Seeker 5.1

As we all know, getting the shot, getting the right shot, getting that perfect shot is no longer a simple job of putting an autonomous GPS guided quadcopter up into the air and doing an object orbit or track. The perfect shot demands more from the modern aerial videographer than ever before.

You have the opportunity to bring video to life! Immersing a person in a situation they have never experienced before. Letting people feel the spray of a waterfall on their skin and experience a hot air balloon ride, letting people explore an abandoned railway bridge with you or the untouched canyon below.

Seeker brings video to life!  

Seeker is designed to meet the needs of the modern cinematic videographer like never before.

The Influencer

The design and choices we made for Seeker where heavily influenced by one of the biggest influences in the industry, Javier Riveros AKA filmnamics. Javier blends his passion for visual effects, FPV and exploring beautiful locations into video that is captivating, immersive and the passion he has for his work is evident in everything he puts out.

Javier and I have worked together on the Seeker project for about a year now, with quite a few iterations in between and even one or two complete redesigns. The worldwide lockdown crisis definitely slowed down progress on development but Javier finally gave the go-ahead and said to me “it’s ready”. So, I knew it was time to start sharing the journey with everyone.

Seeker Technical Highlights

The single focus of Seeker is capturing immersive, beautiful video. As such, we simplified everything else, kept it neat and tidy, and gave you loads and loads of flexibility for mounting cameras and different camera combinations for whatever situation you may be faced with.  

Weight // 88grams (including the standard steel hardware pack)

// Javier has successfully shaved 8grams off that weight with an aluminium hardware pack //

Props // 5.1 inch maximum

MTM // 218mm on the diagonal

Motor Planform // Compressed – X

Stack Accommodation Planform // 30.5X30.5mm and 20X20mm (true double stack capable)

Stack Accommodation Vertical // 20mm

HD camera mounting // above or below the FPV camera or simultaneous mounting capable

Included in the Kit

Carbon

4 x 5mm carbon fibre arms (Toray T300 UD Carbon) 

2 X 2mm carbon fibre camera frame side plates

2 x 2.5mm carbon fibre chassis lock 

1 x 2mm carbon fibre top plate

1 x 2mm carbon fibre top chassis plate

1 x 2mm carbon fibre bottom chassis plate

Hardware

1 x 15mm aluminium standoff

8 x 20mm aluminium standoff

9 x stainless steel press nuts (pre-installed in top chassis plate)

5 x 6mm M3 counter-sunk bolts

13 X 6mm M3 button cap bolts

11 x 12mm M3 button cap bolts

4 X 25mm M3 button cap bolts (optional, for use with a standard 30.5X30.5mm stack)

Accessories

The following print files are available:

// SMA Style Antenna Mount

// TBS Style Antenna Mount

// DJI Style Antenna Mount

// DJI Style Antenna and GPS Mount

// GPS Mount

// Universal HD Camera Mounts

// 5.1" propeller bumpers

//Seeker Maintenance Stand complete with Inserts

All the 3-D print files (STL) are available for free download, HERE.

Seeker in more Detail

This was a really exciting process of working through all the technical challengers and taking the experiences and feedback from Javier to make something truly better. Javier’s vast experience and understanding of FPV and cameras alike, meant he could give me very precise feedback when we made changes. This is invaluable in this process as it is easy to stray off course with poor pilot feedback. I have never really pushed the limits of both cameras and its lifting platform quite like Javier does. His work speaks for itself, so I was keen to take his feedback and incorporate it into the fundamental design of Seeker as early on as possible. With three or four lengthy discussions about what we needed to achieve and a wish list from Javier for his frame we started to play with some new concepts and ideas.

Javier's absolutely minimal use of post processing and video stabilisation, means the quad needs to be as smooth as silk and as vibration free as possible. The better the quality of the video when you capture it the better the final product will be. 

The basic outline of what Javier was looking for was something extremely light, rigid and free from vibration, with the ability to easily and quickly swop out cameras without tools. Sometimes you only have seconds to capture the shot you need, so we didn’t have time for fiddling with tools and lengthy camera swops.

Seeker Technical Specifications

What we ended up with is an 88gram AUW airframe, this includes the standard 12.9 grade steel hardware pack. If you would like to go even lighter, you can drop about 8 grams by swopping out the steel bolts for high grade aluminium bolts. Four individual 5mm carbon arms, keep things light and rigid and crush frame vibrations. Enough space to double stack electronics one stack behind the other in either 30.5X30.5mm (M3) or 20X20mm (M2) configuration. There is 20mm of vertical stacking height for electronic boards and also a 20mm wide camera frame upfront to shim out analogy cameras or mount wider digital cameras. HD cameras mount to standoffs and the camera frame upfront.

Vertically orientated camera side plates are something we have used in almost every airframe we have released. First seen on the IdeinRS five years ago, Taboo, Apex, Yeti, Lycan and most recently Slate. We tested an early Seeker prototype with the usual vertical camera side plate configuration and compared the vibration from airframe-to-camera with what Javier was currently flying, a traditional top plate and bottom plate style frame. We noted a definite decrease in both amplitude and frequency of vibration that was reaching the camera. The decision to go with vertically orientated camera sides was an easy one. It simply makes better video.

One key feature seen on Seeker is the ability to quickly and easily access your entire electronics bay without removing your HD cameras. As we said, there is no time to mess around with fiddly camera mounts and tools. If there is something you need to check in the field, you shouldn’t have to remove all your HD cameras to do so. The top plate, flips open like a car bonnet, giving you access to all your electronics below, quick and easy.  

HD Recording Cameras

Finally discussing HD cameras, themselves, there are a bunch of different HD recording camera options but the vast majority of them have a similar shape and feel to a GoPro Hero. If you are using something other than a hero, there is probably a universal print option available on Thingieverse. As the Seeker mount is a universal style mount, it fits most camera mounts with no hassle.  

Seeker is designed to carry a Hero style camera on a universal TPU printed mount. You can carry one above your FPV camera and one below, you can also do this simultaneously for two different camera perspectives at the same time. You can also turn either HD camera around, to get really cool rearward facing follow shots if needed.

The extremely quick camera swop out capability of the Seeker platform makes camera swops on the go a breeze. This is a great function as Seeker becomes the dependable and reliable platform you trust to get the shot you are looking for.

Final Thoughts

Thank you to Javier for providing us with the amazing product images you see above. Contact him if you would like to make your products or content pop, @filmnamics !

If you have any questions, queries or suggestions please email us directly at mail@fridayfpv.com . 

As always, be safe and happy flying! 

Dave.