Gyro Stabilization Mount – Page 3

SOMAG AG Jena launches

Ruggedized Gyro Stabilization Mount RSM 50

SOMAG AG Jena announces the launch of the new RSM 50, a compact and cost-effective gimbal that offers top-notch stabilization for customers who want to get the most out of their sensor to achieve a high-quality and reliable data basis. With the leap to series 5, SOMAG sets new standards in the field of gyro stabilization technology for mobile land and water applications.

RSM – better than ever before

“The RSM 50 is backed on our 20 years of technical expertise in the development of Gyro Stabilization Mounts and the close exchange with our customers, whose needs are at the forefront of the development process. Thus, the further development of the RSM 400 into the RSM 50 has led to an improvement in all important specification parameters”, says Sebastian Schreiber, CTO at SOMAG.

Precise offroad and offshore sensor stabilization

The electromechanical gimbal addresses the stabilization needs of customers who want to significantly improve their data captured off-road or offshore. The Mount stabilizes in real-time movements up to ≤± 20.0° in the roll and pitch axis of land and rail vehicles caused by rough, uneven terrain, as well as angular movements of boats, ships, Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), autonomous platforms and buoys caused by sea swell. Advanced control algorithms assure a stabilization accuracy that has been improved to ≤0.3° rms for best sensor performance and detailed image capture.

Capture crisp data even in the most demanding missions

Schreiber: “It is impressive what a giant step forward we have made with the RSM 50. The Mount offers a higher performance level, better dynamics and 3 times more torque than its predecessor. It can compensate for larger movements with higher angular velocity at the same time as higher lateral accelerations are imposed to the gimbal.” This enables customers to succeed in their mission to capture crisp data even with increased G-forces caused by heavy wave slamming or by a sensor installation up high on a mast. Higher angular velocities result in the Mount being optimally prepared for a deployment on fast vehicles or speedboats.

Less power consumption

Stronger motors ensure precise leveling of payloads up to 40 kg. Despite greater performance and increased payload, the gyro stabilizer does not consume more power. On the contrary, due to a modified mechanical design, the power consumption is even lower than that of the predecessor device. In addition, the RSM 50 comes with an energy-saving mode. This stand-by mode is advantageous for long-term applications, such as on buoys, where power supply is critical.

Additional features include extended diagnosis possibilities and a failsafe braking system to securely lock the payload during power outage. The new Ethernet communication interface allows for an integration into existing networks as well as a control and monitoring of multiple mounts within a network.

Improve the performance of your motion sensitive equipment with reliable gyro stabilization

The stabilization platform excels in its weatherproof design that complies with IP class 67. The technology is well suited for demanding conditions in both salty, humid and also dry, dusty environments. The multi-functional all-rounder for outdoor use is designed for a broad range of vehicular applications requiring stabilization of motion-sensitive equipment, such as antenna arrays, gravimeters, PTZ cameras, CCTV systems or other camera-based surveillance gear. The ruggedized Mount ensures that the sensor always points exactly in the desired direction. With the modified mechanical design of the RSM 50, customers’ requests for an upside-down hanging installation are now fulfilled.

Contact us for further information

Orders will be accepted from January 2023. First deliveries are scheduled for summer 2023. For further questions and prices please contact SOMAG sales team.

In order to give you the best possible assistance, please include the following information in your request:

Where should the Mount be installed (floating platform, buoy, ship etc.)?
Dimensions (length/width/weight) of the platform or vessel
How many meters above the waterline should the Mount and the payload be installed?
Center of gravity and weight of the payload
Further information you consider important

Find out more

RSM 50 – Marine

RSM 50 – Marine

RSM 50 – Land

RSM 50 – Land

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Next month (October 2022), the new SOMAG Mount Control App version 5.1.0 launches. The SOMAG Mount Control App was developed by SOMAG AG Jena and is a software tool for Microsoft Windows users that simplifies the operation and configuration of SOMAG Gyro Stabilization Mounts. The app is available free of charge on a USB stick that is part of the standard scope of delivery of every Mount. If you do not have the USB stick available, please contact our support team for a download link.

What’s new in version 5.1.0

1. The look

The new look of the app is the most striking change in the new version. The appearance has been adapted to the new corporate design introduced in February this year.

For those who have difficulties with readability using the dark design, we have added the option to switch modes. This way, the app can also be displayed in a light variant. The selected mode is automatically saved and is also preselected the next time the app is opened. The mode switch can be found in the menu on the right side, accessible via the triple bar icon.

2. Profiles for End Stop Limits

Without the End Stop Limits feature, the Mount stabilizes during operation in all axes within its maximum angular range. By activating the Software Feature “End Stop Limits” the physical movement range of the Mount can be limited in all axes the Mount provides stabilization for. If the End Stop Limits have been applied, the Mount will only move within the specified angle ranges.

