HAKRC Storm32: Cheapest drone gimbal for GoPro

You can have the best quadcopter camera of the moment but, without being accompanied by a steady brushless gimbal at least like this HAKRC Storm32, is very hard to capture some nice and smooth aerial videos.

According to the number of installed brushless motors, the camera gimbals can be categorized into 1, 2, or 3-axis gimbals. A 2-axis gimbal is not necessarily worse than a 3-axis one, both designs have their own pros and cons. 3D gimbals are more liked because they stabilize videos on all 3 axes (tilt, pan, and roll). At the same time, the weight of the 3rd motor is usually bigger and consumes more power than the 2-axis models.

Roughly, a brushless camera gimbal has five main parts:

• Controller board;
• Gyro and acceleration sensor (like MPU6050);
• Brushless motors (1, 2, or 3 according to the number of motion axes);
• Connection cables;
• Carbon fiber, plastic, or metal frame.

In order to control a 3-axis gimbal on all axes you will need 3 free channels on your transmitter. Professional aerial filmmakers often use two remote controllers, one for controlling the aircraft and one for the camera gimbal.

There are many 3-axis GoPro gimbals on the market, from cheap models like $70 to very expensive with prices up to $400. Probably there are some functionality and reliability differences, but frankly, why this price gap of 6 times!?

HAKRC Storm32 review

Last month I was contacted by Elliot from Gearbest on whether I’m interested in reviewing this lightweight 3-axis gimbal. I hesitated because I already owned two other GoPro dedicated gimbals. Finally, I accepted his offer because this HAKRC Storm32 gimbal features a universal mounting plate that allows to installation of almost any GoPro and alike cameras. In my opinion, with some small adjustments, this gimbal can be also used with another kind of small quadcopter cameras. For example, in order to capture some 3D aerial videos, I’m planning to install two RunCam2 cameras on it. What worries me is whether I can re-calibrate the gimbal to handle the about 20-25 g extra weight.

HAKRC Storm32 brushless gimbal highlights

• Works out of the box;
• Lightweight CNC aluminum alloy frame;
• Direct drive brushless motors (two pieces of 2206 and one of C2805-145KV);
• 4 pieces of anti-vibration dumping balls;
• 3-Axis control signals (roll, pitch, and pan);
• Storm32 brushless gimbal controller (BGC);
• o323BGCTool GUI for configuration and firmware upgrade.

HAKRC Storm32 review – First impression

The gimbal was delivered in an “environment-friendly” cardboard box that is a reused piece of carton folded into a box shape. Anyway, being a cost-effective product I didn’t expect for a fancy package.

Alongside the gimbal, I found in the box some screws required to install the gimbals on the aircraft, a few F-F jumper wires, a JST female cable, and a one-page instruction guide.

Although we are dealing with a cheap gimbal, this HAKRC Storm32 has a quite robust design, and it seems very well built, yet it would be unfair to say that it has the same professional look as my Feiyu Tech FY MiNi3D gimbal.

My only concern is around the wires passing through the motors. Without having any hardware brakes on the panning motor, this one can be freely rotated when is powered off. Maybe it is fun to play this way, but it can be risky. Because after a few complete rotations some of the wires will be stretched to bursting.

The camera can be attached to the gimbal with a velcro tape that needs to be very tightened in order to prevent auxiliary vibrations.

According to the instructions, this gimbal can be supplied with 3s and 4s Li-Po batteries. This is the first time I tested with a fully charged 2s Li-Po, and appears to work correctly with this one too.

This gimbal has 4 status LEDs (3 on the controller board and one on the MPU6050 sensor board) and two micro push buttons (“RESET” and “BOOT0”). The LEDs on the controller board have the following colors and functions:

• LED0 (green color) shows the current state of the gimbal;
• LED1 (red color) heartbeat monitor it shows if the battery voltage is low or is missing the IMU sensor;
• BT LED (yellow color), works together with the HC06 Bluetooth module.

The Storm32 brushless controller board (BGC) offers some hidden features. It allows to connection of an IR LED in order to remote control a camera and near-distance configuration of the gimbal through Bluetooth.

HAKRC Storm32 review – Configuration tool

In order to configure this gimbal through my computer, I needed a mini USB cable plus to install the STM32 virtual COM port driver and the o323BGCTool GUI (at the end of my review you can find all the required files; you can also download them from olliw.eu).

The OlliW’s o323BGCTool is a pretty cool open-source application that allows to fine-tune the settings of the controller board and also to monitor the gimbal in real time. Through this tool it can also be updated the firmware of the gimbal. Because mine came with firmware version v0.70, which was released 10 months ago, I am planning to update my Storm32-BGC board with the latest v0.90 firmware.

HAKRC Storm32 gimbal test

Prior to attach the gimbal to my X380 Quad, I decided to make some indoor tests. My plan was to build a PVC pipe stand for this, but I didn’t manage to find the proper tubes, so I had to improvise something to install the gimbal on it.

To test the remote inputs of the gimbal, I used a cheap servo tester. As shown on my review video, the gimbal responded very well on all inputs (RC-0 “Tilt”, RC2-1 “Roll” and RC-2 “Pan”).

The gimbal, when is connected through the JST connector to a power source (11.1-16.8v), starts to auto-calibrate. Very important, do not move the gimbal during this process which normally takes about 20-30 seconds. If the gimbal is shaken during the startup sequence the initialization will be much longer.

Friendly advice: do not turn the gimbal upside down when is powered ON. The pan motor will start rotating as crazy.

Just returned from my flying zone, and I downloaded the video from the camera installed on the HAKRC Storm32 gimbal. The video is decently stable, but there’s still some jello effect. Its source is not necessarily the gimbal. The propellers on my X380 quad are pretty used, and it was also a windy day…I will repeat the test on a calm day after my new blades will arrive.

Pricing, availability, and alternatives

For those interested in some affordable gimbals, this one can be ordered from GB. BTW, the STorM32-BGC, the heart of this HAKRC gimbal, was started as a hobbyist’s project, not a commercial one.

Be aware, I just found out that this gimbal is also sold under the “Spare 3 Axis Brushless Gimbal” product name at around $90. Apparently, there are no differences except the significantly higher price.

Some improvements I’m planning to make to this HAKRC Storm32 gimbal

• Firmware upgrade from v0.70 to v0.90;
• Adding secondary JST cable (female);
• Improvising a kind of hardware limit for the “Pan” motor.