Insta360 GO

[merit]

I’m new to rocketry, just been building some Estes type kits with my kids, but a buddy and I came up with the idea to use an Insta360 GO to get stabilized footage from a rocket. I’ve been flying drones for years and this little thing caused quite a stir when it was released because of its small size (and low weight, under 20 grams) relative to its capabilities.
My friend tried a 3D printed mount similar to what we would use for a drone, down near the fins, but ended up with an unstable flight. I had done a tiny amount of reading about rocket stability so figured it would be better to have the weight up top. I had an Estes air walker so I cut a hole in the payload bay, jammed the camera in, and got some pretty fun videos. I personally love the way the rocket seems to spin “around” the camera.




(Attached are a couple of pics of how I “mounted” it in the air walker).

We’re looking to take this to the next level, maybe with a two stage flight (because seeing the staging seems like it would be cool plus the extra height). I’m wondering if anyone has thoughts on how to better mount the camera into a small payload bay? I’d really like not to lose the dumb thing, I’ve ejected it from my drone several times now and hunting around for it in the weeds is never fun. If it managed to detach itself from the rocket atany kind of height I’m pretty sure I’d never see it again.

 

[tsmith1315]

Yeah, I really like the perspective this yields. That's easy to watch.

If you can drill a couple of holes in the case, pass a kevlar cord through and tie it to the payload section for a little peace of mind.

 

[merit]

If you can drill a couple of holes in the case, pass a kevlar cord through and tie it to the payload section for a little peace of mind.

Hadn't even thought of tying it, thanks. I'm not too excited about drilling holes in it since it's waterproof (ish) but I may try attaching something like a pad eye with some VHB tape. I think it's light enough that a good yank won't pop the tape, it's worth a try anyway.

 

[Spitfire222]

The footage is great, and the stabilization really makes it much more palatable/enjoyable to watch in comparison to other similar videos without it. Also, thank you so much for cutting the footage to feature the launch at the beginning of your video! It's a pet peeve of mine when the entire first half of rocket launch videos are just of the stationary rocket or the ground.

 

[merit]

The footage is great, and the stabilization really makes it much more palatable/enjoyable to watch in comparison to other similar videos without it. Also, thank you so much for cutting the footage to feature the launch at the beginning of your video! It's a pet peeve of mine when the entire first half of rocket launch videos are just of the stationary rocket or the ground.

Thanks. The camera comes with a pretty nice app that makes it really easy to trim videos, select your aspect ratio (after the fact!), mess with the stabilization settings, etc. The charging case plugs straight into your phone so it's really easy to grab the camera and download the videos on the spot. They also have PC editing software but it's actually missing a couple of features for the GO specifically, it's more tailored to their bigger / more expensive 360 cameras (the GO is actually more like a 180 camera, despite the name). The whole thing is more of a complete package than you get with (eg) a runcam, but you pay for it of course.

 

[merit]

I launched my two stage Quest Zenith II with the Insta360 aboard. Flight was ok but I had some pretty bad weathercocking (I think due to the weight of the camera and altimeter slowing the rocket down off the pad?) and hence my landing was arboreally assisted

Igniting the second stage (or maybe separation?) also kicked the rocket into a heck of a spin that the camera stabilization couldn’t quite keep up with.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

I'd be thinking along the lines of a faring for the camera and perhaps a dummy faring for the opposite side to even out the drag, but perhaps I'm too picky. You could take a couple of cylindrical pieces of balsa (couplers) and fairly easily gouge out a nice deep notch for it in each piece, slightly oversize, line that with a high-friction liner like non-slip used in tool drawers, and if push it in tight. And/or if you do make a faring, you could either drill a hole through it and tie around the camera (or use elastic). Withough physically having a hole in it to tie off to, that's about the best that I could think of... Greater minds shall surely be along...

 

[merit]

I eventually designed and 3d printed a nosecone with a hole through it that I friction fit the camera into. This allowed me to hang an equal amount of the camera out of both sides of the rocket to handle asymetric drag. I messed around with a fairing a but but never got anything I was happy with and at the end of the day I think it would add a lot more drag than just the camera body (which is already a bit rounded at least). It worked out pretty well though I found that having more rocket in the frame would sometimes mess with the stabilization algorithm. I'll attach a render of the nosecone, it's on OnShape if anyone wants to mess with it. I also made a few more videos but I think I only ever uploaded this one: