TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Published 2026-02-19
When it comes to making robots, engaging in maker projects, or tinkering with gadgets that automatically track and take pictures, aservogimbal is definitely an unavoidable hurdle. Many friends bought the materials excitedly, but they were confused when faced with a pile of screws and motors - how do you put this thing together and make it rotate obediently? Don’t worry, today we will break it apart, crush it and talk about it, I guarantee you will understand after reading it.
It took a long time to install it, but as soon as it was powered on, the gimbal started shaking like Parkinson's disease. Why is this? The problem is most likely that the balance is not adjusted properly, or the center of gravity is too far off. Although the steering gear is very powerful, if you let it "carry" an unbalanced load for a long time, it will not only vibrate, but its lifespan will also be shortened. Just like when you carry a burden, both ends must be equally heavy to walk steadily. If one end is light and the other is heavy, you will have to sway left and right when walking. So the first step is to check whether your camera or load is roughly at the geometric center of the gimbal. Also, don’t tighten the mounting screws too tightly to leave some room for movement of theservo, but it shouldn’t be too loose, otherwise there will be a large gap and vibration will follow.
If you browse Taobao, you will findservos ranging from a dozen to several hundred yuan, with metal teeth, plastic teeth, digital servos, analog servos... they are all huge. In fact, for entry-level gimbals, such as setting up a mobile phone or a small camera, ordinary metal-toothed analog servos are enough. The metal teeth are durable and not easy to sweep. After all, the head rotates around, and the plastic teeth can easily break after being used for a long time. Digital servos have faster response and higher accuracy, but the price has also gone up, and the requirements for control circuits are also higher. The core depends on two points: torque and weight. If the torque is not enough, the gimbal will not turn or responds slowly; if the torque is too much, it will be heavy and consume electricity. First estimate the load weight of your gimbal, then go to the servo parameter table to find the corresponding torque, leaving a 20% margin.
Get a bunch of 3D printed or finished bracket parts, just twist them up. It is recommended to start with the base, fix the servo responsible for horizontal rotation (generally called the PAN servo) on the base, and then install its rocker arm and the first bracket. There is a key point here. It is best not to lock the fixing screws of the rocker arm and the servo output shaft first. After they are installed, turn on the power and return the servo to the neutral position, and then tighten them. Why? Because you need to ensure that the center position of the servo is aligned with the center position of the mechanical structure, so that the left and right rotation range of the control will be symmetrical. Next, install the TILT servo responsible for pitching. In the same way, first fix the bracket and the servo, manually adjust the camera to a horizontal and forward position, and then tighten the screws. Once this step is done, it will save a lot of trouble when adjusting the program later.
Many cheap gimbal kits ignore the bearings and think that the servo can be carried directly. In fact, this is not the case. The output shaft of the steering gear itself is not good at withstanding radial force, that is, force perpendicular to the axis center. For example, if your camera bracket is relatively long and the center of gravity moves forward, a fixed force will always be exerted on the servo shaft. At this time, adding a bearing at the other end of the bracket can transfer the force to the shell. The servo is only responsible for driving the rotation and not carrying the weight. Installing the bearing is not that complicated, just make sure the bearing seat and the bracket shaft are concentric. If you find that it turns awkwardly when it is installed, it is probably crooked and you need to adjust it quickly, otherwise the servo will be damaged.
The circuit connection seems simple, but it is actually an area prone to faults. The servo generally has three wires, positive (usually red), negative (brown or black), and signal wire (orange, yellow or white). Don’t think that just plugging it in is enough, current is the key! The instantaneous start-up current of the servo is quite large. If you use several servos, all drawing power from a 5V pin, the motherboard will freeze and restart in minutes. The correct approach is to prepare a reliable power supply module for the servo separately, such as a buck module, to draw power from the battery, then connect the positive and negative poles of the servo to this power supply, and then connect the signal line to the PWM pin of the motherboard, and the negative poles (GND) of all devices must be connected to the same ground, that is, connected together. In this way, the signal has a unified reference point, the power supply is sufficient, and the gimbal is stable.
The hardware has been installed and the program has been burned in, but the gimbal is still jerky and not smooth. At this time, you have to adjust the software parameters. If you are using a ready-made PTZ library or PID control, the core is to adjust the three values of P, I, and D. P is the ratio, which reflects how much error you have now. If P is too small, the gimbal will have no power and cannot be pushed; if P is too large, it will oscillate back and forth at the target position. I is the integral, which is specially designed to deal with static errors. For example, if there is an external force that keeps pushing, I can make up for this force. D is differential, which plays a damping role, predicts trends in advance and suppresses shocks. It is recommended to first set I and D to 0 and only adjust P until the gimbal oscillates slightly, then add a little D to suppress the oscillation, and finally add a little I to eliminate the small static difference. This process requires some patience, but once you get it right, the smoothness will give you a unique sense of accomplishment.
At the end of the day, I would like to ask you who are reading this article, what is the most troublesome problem you encounter during the process of assembling or debugging the servo gimbal? Is it because the mechanical structure is not installed properly, or the program cannot be adjusted smoothly? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area and share your confusion or successful experience. Let’s communicate together. By the way, give it a like and share it with more friends who need it!
Update Time：2026-02-19
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