)

The Sweed

[Bo Lorentzen]

Thank you David, much appreciated.

[David Morgan]

AS always your reviews are great to watch and informative, well done

David