The new app version now allows users to save their End Stop Limits settings as a profile with self-selected names. A maximum of 10 profiles can be created. This makes it easy to switch back and forth between the preferred settings and profiles without having to re-enter the values into the app each time. This can be useful for users who either use different sensors in the same Mount and want to apply different movement ranges for the respective sensor, or for users who operate the Mount in different vehicles.

Default view of Feature 1 settings with DSM 400 connected

How to create a new End Stop Limits Profile

Make your End Stop Limits settings: in the example on the left the roll axis was limited to -7° and +7° and the pitch axis was blocked at +3°, a setting in the Yaw axis was not made
Press +
A window opens in which the new profile name can be assigned
Press “OK” to confirm

In the drop-down menu, all created profiles are displayed, including the newly created “TestProfil”
To use a profile, select it from the drop-down list and press “Apply”

Notification with selected profile values

After pressing Apply, a notification window opens in which the entered values to be sent to the Mount are summarized and must be confirmed with “OK”.
To reset all settings, the “Default” button must be pressed

3. Mount Control Diagram

At the former position of the Interface Protocol Change in the Home View the Mount Control Diagram has been created. The diagram offers the possibility to enter Gyro Mount angles manually and interactively. The blue shape in the diagram (shape depends on the connected Mount) represents the maximum movement range of the respective Mount. If the movement range has been restricted by End Stop Limits, this is reflected by a change in the shape.

Mount Control Diagram with DSM 400 connected

End Stop Limits set for DSM 400 in pitch axis visible in Mount Control Diagram

The Mount Control App offers two options for manual Mount control

In addition, the diagram visualizes the angular range in which the Mount is located. The settings from the Mount Control Diagram are automatically displayed in the Manual Mount Control panel. The desired angle values can also be entered there. Manual control of the Mount is thus possible in both panels (MCD and MMC).

4. Reorganization Settings

The Settings tab has been divided into 3 views. The first one contains the General Settings, where you can now also find the Interface Protocol Change. The Feature 1 view covers all settings related to the Collision Avoidance Feature, such as the setting of the End Stop Limits. The Feature 2 view comprises all other settings that are related to the optional Software Features.

All views of the app, including the Feature 1 and Feature 2 screen, can be found here.

5. General rearrangements

In the main menu, the Emergency Stop has now been placed centrally next to the five main tabs, so that it can be found and activated quickly in an emergency. The e-stop is available for all marine and land Mounts. When the Emergency Stop is active, the button flashes alternately white and red. E-Stop turns off the motors and locks the hydraulic circuits preventing further movement of the Mount.

Other functions formerly located in the main menu can now be accessed in the drop-down menu on the right, such as:

Connection Overview
Mount Select
Open Folder
Mode Switch (dark/light)
Document Viewer (Manuals)
General Information

The triple bar icon color acts as a connection indicator between the Mount and the computer. Green means Connection, yellow means Warning and red means Error. If there is no connection, the icon remains white.

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Environmental testing

Gyro Mounts to successfully pass temperature tests

SOMAG AG Jena has successfully completed temperature tests on its airborne, marine and land Gyro Stabilization Mounts at the independent and accredited test laboratory MeßTechnikNord GmbH in Jena, Germany, which specializes in conducting climatic product tests, such as cold, heat, thermal shock, and humidity tests. The temperature tests are part of a series of comprehensive environmental tests that the company performs at regular intervals, in addition to EMC and performance tests to ensure consistently high-quality standards for its devices.

Sebastian Schreiber, Chief Technology Officer at SOMAG, comments: “By means of environmental simulations, we can replicate environmental influences that occur in the course of a product life cycle to prove that our Gyro Mounts are able to face them. The analyses also help us to understand the different effects of extreme temperatures on the Mounts in operation, such as achieving the specified angles and angular velocities, as well as stabilization performance. In addition, it is important that we explore the limits of our devices.”

Temperature Tests Airborne Gyro Mounts

Tests were carried out on the GSM 4000 and DSM 400 Aerial Camera Stabilizers with their respective maximum payloads. The tests verified the acceptable temperature ranges for operation and storage given in the Gyro Mount specifications overview, which conforms to the RTCA DO-160 Equipment Section 4 / Temperature and Altitude / Category A1 standard:

	Category A1
Operating Low Temp. [°C]	-15
Operating High Temp. [°C]	+55
Ground Survival Low Temperature (Storage) [°C]	-55
Ground Survival High Temperature (Storage) [°C]	+85

Both airborne gyro gimbals successfully passed the tests in the high and low temperature ranges. Beyond the limits of SOMAG specifications, the GSM 4000 kept performing well even at a minimum operating temperature of -32 °C.

