Camera handheld stabilizer (DJI RS 3/4, etc.) three-axis physical leveling and motor stiffness self-calibration pitfalls

1. Why is it said that "turning on the motor without leveling it is fatal to the motor"?

Many people have their cameras stuck on the quick-release plate of the stabilizer, and they can’t wait to press the power button to turn on the camera without even finding the center of gravity of the machine:

• Motor Overload: Inside the stabilizer is a high-torque brushless DC motor. If the mechanical center of gravity shifts by 2 centimeters, the motor must continuously output hundreds of watts of reverse powerful torque to forcefully pull the unbalanced camera. Within a few minutes, the temperature of the motor housing soars to 70°C, emits a harsh buzzing and high-frequency vibration, and finally triggers the overheating protection and instantly causes the motor to collapse and "power out"!
• Iron rule: first make the physical machine 100% absolutely balanced, and finally power on!

2. Standard four-step method for DJI RS series three-axis mechanical physical leveling

Before starting to level, you must make two crucial preparations: Install the camera lens cover hood, pull out the screen to the usual angle, insert the usual battery and memory card, and screw the zoom lens to the usual focal length (extending the zoom lens will completely change the front and rear center of gravity)!

1. Step 1: Level the tilt axis (Tilt) vertically:

• Lock the remaining two axes and point the camera lens vertically toward the ceiling;
• Loosen the sliding buckle of the tilt arm, slide the vertical arm back and forth until the lens points vertically to the sky and is absolutely still (neither bowing forward or leaning backward)** after letting go, and lock the vertical knob.

2. Step 2: Horizontal leveling of the pitch axis (Tilt):
   -Hold the lens flat and point straight ahead;

• Loosen the fine-tuning knob of the bottom quick-release plate and slide the quick-release plate back and forth until the lens can stay motionless at any angle no matter it is horizontal, at an elevation angle of 45 degrees or a depression angle of 45 degrees, and lock the quick-release plate.

3. Step 3: Balance and level the roll axis (Roll) left and right:

• Loosen the knob on the back of the roll axis, translate the horizontal slide arm left and right until the camera is placed horizontally and the two sides are absolutely balanced (never tilt to the left or fall to the right)**, and lock the knob.

4. Step 4: Yaw axis (Pan/yaw axis) rotation balance and leveling:

• Tilt the entire stabilizer handle 45 degrees;
• Loosen the yaw axis sliding arm of the base and slide it forward and backward until the camera will never spontaneously rotate freely around the central axis when the stabilizer is tilted as a whole**.

3. The only necessary action after power on: motor auto-tuning (Auto Tune)

After the physical leveling reaches full green score, press and hold the power button to start the gimbal:

• Never run with your hands in hand immediately! Enter the touch screen menu and click [Motor Parameters] → Click [Auto Tune];
• The stabilizer will automatically apply weak high-frequency pulse vibrations to the three axes at different frequencies, automatically measure the physical inertial mass of the current set of camera lenses within 15 seconds, and match the stiffness and gain of the three-axis motor to the most perfect adaptive damping range, completely eliminating any jitter.

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