FlySpark logo
FlySpark logoFlySparkINAV setup guidesUpdated

Turn with the camera

A camera on a pan servo looks sideways while the aircraft flies ahead. The Camera pan servo card tells the OSD how far that servo travels between 1000 and 2000 µs, so the home arrow and the HUD can turn with the picture.

The travel starts at 0 degrees. The hint says 0 means off, and the picture leaves the arrow still even when the camera pulse moves. A 180 degree servo is entered as 180. A negative number reverses the direction.

The servo index, the off-centre warning and the degrees readout stay hidden while the travel is 0. Set any other number and they appear. This is not the camera uptilt on the horizon card, which only places the horizon line.

Free. Hardware connections need Chrome or Edge on a computer; phones use the FlySpark app.

  • Free
  • Nothing to install
  • Demo without hardware

In short

The camera pan servo starts at 0 degrees, which leaves the home arrow still. A 180 degree servo is entered as 180, and a negative number reverses the direction. The extra fields stay hidden until the travel is not 0.

Key facts

  • Pan travel starts at 0 degrees, which the hint calls off. The servo index and warning stay hidden until it is not 0.
  • A 180 degree servo is entered as 180. Negative reverses the direction. The field runs from -360 to 360 in steps of 10.
  • The footer says the home arrow and HUD turn with the camera. It is not for a continuously rotating servo.
  • Servo index starts at 0, which the hint calls the first servo, and runs from 0 to 16.
  • Off-centre warning starts at 10 degrees. It flashes after 10 seconds within that angle but not centred. 0 turns it off.
  • Show pan angle starts off. It adds the degrees next to the pan offset element.
  • The picture keeps the arrow still at 0 degrees of travel. At 180, a camera at 1750 µs turns it 90 degrees.
  • Chrome or Edge uses USB or Bluetooth. iPhone has no USB host.
  • Betaflight logoBetaflight
  • INAV logoINAV
  • ArduPilot logoArduPilot
  • PX4 logoPX4
  • BLHeli_S
  • Bluejay logoBluejay
  • AM32 logoAM32
  • ExpressLRS logoExpressLRS
  • EdgeTX logoEdgeTX
  • DroneCAN logoDroneCAN
  • MAVLink logoMAVLink

Try it

Turn with the camera

Travel starts at 0 degrees, so the arrow stays put. Set 180 and the arrow follows the camera.

Off

0°

FlySpark

Features

  • 01

    0 degrees is off

    Travel starts at 0. The hint says that means off. In the picture the arrow stays at 0 degrees when the camera moves from 1000 to 2000 µs.

  • 02

    180 is a 180 degree servo

    The hint says a 180 degree servo is 180. The picture then treats 1000 to 2000 µs as that sweep, centred at 1500 µs.

  • 03

    Negative reverses it

    The hint says a negative number reverses the direction. At 1750 µs, 180 turns the picture one way and -180 turns it the other way.

  • 04

    The extra fields wait

    Servo index, the off-centre warning and show pan angle appear only after the travel is not 0. The demo starts with them hidden.

  • 05

    The warning starts at 10 degrees

    Warn when off centre by starts at 10 degrees. The hint says the pan offset element flashes after 10 seconds within that angle but not centred.

  • 06

    Not a spinning servo

    The footer says this is for a camera on a pan servo, and not for a continuously rotating servo.

Degrees across the pulse

Pan over 1000–2000 µs starts at 0 degrees. The stored range is -360 to 360 degrees, in steps of 10. The hint says a 180 degree servo is 180, a negative number reverses the direction, and 0 means off. The footer says that with a camera on a pan servo, the home arrow and HUD turn with the camera. It also says this is not for continuously rotating servos.

The picture uses that hint as a straight line. It treats the travel number as the degrees between 1000 and 2000 µs, with 1500 µs in the middle. Travel 0 keeps the arrow at 0 degrees at every camera pulse, and the lamp says Off. Travel 180 with the camera still at 1500 µs keeps the arrow at 0 degrees, but the lamp says With the camera, because the travel is no longer off. Move that camera to 1750 µs and the arrow turns 90 degrees. Move it to 2000 µs and the arrow turns 180 degrees. The same 1750 µs with travel -180 turns 90 degrees the other way.

The picture stops at the same -360 to 360 the field allows. It does not draw the servo index, the 10 second warning, or the degrees label. Those are the fields that appear under the travel once it is not 0.

What appears after you set a travel

Pan servo index starts at 0 and runs from 0 to 16. The hint says 0 is the first servo. It is hidden while the travel is 0, so the demo does not ask which servo until you enter a travel. INAV servos is where the servo outputs themselves are set. This index only tells the OSD which of those outputs is the camera pan.

Warn when off centre by starts at 10 degrees and runs from 0 to 45. The hint says the pan offset element flashes after 10 seconds within this angle but not centred, and that 0 means off. The 10 seconds is the delay in that hint. The 10 degrees is the starting angle, and you can change the angle without the hint changing the delay. Show pan angle starts off. Its hint says it puts degrees next to the pan offset element. OSD alarms is a different card. Those alarms flash altitude, RSSI and the other elements. This warning flashes the pan offset element only.

