Gimbal stabilization of superzoom cameras

Sammanfattning: With today’s advancements in camera technology, image-stabilization is a crucial element for capturing sharp and steady images and video. Nowadays, cameras usually have built-in stabilizers that perform well in this task. In some cases, however, an additional stabilizer may be required to achieve optimal results. In such circumstances, electronically controlled gimbals are a popular choice when it comes to real-time image stabilization. This project has been conducted in collaboration with the company Low Vision International (LVI), which develops and produces electronic visual aid systems. The purpose of the project is to develop, assemble, and evaluate a gimbal stabilizer, which controls the rotation of a camera. The result of this project is a gimbal prototype with two rotational axes (called roll and pitch). The camera rotation is regulated by placing rotation sensor on top of the camera, while special motors spin the camera as to keep its position unchanged in relation to a defined rotational reference. The prototype is fully functional, but some adjustments must be made before it can be used in LVI products. The main problem that remains is that the signals for the measured rotation of the camera has a sustained noise, which makes the camera noticeably unstable during great zoom.