Aloha,

     Below is a video of a Yaw Stick.  This Pan Device can stabilize the yaw stick of the Phantom 3 Advanced and Professional remote controller.  This one is made up of an ice cream wooden "spoon" 1/16th inch thick and cut so it does not interfere with the directional stick on the right.  A small hole just large enough for the yaw stick stem (5/32") is drilled to reduce slack in the Yaw Stick. The whole wooden "spoon" is covered in painter's tape (masking tape) to improve friction.  Screwing the spindle of the yaw stick (just below the "crown") allows you to increase or reduce tension due to the curvature of the controller body.

     A tongue depressor type of wide, flat stick for the yaw stick might also work.  The P3P and P3A controllers also have a display holder that has a long narrow gap between it and the controller body and the body itself is slightly curved which put together will allow a nice even pressure to be applied to the wooden stick to hold the yaw stick steady in the pan.  The control stick "crowns" even come off completely so there can be very little slop at that end if you drill a small diameter hole (5/32") in the stick and screw the spindle and crown back on.  If you do it right, the crown spindle could be used to tension the whole thing.  The wood may also have just enough friction on the plastic body of the controller to help hold things in place.  Try the stick first before you add the tape, but the tape does work well.  The gap under the display holder can also be adjusted by the display adjustment roller in the back.  Below is a short video of an IOC waypoints vertical climb using the Yaw Stick.  An adjustment is made to slow down the rotation when the camera faces the closest ridge at about the 20-30 seconds.

Aloha and Drone On!

Aloha to You

Thats a great idea, I will give it a try.
I like the way it pans in your exercise very professional.

I noticed in the first video how much your big screen shakes side to side
I did find a fix for that a replacement bracket, if it bugs you like it did me.

faadronedecals.com
either way great idea...Thanks

Similar kinda thing .

http://www.gimbal-guard.com/#!pr ... pire1-yaw-controler

Great ideas.. I don't know why DJI cant build that feature into the remote.  Pull up or push down on stick to change from spring return to stay in place mode.  

Neat idea, and quite a smooth pan in the exercise! Thanks for sharing!

RodB Posted at 2016-2-6 13:01
Similar kinda thing .

http://www.gimbal-guard.com/#!product/prd13/4153195421/p3-inspire1-yaw-contr ...

Aloha Rod,

     Interesting that you brought the rubber band system up.  At first, I thought that that might be a way to handle the YAW steadiness issue in a PAN.  But, if you really look at it, the rubber band solution only gives resistance to improve steadiness.  If you look at my video again, the YAW Stick actually holds the stick in any number of yaw positions and you can let go of the stick to do other tasks, kind of like an autopilot option.  Still yet, the YAW Stick can be used to change the vertical position of the P3 while it is Panning.  The throttle control of the stick is never lost if you also let go of the stick as shown in the video.  If you tighten the stick enough, you could hold the stick in throttle and yaw positions.

     I recently had to swap a Mode 1 to a Mode 2 set of sticks on a racing drone controller and as a result had to break down the controller to make physical changes.  That is when I noticed the friction system of the racing throttle.  I think that planted the seed of how this YAW Stick could work.  Of course in my mind, I am thinking that this might work in a P3 controller like gherd mentions.  Later, all the nice parameters came together on other threads and I decided that this was just too easy to build and use.  I must say this was the easiest fix I have ever come across, which is why I am sharing it with the forum.

Aloha and Drone On!

Aloha Cetaman.

Good thinking.  That's the only solution I've seen to help attain a slow steady yaw (your video demonstrates nicely).  The yaw stick appears to have no significant interference with the throttle stick movement.

Rebel Gal Posted at 2016-2-6 10:53
Aloha to You

Thats a great idea, I will give it a try.

Aloha Rebel Gal,

     Mahalo for your interest in this yaw solution.  Yes, I do like my large screen but I did not notice any side to side "shake" in the video.  That would certainly bug me.  I find if you tighten the adjusting nob in the back of the remote controller, the whole thing wobbles rather than just the bracket.  Keeping the "whole thing" tethered to my neck with a strap seems to manage the wobble fairly well.  

