Anafi motherboard paired with camera/gimbal misconceptions

[NortyNinja]

.
Some information that maybe useful after seeing numerous threads on replacing the motherboard and resulting in camera problems. Having repaired a number of these I have accumulated a few spares and found time to swap around boards gimbals and cameras as you can see

Stripping down the gimbals components revealed they are dumb, no chips, only capacitors, it can not be paired with any thing and will work with any replacement board, The Camera again can be used on any main board. The gimbal is controlled by the motor board under the gps Antenna. Now this motor board is paired to the motherboard, I will try and figure out a hack but for now both boards must be purchased together to work the Camera/gimbal correctly, or purchasing separately only any good to use for swapping components with micro-soldering skills, replacing either board separately will result in your Anafi having camera gimbal malfunctions

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

But there were -as far as I remember- reports about successfully changing single motor boards ...?

 

[NortyNinja]

But there were -as far as I remember- reports about successfully changing single motor boards ...?

I’ve sold a couple of motor control boards in the past not having a come back on them but having spent a couple of hours swapping these parts about only to test this problem the proof is in my findings, the gimbal electronics are only capacitors for the two motors nothing else, they are dumb, no chip to be paired with, it cannot hold any memory at all. We do only have hearsay but this is fact finding

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

If you sold a couple of motor boards as replacement parts, then they were obviously built into drones successfully.
So what is the result of the findings now?
There are 4 parts in this theme:
camera, gimbal, motor board, mainboard.

What I remember from different posts in the past:
1. If a camera/gimbal together is built into a drone: camera video ok, gimbal movements incomplete
2. If a new mainboard is built into a drone, then the same result as with 1.
3. If another motor board is built into a drone: all ok.

 

[NortyNinja]

I may not of had a come back on the two motor controller boards doesn’t mean they worked. I’ve sold cameras and gimbals separately of which I got good feedback on...
The camera and gimbal are not connect in circuit in anyway only connected by plastic and screws. They are a separate entity so to speak.
The gimbal connects to the motor controller board.
The Camera connects to the main motherboard.
Both these can be interchanged on any boards, that’s the fact I found.. They work on any drone..
The gimbal will not function correctly if the main board and motor controller board aren’t from the same drone...
I’ve tried to make it a simple as possible.
I have swapped extensively
3 motor controller boards
4 motherboards
2 cameras
3 gimbals
I am now very comfortable to only sell these two boards together, gimbals and cameras will sell separately as usual.
TBH I’ve not seen any posts of just changing the motor board being ok not saying there isn’t but my experiment says it wouldn’t work

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

Now all is clear: never buy a single motor or main board.
Only buy them together and frome the same drone.

 

[AnafiPilot1]

Never thought the Gimbal itself was locked, just that the Camera module was.

Also what was happening when you did swap motor boards? I did this once and I got the initial motor twitches but then red motor errors, I had assumed it was a bad motor board.

 

[NortyNinja]

Never thought the Gimbal itself was locked, just that the Camera module was.

Also what was happening when you did swap motor boards? I did this once and I got the initial motor twitches but then red motor errors, I had assumed it was a bad motor board.

I never had any problems with the motors all kicked in as should, No warnings in ffp, only the gimbals malfunctioning

 

[morfeus]

Hi,

I recently purchased Anafi from ebay as "gimbal not calibrating" defect. I was thinking there is a problem with flex cable going from motor controller board to the gimbal. After checking and reconnecting flex cable, gimbal still doesn't work while image from camera is OK, zoom also works. What I also noticed is that when I try to move camera up and down on the controller and the mark for camera position is passing the "center line", image moves just a little up or down. My question is: is there any way to know if any of the boards have been changed? (in a way that motor board has been changed while main wasn't and that this might be the reason for non working gimbal). As I understand, if someone changes motor board without changing main board, the behavior would be exactly as I am describing?
Many thanks.

Gabrijel

 

[Clgch]

.
Alguna información que puede ser útil después de ver numerosos hilos sobre cómo reemplazar la placa base y provocar problemas con la cámara. Habiendo reparado varios de estos, he acumulado algunos repuestos y he encontrado tiempo para intercambiar tableros, cardanes y cámaras, como puede ver.
View attachment 4514
Desmontar los componentes de los cardanes reveló que son tontos, sin chips, solo condensadores, no se puede emparejar con nada y funcionará con cualquier placa de reemplazo. La cámara nuevamente se puede usar en cualquier placa principal. El cardán está controlado por la placa del motor debajo de la antena gps. Ahora que esta placa de motor está emparejada con la placa base, intentaré encontrar un truco, pero por ahora ambas placas deben comprarse juntas para que la cámara / cardán funcione correctamente, o comprar por separado solo cualquier producto bueno para intercambiar componentes con micro-soldadura. habilidades, reemplazar cualquiera de las placas por separado dará como resultado que su Anafi tenga fallas en el cardán de la cámara

 

[Clgch]

