Wiris Pro Payload Hardware Overview

Learn more about the Astro aircraft here:

The Wiris Pro Payload consists of a Freefly gimbal and an integrated Wiris Pro camera. It is developed for use with Astro and other vehicles that are compatible with the Freefly Smart Dovetail and the Pixhawk Payload Bus standard. More information about how to interface this payload with another aircraft is available here:

Updating Astro and Herelink

Installing & Removing the payload from Astro:

To install the gimbal:

• Orient the gimbal under the aircraft so that it is facing forward and the Smart Dovetail is facing upwards.

• Slide the gimbal Smart Dovetail into the Isolated Dovetail receiver that is on the underside of the aircraft. Slide until you hear an audible click of the safety latch and the connector is fully seated.

• Close the dovetail locking lever until tight and the gimbal is secure.

To remove the gimbal:

• Open the dovetail locking lever so that it is loose.

• Hold the safety latch so that it is disengaged.

• Slide the gimbal dovetail towards the front of the aircraft to fully disengage from the Smart Dovetail Mount and remove the gimbal.

Swapping out the Wiris Foam Insert

We offer an option foam insert for the Astro hard case. It replaces the insert for the Mapping Payload, so you can store Astro with the Wiris Pro payload installed

• Start by removing the Mapping Payload insert. There is a velcro strip on the bottom of the foam

• Insert the Wiris Pro payload bottom foam. Note the orientation

• Install the upper piece of the foam around the gimbal from the front of Astro

Tilt Control

The Wiris Pro payload has zoom rate scaling on tilt. This means that as the zoom level of the EO camera is increased, the tilt rate of the gimbal will be decreased to give more pointing control

Yaw/Pan Control

By default, yaw control of the aircraft is unaffected by the zoom level of the camera, however, zoom rate scaling can also be applied to yaw/pan through Slow Speed Mode.

For even more control, the global yaw rate of Astro can also be adjusted if desired. The default global yaw rate of Astro is 75 degrees/second.

• This can be adjusted by going to Advanced Mode (tap the Auterion logo in the upper left hand corner 7 times) --> Vehicle Setup --> Parameter --> MPC_MAN_Y_MAX. The units are in degrees/second.

Slow Speed Mode

Slow Speed mode is a togglable flight mode that affects the sensitivity of the aircraft's yaw when the camera is zoomed in.

• Slow Speed mode can be toggled on and off while in flight when Astro is in Position mode. It's active when the icon is lit up and you are viewing the EO video stream

  • Slow Speed mode will automatically deactivate when viewing the IR stream

  • Slow Speed mode is turned off by default

Connecting to the Wiris Pro

Once you've installed the Wiris Pro Payload in the dovetail mount on Astro, power on the aircraft. Powering on the aircraft automatically powers on the gimbal and camera. It typically takes about 1 minute for the camera controls and video feed to appear in AMC.

Storage/Recording settings

• In AMC, select your media storage option. You can save to the internal Wiris SSD, a USB flash drive installed in the USB-C port on the Astro IO panel (on the bottom of the aircraft), or both.

  • The USB flash drive storage option is not fast enough to support video recording. Video can only be recorded to the SSD.

• Select different image/video capture options to save photos and videos from the EO camera, IR camera, or both.

Thermal camera

You can configure the thermal camera using the following settings in the Auterion Mission Control (AMC) app for Astro.

• IR Pallet - How temperatures are mapped to a color.

• Exposure Settings - these adjust the range of temperature values that can be measured, similar to shutter speed and dynamic range on a traditional camera.

  • Manual, incremental adjustments

  • Custom, specifying the min and max temperature

  • Auto

• Isotherm Modes

  • Isotherm ‘Alarm’ modes can be set to show a solid color when objects in the frame are within a temperature range. The options are Off, Below, Between, Outside, and Above.

  • We recommend using a grey IR pallet when using Isotherms for better clarity

• Video/Photo Settings

  • Video can be saved in two methods:

    • Thermal encoded - this outputs a 512x640px 30 frames per second .avi file that can natively be played in most video software. The IR pallet (color map) is baked into the image and cannot be changed later. Similarly, the temperature information of each pixel is not recorded. We recommend this mode when qualitative data is the most useful, such as looking for hotspots or searching for animals and people.

    • Radiometric - this outputs a .WSEQ file that can be opened in Workswell’s ThermoLab software. This consumes more storage but saves the temperature information of each frame. The IR pallet can be adjusted later and the temperature data of each pixel can be retrieved in post-processing. This is most useful when quantitative temperature measurements are needed.

• Photo Settings

  • Radiometric JPEG - 640 x 512 px

  • Radiometric TIFF - 640 x 512 px

  • Super Resolution - 1266 x 1010 px image

• Lenses

  • The Wiris Pro Payload ships with a 13mm lens (~45 degree FOV). Tighter focal length lens options are available from Workswell. Get in touch if you are interested in a different thermal lens: support@freeflysystems.com

• EO Zoom Camera

  • Video/Photo Settings

    • Auto-exposure

    • 1-10x zoom range (93.5 degrees to 11.92 degrees HFOV), incremented at 1x, 1.5x, 3x, 6x, and 10x settings

    • 720p 20 frames per second video saved in a .MP4 format

Weather

• While Astro can fly in the rain, the Wiris Pro camera does not offer any ingress protection, so we do not recommend flying in any precipitation.

• In cold temperatures:

  • We recommend allowing 3-5 minutes of warm-up time after powering on. This allows the IR sensor inside the Wiris Pro to reach a steady operating temperature for the most accurate temperature measurements. During the warmup time, the gimbal and camera will still work as normal, however the temperature data from the IR sensor may be less accurate.

  • Make sure your Astro batteries don't get too cold. More info can be found in this section of .

• The Wiris Pro Payload matches Astro's operational temperature range of -20C to +50C

Checks

• Check that the Wiris Pro Payload is secured in the Smart Dovetail mount and that the safety latch is closed.

• When you’re ready to fly, perform the standard preflight checks for Astro (found below).

Search and rescue

• The flight path of Astro is displayed with a red line on the map in AMC, which can be useful for looking at the area the aircraft has already covered

• Setting an isotherm to show colors between a specified temperature range can help with identifying areas of interest quicker

• Streaming live video from the aircraft to the Auterion Suite is possible with a strong LTE connection. Additional information on setting up LTE on Astro is here:

Inspections

• The Wiris Pro EO camera provides 1920x1080 images and 1280x720 video from a 1-10x zoom lens. When approaching an object of interest, we recommend keeping the aircraft a safe distance away and zooming in as much as needed to see the detail level required for inspections.

• When using Slow Speed Mode, camera tilt and pan are scaled with the zoom rate, so the control inputs become less sensitive the more zoomed the camera is.

Mapping

• The Wiris Pro Payload currently does not support mapping missions.

Viewing Media

Images from the EO camera can be saved in JPEG or TIFF format, and can be opened in most photo software. EO Video is saved as an MP4 file.

Images from the IR camera can be saved as a Radiometric JPEG or TIFF. Video can be saved as Thermal Encoded or as Radiometric video. Workswell ThermoLab software is required to view thermal video shot in Radiometric mode, and can be downloaded here:

USB Drive

• To remove photos from the USB drive, remove it from Astro and insert it into a computer.

• For information on formatting the USB drive, check out this section of the wiki

Wiris Pro SSD

Download via PC

• To remove media stored on the SSD, first power the Wiris Pro Payload on the aircraft. Then connect a cable to the micro-USB port on the side of the Wiris Pro. The drive should appear on a computer as ‘Wiris SSD’, with the files organized in folders by date.

• Drag the selected media off the Wiris SSD folder on to your computer.

• Right-click and 'Eject' the Wiris drive, then power off the drone and gimbal

Formatting Wiris SSD

The formatting option for the SSD of the Wiris Pro can be found in the camera settings under Advanced SSD Options - Format SSD

• The will restart the connection to the Wiris Pro and takes about 30-60s to complete. It is normal for video to briefly stop working as the connection is re-established

Updating Gimbal Software:

Obtain the provided firmware package for the Wiris Pro Payload Gimbal. This will be in a .zip folder format. Then, follow the same steps outlined for the Mapping Payload:

Updating Wiris Pro Software:

• First remove the micro SD card from the side of the Wiris Pro and insert it into a computer.

• Download the firmware. The file format is .tar so you may need to enable downloading this format in your web browser. The latest supported version of Wiris Pro firmware is 1.6.42

• Place the firmware file on the micro SD card, then re-insert it into the Wiris Pro.

• Remove the ethernet cable from the back of the Wiris Pro.

• Attach the gimbal to the aircraft; power on the aircraft and gimbal.

• Tilt the gimbal about 45 degrees down to allow access to the cable ports.

  • Use the Herelink tilt wheel to tilt the gimbal

• Attach a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable to Wiris. Attach the HDMI end of the cable to a monitor.

• Attach a USB-A keyboard to the USB-A port.

Watch the output on the monitor. Using the arrow keys and enter keys on the keyboard, navigate through the Workswell menu:

• Press Enter to exit Ethernet mode.

• Press the right arrow to expand.

  • Use the down arrow to go to Advanced Mode.

  • Use the right arrow to expand.

    • Press the down arrow to go to Memory.

    • Press the right arrow to select and then click Enter on Update.

    • Ensure that the UI detects the correct firmware version to upgrade to and press Enter on Confirm.

