UAV Gimbal

The Challenge

As the use of drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) continues to expand in commercial and agricultural applications, so does the need for high precision, light weight gimbals and pointing systems.  Payloads vary depending on the sensing technology, applications, and objectives of the aerial system.  For imaging, sensing, and communication applications that require highly precise and dynamic motion control, direct drive gimbal solutions offer significant precision and reliability advantage over traditional belt and pulley platforms.  Most direct drive solutions on the market are not able to meet the weight, energy efficiency and form factor requirements demanded in UAV applications.

The Solution

Celera Motion’s low profile Omni and Agility (zero cogging) series motors are designed to minimize power consumption and can be optimized to offer a large through hole while minimizing weight by designing the motor performance to the specific payload requirements.  For UAV gimbal axes requiring limited angle motion, further optimization may be realized with a Juke Series voice coil motor or Infinity Series arc segment motor.  To complete the system, the Optira Series miniature encoder offers high accuracy in a very tiny package. Optira can be paired with a full rotary grating or a limited angle segment.  Celera Motion’s solutions have enabled many leading UAV and drone OEMs to achieve their next generation imaging, scanning and communication requirements. Some customers choose to integrate Celera Motion’s components into their gimbal designs while others partner with Celera Motion’s mechatronics group to design and deliver a fully assembled and tested gimbal sub-system.

The Benefit

For UAVs, reduced weight gimbals mean increased flight time or additional utility and performance.  Low profile motors paired with high precision, high accuracy encoders, enables world class performance.  By working closely with the Celera Motion team, our customers have achieved large through hole direct drive gimbals that met their aggressive mass, power, and pointing requirements.

UAV Gimbal Specifications