Hello, thanks for giving your point of view regarding the compatibility of the plate and camera, it is useful to me since I am looking to change the plate of my anafi, but I think I will go for microsoldering, my anafi had a strange behavior which towards moving only in its static position, because of that it crashes and falls about 7 meters high, the blow affected the wifi chip, it turns on and makes all its checks before the flight but there is no signal, I would like to know if I can get a motherboard and buy it I'm from Chile

 

[TBee]

I may not of had a come back on the two motor controller boards doesn’t mean they worked. I’ve sold cameras and gimbals separately of which I got good feedback on...
The camera and gimbal are not connect in circuit in anyway only connected by plastic and screws. They are a separate entity so to speak.
The gimbal connects to the motor controller board.
The Camera connects to the main motherboard.
Both these can be interchanged on any boards, that’s the fact I found.. They work on any drone..
The gimbal will not function correctly if the main board and motor controller board aren’t from the same drone...
I’ve tried to make it a simple as possible.
I have swapped extensively
3 motor controller boards
4 motherboards
2 cameras
3 gimbals
I am now very comfortable to only sell these two boards together, gimbals and cameras will sell separately as usual.
TBH I’ve not seen any posts of just changing the motor board being ok not saying there isn’t but my experiment says it wouldn’t work

Hi NortyNinja, do you offer a repair service? Long shot but the camera on my Anafi is not calibrating. I have tried all the simple stuff like resets etc but on closer inspection it looks like the camera tilt ribbon has broken. Can you help? Quite happy to pay for your work as I am not electronics savey at all. Or do you know anyone that does repair these?

Drone is in excellent condition, on the verge of selling it as parts and putting the money towards a DJI. Can you help?

 

[oneeyedparrot]

Have there been any updates on this yet, any successful way of pairing a new ESC board to Motherboard yet?
Or indeed would Parrot offer this service?

 

[oneeyedparrot]

Or does anyone know what functions of the Camera/Gimbal are controlled by which cable?
So what does the ESC control?
What does the Motherboard Control?

 

[zakob]

Or does anyone know what functions of the Camera/Gimbal are controlled by which cable?
So what does the ESC control?
What does the Motherboard Control?

in my experience the motherboard controls the camera, the motor board controls the gimbal

 

[Gipsz Jakab]

in my experience the motherboard controls the camera, the motor board controls the gimbal

Logically: The gimbal is supplied by the motor controller with the appropriate electric drive, but the control of this drive is controlled by gyroscopes, acceleration sensors and these are on the motherboard.

 

[charbelsejaan1]

Hi,

I recently purchased Anafi from ebay as "gimbal not calibrating" defect. I was thinking there is a problem with flex cable going from motor controller board to the gimbal. After checking and reconnecting flex cable, gimbal still doesn't work while image from camera is OK, zoom also works. What I also noticed is that when I try to move camera up and down on the controller and the mark for camera position is passing the "center line", image moves just a little up or down. My question is: is there any way to know if any of the boards have been changed? (in a way that motor board has been changed while main wasn't and that this might be the reason for non working gimbal). As I understand, if someone changes motor board without changing main board, the behavior would be exactly as I am describing?
Many thanks.

Gabrijel

probably the owner before you had a crash and change only the camera, same problem happened with me you should change the borad and the camera because both are linked together and be aware that camera and the borad come from the same drone.

 

[pgfree33]

I may not of had a come back on the two motor controller boards doesn’t mean they worked. I’ve sold cameras and gimbals separately of which I got good feedback on...
The camera and gimbal are not connect in circuit in anyway only connected by plastic and screws. They are a separate entity so to speak.
The gimbal connects to the motor controller board.
The Camera connects to the main motherboard.
Both these can be interchanged on any boards, that’s the fact I found.. They work on any drone..
The gimbal will not function correctly if the main board and motor controller board aren’t from the same drone...
I’ve tried to make it a simple as possible.
I have swapped extensively
3 motor controller boards
4 motherboards
2 cameras
3 gimbals
I am now very comfortable to only sell these two boards together, gimbals and cameras will sell separately as usual.
TBH I’ve not seen any posts of just changing the motor board being ok not saying there isn’t but my experiment says it wouldn’t work

So why would an Anafi gimbal not properly align or calibrate? Is it typically just a connection issue that causes it not to be able to calibrate or ??

 

[catchwater]

Hi everybody, i found this subject while trying to understand why my gimbal did not work after a motherboard replacement.
I got the following reply from Parrot :

Hi Frédéric,

This is Alex from Parrot support team and I am happy to be helping with your case # 1489857, concerning your Parrot Anafi.

Please note that when replacing the Motherboard it requires a special firmware that is not released to public to calibrate the Gimball and motor controller with the New board.

It is always our aim at Parrot to provide you, our customer, with top quality service to the best of our ability.

Kind Regards,
Alex S.
Parrot Customer Support
Office Hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

To ensure we receive your response, please do not modify any formatting or content of the original message (including any reference codes or footers).

 

[oneeyedparrot]

There you go then, so basically anyone trying to fix their own Anafi is stuffed.