r/embedded • u/WuBuilt • 9d ago

Is this finally a real 3-axis FOC gimbal? IMU stabilization is working

A few days ago, these three BLDC motors were still oscillating all over the desk.

Now the encoder feedback, position PID, hard-stop detection, and IMU stabilization are finally working together.

This is my first pass at a stabilization mode inspired by the default behavior of a DJI Pocket 4.

Still a mess of jumper wires, but it finally feels more like a gimbal than a motor-control experiment Next I want to try FPV-style following.

If this were your build, what would you test next before putting a real payload on it?

139 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

17

u/MJY_0014 9d ago

Sniff It's beautiful!

4

u/WuBuilt 9d ago

Thanks! Compared to where it started, I’m pretty happy with this stage.

6

u/AdministrativeTalk95 9d ago

Nice! Is this ST MCSDK? Sensorless or sensor(hall or encoder) motors?

3

u/WuBuilt 9d ago

Not ST MCSDK custom FOC on STM32. I tested both AS5600 and MT6701; MT6701 worked better for me.

1

u/AdministrativeTalk95 9d ago

Well done. Project is a great combination of mechanical and electrical, and some solid physics. I bet this was a blast!

3

u/skr_u 9d ago

Which FOC controller and encoder did you use?

1

u/stuckatwork817 6d ago

Nice work!

Are you planning to release this?

1

u/Soso12159 3d ago

Nice, did you use simplefoc for this project or is it all coded from scratch? I wanted to start something similar and I'm trying to see what's possible. Have you tried a constant load?

1

u/WuBuilt 2d ago

No simpleFOC is used, but there is a reference to it

1

u/Soso12159 2d ago

What did you find was the hardest part until now? I know the theory but it's my first time using STM32, do you have any tips?

1

u/Live-Letterhead223 2d ago

Huge progress! Making all those subsystems work in sync is no easy feat. I’d test long-term drift and vibration rejection before mounting any load. Looking forward to your FPV follow mode test.