     The nice thing about the DJI design is that we have the "gap" to work with to make the "YAW Stick" friction work in the interests of the operator.

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetaman Posted at 2016-2-8 03:21
Aloha Rod,

     Interesting that you brought the rubber band system up.  At first, I thought that ...

Cetaman your solution is quite interesting. It got me thinking today about a simple way to produce a stable pan without any modification. As the photo below shows, if you place your index finger diagonally across the left stick socket (A) it will form a wedge, you can pull the stick against it with your thumb (B). This will produce a Yaw pan at a fixed rate, which like your method would easy to adjust. The Yaw pan can also be done in the other direction by placing the index finger on the other side and pushing with the thumb. This should work for those with hands that are not too small, and of course assuming that the Yaw expo was reduced. Weather was too bad here to try a demo (wind gusts at 100 km/h).

Yaw pan finger control

johnsr Posted at 2016-2-8 08:59
Cetaman your solution is quite interesting. It got me thinking today about a simple way to produce ...

Aloha john,

     This is a good idea!  If I had known about that, I may not have come up with the YAW Stick.  But then, if you think about it some more, you can let go of the yaw stick and as long as you are not climbing or dropping the stick will keep the yaw position.  But still, that is a good idea.  Those oversize knobs you have may also be a benefit for the yaw action.

     Pans are so hard to do smoothly, any new ideas are greatly appreciated!

Aloha and Drone On!

Awesome.
Just needs an apple sticker and you sell these paddle pop sticks for a mint!

With all this automation being developed, i cant see DJI/Litchi/Third party developers couldnt add an auto yaw button..

danasay@cox.net Posted at 2016-2-7 17:03
Aloha Cetaman.

Good thinking.  That's the only solution I've seen to help attain a slow steady yaw  ...

Aloha danasay,

     Mahalo for the kind words.  I was really surprised how well it worked.  The blue painter's tape seems to have the perfect coefficient of friction for the job.

     I thought it would take some practice but the video is from the first use.  The next day I had to do a non-panning shoot, so I loosened everything up.  It hardly affected the stick, but would still hold its place if it was pushed to an extreme yaw.  Otherwise it just added a slight resistance to the left stick.

     The gain and expo adjustment screens are also helpful in getting the best use out of the YAW Stick.  I have the expo maxed out from previous efforts to smooth out the yaw.  It probably has an effect on the current smoothness with the stick and I will look at that variable later.  Mahalo again for the kind words!

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetaman Posted at 2016-2-8 23:59
Aloha john,

     This is a good idea!  If I had known about that, I may not have come up with the ...

Thanks Cetaman, it came up from your idea. Thought that it might be useful in those situations where you are mainly flying and suddenly need to take a steady pan. Otherwise your Yaw stick has the advantage of being able to free the hand. We are still under bad weather (gusts at 95 km/h), so I can't test it yet.
Good Flying!

johnsr Posted at 2016-2-8 22:53
Thanks Cetaman, it came up from your idea. Thought that it might be useful in those situations whe ...

Aloha john,

     Where in France are you?  Your weather has been bad for at least a week now.

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetaman Posted at 2016-2-9 22:45
Aloha john,

     Where in France are you?  Your weather has been bad for at least a week now.

South of Paris. We are having a run of bad weather, but the temperatures are above normal for this time of year. Thanks for sending us some sun and warmth with your video!
How did your tide pools filming go?

johnsr Posted at 2016-2-9 11:59
South of Paris. We are having a run of bad weather, but the temperatures are above normal for this ...

Aloha john,

     This weekend includes Monday, so maybe Sunday or Monday.  My friend needs some work video done, so maybe I can talk him into making a detour.  If the weather is good, those can be some real good videos.

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetaman Posted at 2016-2-9 23:05
Aloha john,

     This weekend includes Monday, so maybe Sunday or Monday.  My friend needs some w ...

Finally had a window of better weather, wind gusts at ground level down to 40 km/h (25 mph) and some sun! The "Finger pan-dance" works, though the video wasn't perfect due to gusts.
Now you have the choice between the "Yaw stick" or the "Finger pan-dance" (or whatever you want to call it) to obtain steady pans. Much as with your Yaw stick, you can dial-in the speed progressively. My first trials were a little fast looking horizontally, but good vertically. A bit cold (5°C) in the wind, but fun.
Thanks for the inspiration & good flying!

