Better Gimbals

Hey Guys,

I always was wondering if it might be possible to use hall sensors instead of the normal pots on the gimbals because after using my Devo10 for a few years now, the pots are very imprecise around midstick. I know calibration helps for a short time and also a deadzone can be set. But I think it would be far better to replace any wear parts by better options.

Recently there showed up some hall based Taranis Gimbals and I thought it would be nice to have something like that in our beloved Devos. Possible mod? What do you think?

Hi Domsen,

I recognize you from the Silverware threads...

I've been eyeing up an M9 swap. They look to be close enough in size I think they could be made to work. Too many projects and a Spek DX9 are keeping me from just jumping in and trying it.

Cool,thank you! If it fits not very well, maybe it's possible only to transplant the hall sensors as a replacement of the stock devo gimbal pots? Do you think it needs the software to be adapted or wi it be just plug and play?

Prefereable to get high accuracy also is a seperated low noise well regulated voltage for all pots and the CPU itself.
My devo 7e is not very precise, due to not so stable voltages.

Sure it's voltage related? Assuming everything is powered by the same vreg, there shouldn't be inaccuracies because the reference is the same. I would guess it's more worn out pots, but don't quote me in this. At least, a brand new Devo is very accurate

Sounds reasonable, thanks. Now waiting patiently about what you can tell if the whole gimbals might fit

I have checked the information of this gimbal, seems it returns voltage just as the original one. I think it should works to replace it in Devo radios, however I am not sure if the size, holes fits or not. Well, I have already bought 2 and let's see if I can work out the mod, haha.

I have successfully modding the M9 gimbals to a Walkera Devo 12S radio. Will let you know how I work it out later after I have finished. It requires some 3D printed parts.

Very cool, thanks! Most appreciated. I'm not sure about the case of Devo12S and its gimbals - are these the same as on other full-sized Walkera TX?

Give you some teaser of what I have done.

I have evaluated Devo 10, Devo 8S and Devo 12S and found that Devo 12S is the easiest to work out, since others will affect other important parts such as logic board so it is hard to work out the modification without harming the sensitive parts.

Wow...Really looking forward to see how they work out as far as what kind of modifications to the wiring ect...Especially since i have 2 Devo 12's ..Please keep us posted on your progress..

For those of us not having a 3D printer any chance of making and selling the parts?

For wiring, since the hall sensors cannot connect by reversing the power and GND as normal potentiometer did, the thr and ele got reversed signal, I solved it by manual calibration that reverse the min and max in tx.ini.

Hi SirDomsen, I ordered the Jumper V2 Hall Gimbals from Banggood: www.banggood.com/Jumper-V2-Hall-Gimbal-f...itter-p-1370924.html

Placing them into my Devo 7E required some cutting and drilling, but the end result looks fine.

I couldn't be more happy with how they perform. Especially the hysteresis on the throttle stick of the old gimbals annoyed me quite a lot. Of course totally gone with the hall gimbals

Thanks for sharing, Markus, nice work!
Do you think that these could be an option for full-sized Devos also?

I think these gimbals are a bit small for full-sized Devos and you would be better off using the M9 gimbals or make some 3D printed adapters.

Hi everyone, new poster here.
After years of reading the forum and using deviation it was about time to do a small contibution to the comunity.
So after reading Markus Gritsch post i decided to take a spin, and evolved the idea of using Jumper V2 Hall Gimbals on my ultimate devo7E.
My spin was to design a Centering spacer to fill the gap that´s visible on Markus Gritsch photos, 2 long spacers and 2 short spacers that will be needed not to damage the front of the transmitter.
As a caveat you will need a 3d printer, and for the centering spacer a good knowledge of extrusion calibration. i printed mine at 0.15mm layer height in petg


For the gimbal modifictions needed to fit the transmitter, first remove the built in spacers on the Jumper V2 Hall Gimbals:

I used a jewelers saw that makes precise cuts and cuts plastic like butter

Next you will need to cut parts of the outline of the gimbal plate:


you will notice the two notches at the left side of the gimbal plate, they are needed too, they are to be located opposite of the vertical axis hall sensors.

Next you will need to make the holes, the best method is to mark them with calipers, using as reference the middle of the original gimbals. Take care as the holes are not spaced evenly in reference to the middle.



Continues...

Next in line is optional, and i messed up as it was my future throttle stick, but in the end i managed to solve it.
you can remove some pieces of plastic to make a cleaner modification.
Please note that there are interference issues between the friction spring posts and the fixing screws.


If everything went according to the instructions, you will need to install the new gimbal into the transmitter case.
Slip the centering spacer (the big hollow round one) on your new gimbal, it should fit snugly all the way, and then install the gimbal in your transmitter, it should fit snugly.
Take care in this step as the stock mounting screws are long and will damage you transmitter face (trust me i did that).
This is where the little printed spacers come to play, the outward holes are short for the screws so place a long spacer in these holes.
Put a spacer in each screw and then install the screws at their places, minding the position of the spacers, the long ones are installed at the vertical axis hall sensor side, that point outward in the transmitter case on both sticks.


This is how it looks already calibrated and tested.

With the centering spacer the gimbal will be constrained in two axis and the screws constrain the assembly in the remaining axis, giving more rigidity to the modification.

Stl files in the next post

Hi again. there go the files to print the parts
0.4mm nozzle
0.15mm layer height
petg preferably, abs is better

The centering spacer has a throat by half the height, its a constraint of fitting a gimbal that is not compatible so before printing take care during slicing so it prints all layers correctly.
change the .jpg extension to .stl

These files were made by me, but are free as a bird work, so feel free to share and alter in any way you see fit.

Many thanks to the DeviationTX community, it´s founders and supporters.
And all credits for finding an hall effect gimbal that fits he devo7E goes to Markus Gritsch