Foxtech GCU User manual

GCU
User Manual
2023.05
V1.0

Using this Manual – Legend
Explanation
Tips
Important

Introduction 1
Synopsis 1
Overview 2
Status LED Description 2
Port De󽗉nition 3
Con󽗉guring & Updating Firmware 4
Con󽗉guring the GCU 4
Updating Firmware 8
Appendix 1 Speci󽗉cations 8
Appendix 2 Dimensions 9
Appendix 3 MAVLink Con󽗉guration 10
ArduPilot 10
PX4 11
Catalog

GCU User Manual
NANJING XIANFEI ROBOT TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. 1
Introduction
Synopsis
With the GCU and the Dragonfly software, user can watch the image from the
camera and control the gimbal real-timely on a computer.
The GCU has a tiny size and multiple extend ports. It supports Network, UART
and S.BUS control. The GCU support both private protocol and MAVlink
protocol.

GCU User Manual
Overview
1.Network Port 2.Power Supply Port
3.UART2 Port 4.UART1 Port
5.S.BUS Port 6.Gimbal Control Port
7.Status LED
1
5
6
7
2
3 4
Status LED Description
Blue 󽗊ashing Working normally
Solid blue GNSS not positioning
Solid purple No GNSS data
Red 󽗊ashing Error

GCU User Manual
Port De󽗉nition
Port Pin De󽗉nition Description
POWER
1 GND
Operating Voltage: 20~52V DC
2 GND
3 NC
4 Vin
5 Vin
ETH
1 5V
GCU con󽗉guring;
Private protocol control;
HD image Output
2 GND
3 T+
4T-
5 R+
6R-
S.BUS
1 GND Support S.BUS1 standard such as
FASST and SFHSS and S.BUS2 standard
such as FASSTest
2 5V
3 S.BUS
UART
1 GND GCU con󽗉guring;
Private protocol control
2 UART_Rx
3 UART_Tx
UART2
1 UART2_Tx
MAVlink protocol control
2 GND
3 5V
4 UART2_Rx
PIN1
The total output power of 5 V on the GCU is 1.5 W. Do not supply
power to any equipment over 1.5 W through the GCU. Otherwise may
cause the device working unproperly.

GCU User Manual
1. Connect the computer and the network port of the GCU with the network
conversion module, or connect the computer and the UART1 port of the
GCU with the con󽗉g module.
2. Connect the gimbal and the GCU with the gimbal control cable. Power on
the device. Open the GCU_Con󽗉g software and choose UDP port or the
COM port corresponding to the con󽗉g module. Click"Start Con󽗉g", the,
software will display current con󽗉guration of the GCU.
3. Con󽗉gure the GCU in the software.
Con󽗉guring the GCU
The new parameter 󽗉lled in textbox will not be saved until clicking
"Enter"on the keyboard. It is unnecessary to click "Enter" after editing
other settings.
Con󽗉guring & Updating Firmware
Ensure the gimbal and the GCU have both been updated to the latest
󽗉rmware before use. Otherwise, usage may be a󽗈ected.
Ensure the diver of the con󽗉g module is installed on the computer
before con󽗉guring or updating the 󽗉rmware.
Before con󽗉guring, the computer should be set to a static IP address,
which is in the same network segment with the GCU and the camera
(without IP address con󽗊icts). The default IP address of the GCU and
the camera are 192.168.1.121 and 192.168.1.108.
Do not power o󽗈 the device while updating the 󽗉rmware. Restart the
device once 󽗉rmware update is complete.

GCU User Manual
1.Network setting
GCU IP / Gateway IP / Subnet mask / Remote IP
Con󽗉gure the network parameters of the GCU. Ensure the
parameters will not cause network linkage abnormal.
Camera IP
Fill in the IP address of current camera, Video stream addresses will
be generated automatically by the GCU. It will not change the IP
address of the camera.
2.Gimbal Data
Display the altitude data of the gimbal
3.Carrier Data
Display the INS positing statue, altitude angle and northward /
eastward / upward accuracy of the carrier.
4.S.BUS Setting
Set S.BUS channels corresponding to gimbal functions and their
renversements. The pitch and yaw are liner channel, and others are
switch channels.
For switch channels, pulse width entering [1000μs , 1300μs] triggers
lower function once; entering [1300μs , 1700μs] triggers middle
function once; entering [1700μs , 2000μs] triggers higher function
once. Pulse width varying in the same interval does not repeat the
trigger.

GCU User Manual
Mode
Follow: Head follow mode. Yaw angle of the gimbal rotates with the
carrier and is uncontrollable.
Lock: Head lock mode. Yaw angle and pitch angle of the gimbal are
controllable and keep current angle while no rotating command is
received.
MAVlink: The gimbal can be controlled by MAVlink protocol. Other
S.BUS channels controlling is unavailable in the mode.
Ortho: Orthoview mode. In this mode, the gimbal rotates to vertical
downward. The yaw angle follows the carrier and is uncontrollable.
Otherwise the yaw angle remains unchanged and is controllable.
Gaze: Gaze mode. Gimbal constantly aims current position in the
center of the view. To gimbals equipped with laser ranger 󽗉nder,
turning on ranging before entering gaze mode will improve the
accuracy of locking. The gaze mode is available only when the gimbal
receiving valid GNSS data.
Neutral: Gimbal returns its neutral position
Track
The gimbal will automatically keep tracking the target in the center of
the screen.
Pitch / Yaw
Control value corresponds the angular velocity of pitch / yaw of the
gimbal.
Zoom
The zoom rate constantly varies while the channel value is in
Tele / Wide interval, until the channel value enters stop interval or the
camera is at max / min zoom rate.
Pic & Rec
The Pic command triggers camera shoot one photo. The Rec
command starts or stops recording. It is able to shoot photos while
recording without ending record. The pictures and the video are saved
in the MicroSD card of the gimbal.