Can you not turn down the gain or sensitivity i some manner and achieve a similar result without a physical device?

R

rskardon Posted at 2016-2-10 16:18
Can you not turn down the gain or sensitivity i some manner and achieve a similar result without a p ...

About the best you can do is to reduce the Rudder (Yaw) expo to 0.20, which we have been doing (see screen shot below). Then people generally lengthen the left stick (the knob screws in and out). However, it is not wise to modify the gains, as these affect how the aircraft reacts to external input (wind gusts).

Advanced settings menu

rskardon Posted at 2016-2-10 05:18
Can you not turn down the gain or sensitivity i some manner and achieve a similar result without a p ...

Aloha rskardon,

     To a limited extent, both gain (not advisable in excess) and expo (max it out) can be adjusted to improve steady pans.  I have tried both and saw good improvement.  In combination with john's finger trick a pan can get down right steady.  The nice thing about the stick though is you need much less concentration, the stick can hold its position and hold its position while using the throttle, and it is adjustable without going into the app.

     Give it a try.  It is very easy to make.

Aloha and Drone On!

I really like this idea! I like how you can hold it in place vs. the rubber band solution!!  if I can make my own prototype, I might have to give a 3d Printed version a shot!

ryan209 Posted at 2016-2-10 11:26
I really like this idea! I like how you can hold it in place vs. the rubber band solution!!  if I ca ...

Aloha ryan,

     Go for it!  If you have any questions, feel free to ask away.  I was amazed that the first-off worked so well.  It does not always turn out that way!

Aloha and Drone On!

quanthonytrang Posted at 2016-2-8 13:40
Awesome.
Just needs an apple sticker and you sell these paddle pop sticks for a mint!

Aloha anthony,

     Ryan is looking into that.  

     But, a yaw button might be harder than most people imagine.  To duplicate what the YAW Stick can do, the button would have to be an adjustable knob.  Settings inside of firmware would have to be accessible in real time and that complicates things.  Maybe I am not seeing the issue correctly (and it would not be the first time) but an external device like the rubber bands, finger technique or the stick would allow for external means to manage yaw scenes rather than complex software rewrites.

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetaman Posted at 2016-2-12 10:47
Aloha anthony,

     Ryan is looking into that.  

The yaw button would be software and not hardware.
Litchi does automated 360 by yawing at set intervals.
Heres one I made earlier..
https://goo.gl/maps/rbGDxjPHtyy

I guess they can program a software button to yaw a given rate. Eg 30 sec for 1 complete yaw.

quanthonytrang Posted at 2016-2-14 13:14
The yaw button would be software and not hardware.
Litchi does automated 360 by yawing at set inte ...

Aloha anthony,

     The link says it is Google Maps.  And I am not able to make out any pans.  Was this done for Google Maps or is that a wayward link?  

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetaman Posted at 2016-2-15 17:20
Aloha anthony,

     The link says it is Google Maps.  And I am not able to make out any pans.  Wa ...

Its made for Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. Works on Desktops and may have trouble on smartphones and its probably HTML5

quanthonytrang Posted at 2016-2-15 17:55
Its made for Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. Works on Desktops and may have trouble on smartp ...

Aloha anthony,

     Oh, I see what you are getting at.  This is similar to my post last month about using POI to PAN.  The POI function in IOC uses a software algorithm to evenly rotate the camera for steady POI videos.  If you use the POI function but aim the camera in a panorama instead of a point of interest, you can get real steady pans.  You just have to program in the radius and speed of the rotation to make it work right.  

     The only benefit of the YAW Stick over the POI to PAN function is that you can operate the other IOC functions or free fly the P3 while still getting steady pans with the YAW Stick.  For example; my demonstration video above was made using vertical waypoints stacked one on top of the other in the IOC Waypoints function and allowing free camera operation.  Then during the waypoints mission, I set the YAW Stick and let it all do its thing.  Very steady, but very much hands off.

Aloha and Drone On!

Thingiverse