• Once the update is complete, power off Astro/Wiris Pro.

• Remove the USB and HDMI cables.

• Be sure to reinstall the ethernet cable from the gimbal in the back of the Wiris Pro.

Updating Astro Software:

To upgrade to the latest version of Astro software, follow the steps on the page below. The Wiris Pro Payload is compatible with Astro software version 1.3.0 or later.

The Wiris Pro Payload uses the Astro Isolator

This isolator has the Smart Dovetail connector attached and allows swapping between the Wiris Pro Payload, the Mapping Payload, and other payloads that use the Smart Dovetail standard.

Check all the dampers are in good condition before each flight, as these can wear out over time. We recommend replacing all dampers on the isolator every 6-12 months. 30A durometer damper replacements are included in the Astro Thermal Kit and are available through our store:

First things first

#Protips

Learn about it under the 'Precise Gimbal Control' section

Limitations

Gimbal

More details can be found in the isolator section

Wiris

Check out the Formatting Media section for more info

Troubleshooting

Video doesn't come up

IR video is black

This can happen if the thermal exposure is set very far off from what the camera is looking at.

Gimbal tilt controls are backwards

General Info

Range of Motion:

Numbers are maximums from a forward-facing and horizon-leveled position.

Flight Time

A single flight with Astro carrying the Wiris Pro Payload is typically 25-30 minutes. Note that the time presented in AMC is an estimate. The exact time depends on a number of factors such as temperature, air density, wind speed, and direction, as well as the flight profile of the aircraft.

Wiris Pro Camera Specs

Thermal Infrared Camera:

Visible Electro-Optic Camera:

SSD capacity: 128GB

A full list of Wiris Pro specifications can be found on Workswell’s website:

This payload is an integrated package that combines the EO and IR camera capabilities of the Wiris Pro with Freefly Systems gimbal stabilization, tuning, and testing. The payload uses the Smart Dovetail open-interface for PX4. The payload has been extensively tested and is natively integrated with the Freefly Astro drone, but it is certainly possible to integrate this payload on to other UAV platforms.

EO / IR

EO and IR refer to types of photographic sensors.

• EO stands for "Electro-Optical", and functions as a standard camera for capturing visible light, just like any smartphone camera.

• IR stands for "Infrared", and functions to capture thermal data in a video stream. Temperatures are mapped to colors with a variety of ranges, color pallets, and thresholds available depending on your specific use.

FOV

FOV stands for "Field of View", and is represented by an angle, typically in degrees. Think of it as a cone expanding out infinitely in front of a lens with the width defined as an angle. Anything within this cone is visible in your image.

• HFOV and VFOV are commonly used to describe the horizontal and vertical field of view, respectively.

Pan, Roll, Tilt

These refer to the axis on which your gimbal can rotate.

• Pan controls left-to-right rotation. It uses the motor at the very top of your gimbal and is controlled via the direction of your aircraft. Pan may be adjusted using the yaw control on your aircraft.

• Roll controls the horizon of your camera. The motor is located at the back of your gimbal, behind the camera, and it is updated automatically to keep your camera level to the horizon.

• Tilt controls the angle of the camera vertically, allowing you to point down, up, level, or anything in between. The aircraft operator can control tilt using the tilt wheel on the top left of the Herelink controller.

Mounting

The Wiris Pro Payload uses the Smart Dovetail/Pixhawk Payload Bus Quick Release mechanical mount. An overview of the Smart Dovetail, including a 3D CAD model of the Smart Dovetail male and female sides is available here:

You are encouraged to use this model to integrate the Smart Dovetail design into your own UAV! Conversely, you can purchase a Smart Dovetail mount with a 32 x 32mm M3 mounting bolt pattern from Freefly for easy installation:

Refer to the specs section for mass, dimensions, and other information.

Vibration Isolation

For information on the vibration isolation system shipped with Astro Thermal, refer to the section linked bellow.

Isolation systems are aircraft specific and a different system may be optimal for your aircraft, however we offer a couple of options in our store:

For temperature and ingress protection info, please refer to the technical specs section:

Hot swapping:

Max Speed:

We have tested this payload up to a speed of 15m/s, climb rate of 4m/s, and descent rate of 3m/s. There has been no significant performance testing past these limits. Refer to the performance section of the Astro wiki for more information.

Connector

Wiris Pro Payload uses the Smart Dovetail interface for power, data, and control. Pinouts for this connector can be found at both links bellow:

The Wiris video and control is passed through over the ethernet pins on the smart dovetail. Info on communicating with the camera can be found in the document bellow.

The gimbal utilizes Mavlink for control from the aircraft over the UART pins.

Power requirements:

The Wiris is powered directly from the gimbal, these specs account for the entire package in operation. Power is drawn from the V_BATT pins on the Smart Dovetail pinout.