GCU User Manual
Video Switch
Palette: To gimbals equipped with thermal camera, this command
switches options of palette.
Pic-in-pic: To gimbals equipped with multiple cameras, this
command switches di󽗈erent view of the cameras.
IRCUT
Turn on IRCUT, the camera will switch to night scene to achieve a
better image quality in low-light environment.
Lamp
To gimbals equipped with laser lighting module, choose this function
to turn on laser lighting and IRCUT at the same time.
Ranging
To gimbals equipped with laser range 󽗉nder, this command turns
on / o󽗈 ranging. The gimbal is able to calculate out the longitude,
latitude and elevation of the target while receiving GNSS data.
Several models of gimbal equipped with laser lighting module, which is
a Class 3B invisible laser. DO NOT exposure eyes to the beam within 12
meters or observe the beam by any optical instrument. DO NOT place
any in󽗊ammable within 20 centimeters in front of the lighting module.
After calibration, it is normal that the yaw shaft of the gimbal drifts
about 15 degrees per hour when not receiving valid carrier INS data. To
make sure the gimbal attitude corrects, it is necessary to transmit valid
carrier INS data, usually the GNSS should be positioning.
5.Reset
Click to reset all the parameters of the GCU.
6.Calibration
Click to calibrate the gimbal. Please keep the gimbal static while
calibrating.

GCU User Manual
1. Connect the computer and the UART1 port of the GCU with the con󽗉g
module. Power on the devices.
2. Open FreeFlightIAP software. Choose the COM port corresponding to the
con󽗉g module.
3. Click "browse", choose the 󽗉rmware 󽗉le, click "download" and wait for the
updating complete.
Updating Firmware
Appendix 1 Speci󽗉cations
General
Product Name GCU
Dimensions 45.4*40*13.5 mm
Weight 18.6 g
Operating Voltage 14 ~ 53 VDC
Power 1.8 W
Environment
Operating Temperature -20℃～ 60℃
Storage Temperature -20℃～ 60℃
Storage Humidity ≤ 85%RH（Non-condensing）

GCU User Manual
Appendix 2 Dimensions
13.5
45.4
40
4-M2 3mm
26
30
Use screws of proper length to 󽗉x the GCU. Too short screws short may
cause the 󽗉xation unsecure, and too long screws may damage the
device.

GCU User Manual
Appendix 3 MAVLink Con󽗉guration
ArduPilot
SERIAL1
SERIAL1_BAUD 115
SERIAL1_OPTIONS 1024
SERIAL1_PROTOCOL 2
SR1
SR1_ADSB 0 Hz
SR1_EXIT_STAT 0 Hz
SR1_EXTRA1 0 Hz
SR1_EXTRA2 0 Hz
SR1_EXTRA3 0 Hz
SR1_PARAMS 0 Hz
SR1_POSITION 0 Hz
SR1_RAW_CTRL 0 Hz
SR1_RAW_SENS 0 Hz
SR1_RC_CHAN 0 Hz
MNT1
MNT1_TYPE 4 (Gremsy) / 6 (SToRM32 Mavlink)
RC1
RC1_OPTOPN 213 (MOUNT1_PITCH)
RC2
RC2_OPTOPN 214 (MOUNT1_YAW)
RC3
RC3_OPTOPN 163 (MOUNT1_LOCK)
CAM
CAM_TRIGG_TYPE 3 (Mount)

GCU User Manual
MAVLink
MAV_1_CONFIG TELEM2
MAV_1_MODE Custom / Gimbal
MAV_1_RATE 115200 B/s
Serial
SER_TEL2_BAUD 115200 8N1
Mount
MNT_MAIN_PITCH AUX1
MNT_MAIN_YAW AUX2
MNT_MODE_IN Auto (RC and Mavlink Gimbal)
MNT_MODE_OUT MAVLink gimbal protocol v2
Camera Setup
Trigger mode Distance based, on command (Survey mode)
Trigger interface MAVLink (forward via MAV_CMD_IMAGE_START_
CAPTURE)
The MAV_1_MODE is recommended as Custom.
The AUX1 and AUX2 are just examples, which can be de󽗉ned according
to actual situation. It should be con󽗉gured in RC Map for further
application.
The trigger mode is just an example, which can be modi󽗉ed according
to actual situation.
The RC1~RC3 are just examples, which can be de󽗉ned according to
actual situation.
The MNT1_TYPE is recommended as 6. The MNT1_ROLL_MAX, MNT1_
ROLL_MIN, MNT1_PITCH_MAX, MNT1_PITCH_MIN, MNT1_YAW_MAX
and MNT1_YAW_MIN will be con󽗉gured automatically depend on data
from the GCU. The angle limit should be set manual while the MNT1_
TYPE is 4.
PX4