The horizon card is also different. OSD horizon sets camera uptilt so the horizon line sits where the camera looks. Uptilt does not turn the home arrow when the camera pans. The video system only changes the character grid. Leave this travel at 0 if the camera does not pan.

Where you set it

Open the OSD tab on INAV and find Camera pan servo. The card is there when the flight controller has this setting. Chrome or Edge connects over USB or Bluetooth. Android adds Wi-Fi. iPhone uses Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and has no USB host. Enter the servo's travel, check the arrow turns the way the camera turns, then save.

If the arrow turns the wrong way, make the travel negative. If the arrow turns when the camera is fixed, set the travel back to 0. A continuously rotating servo is the case the footer tells you not to use here.

FlySpark

Match the arrow to the camera

  1. Open Camera pan servo

    On INAV, open the OSD tab and find Camera pan servo. Travel starts at 0 degrees, which the hint calls off.

  2. Enter the servo travel

    A 180 degree servo is 180. The field runs from -360 to 360 in steps of 10. Negative reverses the direction.

  3. Read the fields that appear

    Servo index starts at 0, the first servo. The off-centre warning starts at 10 degrees and flashes after 10 seconds within that angle but not centred. Show pan angle starts off.

  4. Leave 0 if the camera is fixed

    Travel 0 keeps the home arrow still. The footer says this is not for a continuously rotating servo.

Troubleshooting

Common problems and fixes

  • Problem

    The arrow does not follow the camera

    Fix

    Travel starts at 0 degrees, and the hint says that means off. Enter the servo travel, such as 180 for a 180 degree servo.

  • Problem

    The arrow turns the wrong way

    Fix

    The hint says a negative number reverses the direction. Change 180 to -180, or the other way around.

  • Problem

    The servo index is missing

    Fix

    Index, the warning and show pan angle stay hidden while travel is 0. Set a travel other than 0 and they appear.

  • Problem

    The pan offset flashes while nearly centred

    Fix

    The warning starts at 10 degrees. The hint says the element flashes after 10 seconds within that angle but not centred. Set the warning to 0 to turn it off.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What does the INAV camera pan servo do?

It tells the OSD how far the camera pans between 1000 and 2000 µs, so the home arrow and HUD turn with the picture.

Why does the arrow stay still?

Travel starts at 0 degrees, and the hint says 0 means off. The picture keeps the arrow at 0 degrees at every camera pulse until you set a travel.

What number is a 180 degree servo?

180. The hint says a 180 degree servo is 180. Negative reverses the direction.

What does 1750 µs do at 180?

In the picture, travel 180 treats 1500 µs as the centre and 2000 µs as 180 degrees, so 1750 µs is 90 degrees. Travel -180 at the same pulse is 90 degrees the other way.

When do the extra fields show?

When the travel is not 0. Servo index, the off-centre warning and show pan angle are hidden at the demo's 0 degrees.

Which servo is index 0?

The hint says 0 is the first servo. The index runs from 0 to 16 and only appears after the travel is set.

When does the pan offset flash?

The warning starts at 10 degrees. The hint says the element flashes after 10 seconds within that angle but not centred. 0 turns the warning off.

Does this set the horizon?

No. Camera uptilt on the horizon card places the horizon line. This travel turns the home arrow and HUD with a panning camera.

Can a continuous-rotation servo use this?

The footer says no. It is for a camera on a pan servo, not a continuously rotating servo.

Can I set this in Chrome?

Yes, on INAV, when the flight controller has the setting. Chrome or Edge uses USB or Bluetooth. Android adds Wi-Fi. iPhone uses Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and has no USB host.

References

Sources

The official documentation behind the background facts on this page.

  1. INAV OSD notesINAV · github.com
  2. INAV settingsINAV · github.com
  3. INAV ConfiguratorINAV · github.com

Tools

See every FlySpark tool

  • 01FlySpark logo

    FlySpark

    Match the camera

    The INAV horizon starts level, and camera uptilt starts at 0 degrees. Turn follow on and the line centres when pitch matches that uptilt in the picture.

    Learn more
  • 02FlySpark logo

    FlySpark

    INAV servos

    Set INAV servo minimum, centre, maximum, rate and reverse in FlySpark, plus protocol, update rate, centre pulse, filter, flaperon throw and autotrim.

    Learn more
  • 03FlySpark logo

    FlySpark

    Flash the value

    INAV flashes an OSD value past its alarm. The altitude alarm starts at 100 m and flashes above that, and 0 m leaves the picture steady in the demo.

    Learn more
  • 04FlySpark logo

    FlySpark

    Pick the grid

    INAV sets the OSD grid from the video system. Auto and PAL are 30 by 16. HDZero is 50 by 18, DJIWTF is 60 by 22, and the layout preview follows that choice.

    Learn more

Ready to try it?

Free. Hardware connections need Chrome or Edge on a computer; phones use the FlySpark app.