GSM 4000 (left) and DSM 400 (right) with weight plates as payload

Temperature Tests Marine/Land Gyro Mounts

While airborne Gyro Stabilization Mounts are installed inside airplanes, the gimbals of the marine and land sector have to meet higher requirements. Installed up high on a mast of a frigate or on the back of an unmanned ground vehicle maneuvering through rough and dusty terrain, the Mounts in these application scenarios are directly exposed to harsh environmental influences such as blazing hot sun or freezing rain, which increases the stress on the material. However, even in these climatic conditions the Mount must prove that it can deliver its full power and achieve its specified performance and continuous torque. In the case of the NSM 400, this is 125 Nm and in the case of the OSM 4000, 225 Nm. This was tested by placing the payload off-center on the Mounts to setup a specific lever arm length to generate the continuous torque.

In the first phase, tests were carried out in accordance with the marine standards IACS E10 Rev. 7 and DNV-CG-0339. Both marine gyro platforms stabilized properly in the specified high temperature range up to 55 °C and in the low temperature range down to -25 °C with residual angles of 0.07° and less.

SOMAG Marine Mount Specifications
Operating Low Temp. [°C]	-30
Operating High Temp. [°C]	+55
Ground Survival Low Temperature (Storage) [°C]	-55
Ground Survival High Temperature (Storage) [°C]	+85

NSM 400 installed on top of OSM 4000, both with off-center payloads

“However, the requirements of our military customers go beyond this, just like our own specifications,” explains Arne Wollboldt, Application Engineer at SOMAG and responsible for environmental testing. NSM 400 and OSM 4000 demonstrated in the second stage that they performed perfectly even at -32°.

Wollboldt: “Up to this point, we had expected these results. But we wanted to see what would happen if we increase the difficulty and push the Mounts further, so we also tested an operating temperature down to -40 °C. An extraordinary cold, as it occurs for example in tundra regions and the arctic ocean. To create more natural conditions, we sprayed the NSM 400 with water and covered it with a layer of ice.”

A challenge that the surveillance sensor gimbal masters with flying colors. Thanks to its unique material, the protective bellow remains flexible and breaks the ice with the first movement, proving that the gimbal is capable of delivering best-in-class gyro stabilization for EO/IR systems even in extreme weather conditions.

Video Marine Gyro Stabilizer Temperature Test

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Customer Success Story

Simultaneous Lidar Data and Aerial Imagery Collection with GSM 4000

95West Aerial Mapping revolutionizes simultaneous large-format imagery and high-density lidar collection with a dual GSM 4000 gimbal setup. The US-based company has been performing simultaneous collections for many years. When they decided to upgrade their current equipment, they opted for two SOMAG GSM 4000s as their preferred Gyro Stabilization Mounts for their state-of-the-art sensors. Simultaneous data collection allows the company to serve customers with maximum quality and efficiency.

The Gyro Stabilization Mount 4000 provides industry leading pitch, roll, and yaw stabilization for airborne cameras, scanners, LiDARs and other imaging sensors up to 120 kg during flight missions. Since September 2021, 95West has been operating the dual GSM 4000 Mounts in a Cessna Caravan to stabilize a Vexcel UltraCam Eagle M3 and a Riegl VQ-1560 II-S scanner. The Gyro Mount ensures high quality aerial images taken with the large format camera and a regular distribution of measurement points on the ground for the Lidar scanner, as well as a significant increase in efficiency when flying over large areas by reducing the required overlap of neighboring scan strips.

Two SOMAG GSM 400 Gyro Mounts - left in SOMAG signature yellow, right in UltraMount design stabilizing a Riegl lidar scanner and an UltraCam aerial camera — Two GSM 400 Gyro Mounts – left in SOMAG signature yellow, right in UltraMount design

GSM 4000

Advantages for Lidar and Imagery Products

High data quality
enables customers to provide their clients with the highest quality lidar and imagery products
Precise motion compensation
compensation of high winds or turbulence and prevention of excessive crab angles and image blur
Productivity
allows to maximize flight opportunities while minimizing reflights

Why Customers

Trust Somag

„We chose to go with dual SOMAG mounts for our sensors because of the reputation for high performance stabilization, ease of use, and flexibility of integration. Having one mount that is compatible with both sensors, communicates flawlessly with the Applanix IMU and our TopoFlight FMS made integration very smooth. It also gives us flexibility to rearrange systems without having to refabricate aircraft adapter plates. When planning our equipment upgrade there were no alternatives, the SOMAG GSM4000 was a must for both our Riegl VQ-1560 II-S and UltraCam Eagle.”

Andrew Werle, Pilot at 95West Aerial Mapping

Maximum efficiency at minimum costs

Advantages Simultaneous Data Acquisition

Top view on two SOMAG gimbals with a Riegl lidar scanner and a Vexcel Imaging aerial camera system

With small time windows for data acquisition due to weather, sun angle limitations, and seasonal changes, the number of flight hours per season is limited. By acquiring lidar and imagery data in the same flight, weather windows are maximized and mobilization and acquisition costs are halved.

All advantages at a glance:

Coincident datasets reflect same features and water levels eliminating discrepancies
Single mobilization expense
More efficient acquisition
Maximum utilization of weather windows
Larger image footprints and swath widths
Increased detail and precision
Data versatility
Current terrain data for orthorectification

“We find that many of our clients prefer simultaneous collection. Even customers who would not normally use both lidar and imagery have chosen to acquire both systems because of the greater versatility and benefits.”
– Andrew Werle, 95West Aerial Mapping

Customers from diverse sectors benefit from the dual solution. Engineering and utility customers use the highly accurate terrain models for design while using the high-resolution imagery as a background raster for their drawings. Customers in the mining and commodities industries are able to monitor properties and calculate volumes in a single flight. For orthophotography customers, a much better product can be delivered because the most current surface data can be used for rectification.

GSM 4000

Self test

The video shows the self test of the GSM 4000. It consists of a mechanical and an electronic test phase. The self test executes a routine, which checks all sensors, mechanics and electronics and saves the results in a text file. SOMAG can decrypt this text file and utilize it for trouble-shooting purposes. The test can be performed in the SOMAG Mount Control App. which is delivered together with each Gyro Mount on a USB stick.

About SOMAG AG Jena:

SOMAG AG Jena is a global specialist for high-precision gimbal systems. The company, consisting of hand-picked experts in the fields of electronics, mechanics and software, focuses since 2004 on the development and manufacture of Gyro Stabilization Mounts for data acquisition and surveillance applications in the air, on land and at sea.

About 95West Aerial Mapping:

95West Aerial Mapping is a wholly owned subsidiary of Widseth that provides aerial acquisition and geospatial services throughout the United States and Canada. 95West specializes in unique solutions utilizing cutting edge equipment to deliver services that are tailored to their clients’ needs with the latest technology in the aerial industry.

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The International UltraCam Sales Partner and User Group Meeting, hosted by Vexcel Imaging, will be held June 28-30 in Lisbon, Portugal. SOMAG will be represented on site by CTO Sebastian Schreiber and Support Manager Johannes Dreyer.
More information and registration at: https://www.vexcel-imaging.com/international-sales-partner-and-user-group-meeting/

Join my presentation on June 28 from 2:30-3:00 p.m. (CEST)

Presentation topcis:

SOMAG introduction
SOMAG updates
How Gyro Stabilization Mounts work
Updates on App Features for GSM 4000

Join my workshop on June 29 from 2:00-2:45 & 2:45-3:30 p.m. (CEST)

Workshop topcis:

FAQs GSM 3000/4000
GSM 3000/4000 troubleshooting
GSM 3000/ 4000 tips and tricks for handling
Mount Control App and Software Features

In June, Paris will be the venue for Eurosatory, the global defense and security trade show, which is dedicated to land and air defense and security. SOMAG will be represented by Application Engineer Arne Wollboldt on Tuesday (June 14) and Wednesday (June 15).

SOMAG is a leading provider of stabilization technology and offers solutions for air, land and water applications in civil and demanding military missions. Their success often depends on the quality of the information obtained in operational environments. To improve the quality of information collected with EO/IR and other imaging systems in mobile applications, SOMAG develops and manufactures high-precision Gyro Stabilization Mounts designed to compensate for vehicle motion and to provide comprehensive situational awareness.

In case of questions about the capabilities of our gimbals or if you wish to discuss the feasibility of applications, I will be available to talk to you at the show. Contact me to schedule an appointment in advance:

Arne Wollboldt
Application Engineer
Phone: +49 3641 633 68 27
E-Mail: a.wollboldt@somag-ag.de

RSM 50 launch

Tag: Gyro Stabilization Mount

Ruggedized Gyro Stabilization Mount RSM 50

Find out more

RSM 50 – Marine

RSM 50 – Land

Subscribe today!

What’s new in version 5.1.0

1. The look

2. Profiles for End Stop Limits

How to create a new End Stop Limits Profile

3. Mount Control Diagram

4. Reorganization Settings

5. General rearrangements

Subscribe today!

Gyro Mounts to successfully pass temperature tests

Temperature Tests Airborne Gyro Mounts

Temperature Tests Marine/Land Gyro Mounts

Video Marine Gyro Stabilizer Temperature Test

Subscribe today!

Simultaneous Lidar Data and Aerial Imagery Collection with GSM 4000

Advantages for Lidar and Imagery Products

Trust Somag

Advantages Simultaneous Data Acquisition

Self test

Subscribe today!

Contact us

Contact us