Mobius Maxi Support Thread

[kandrey89]

Did you test any photo timelapse modes?

Here it is:

 

[TonyM]

Here it is:
View attachment 48675

Thanks for testing 0.3fps timelapse photo power consumption. It's a bit less than recording 30fps video, but not really enough to justify 1/100th of the frame rate and no audio. The main benefit is the increased recording duration that fits onto a single card.

 

[kandrey89]

Thanks for testing 0.3fps timelapse photo power consumption. It's a bit less than recording 30fps video, but not really enough to justify 1/100th of the frame rate and no audio. The main benefit is the increased recording duration that fits onto a single card.

Yeah, I'm very disappointed in how the firmware is implemented. There's absolutely no image sensor standby mode used. You can see that in STDBY mode, different image resolution still draw almost same power as recording mode, difference is likely the processor/encoder.
Standby should have been implemented during general standby when not recording, as well as between timelapse frame acquisition.

 

[Matt_V939]

Here you go, after the white
"silica gel case" now the BLACK one
https://www.ebay.com/itm/163875893118

 

[TonyM]

Yeah, I'm very disappointed in how the firmware is implemented. There's absolutely no image sensor standby mode used. You can see that in STDBY mode, different image resolution still draw almost same power as recording mode, difference is likely the processor/encoder.
Standby should have been implemented during general standby when not recording, as well as between timelapse frame acquisition.

To be fair, it's probably the chipset supplier that sets some of these things. Mobius could push for changes, but I suppose standby power consumption is not a high priority.

 

[kandrey89]

To be fair, it's probably the chipset supplier that sets some of these things. Mobius could push for changes, but I suppose standby power consumption is not a high priority.

I'm a bit familiar with these things and generally it shouldn't be an issue unless they decided to avoid it to make a simpler firmware and avoid testing everything thoroughly with extra modes and switches where standby has to switch to another mode.
There's 2 standby modes, software standby and hardware standby.
When an image sensor is not streaming it's in software standby.
When in hardware standby, it should draw <10% power if the image sensor company made a good sensor and gated the analog and digital power domains properly, and in this mode the register settings are maintained, so that when the sensor is awakened, registers do not need to be rewritten.

 

[Billybobbonnet]

Hi guys,

I posted here a few months ago to get info on a defective mobius maxi and I said I was working on a small hack of it, changing the cable and using it has a pov camera with a glasses mounted dedicated case.

I just wanted to give you an update about that:

I successfully managed to use the maxi with custom cables. For those who wonder, you need a FFC cable, 24 pins, 0.5mm gap & forward direction. The longest cable I used was 52cm length. I am in talks with a Chinese manufacturer to get 100 custom cables of 70cm with a round section in the middle (the ffc is cut in 3 and insulated with acetic acid tape) for 280$.

I also created a the case for the camera part of the maxi (see the attached pictures). It has 4 parts (3 are PLA printed) & 2 nylon screws:

1. the case itself, in 2 parts
2. a small plastic piece to slide along the left ride axis and block it in the desired position
3. a clamp on which I clip the rest on which serves as the glass leg fixation (up down axis)

There is also a 2 small pieces to plug in the former camera exit and maintain the ffc cable.

I wanted to contact the maker of the mobius cams to offer my cad files & feedback if they wanted me to but I am not sure of where I should knock. The closest place I found is their ebay page, but I'm not even sure it belongs to the people who make the maxi.

Also, if someone wants the CAD files, I can provide them (by PM only because I might sell a small batch of the whole pov camera remix and can't release them publicly yet).

If you have any question, feel free to ask. Feedback would be very welcome as well.

 

[kandrey89]

Billybobbonnet
Are you sure the sensor doesn't have digital signal loss over such a long cable? When I took apart the maxi I didn't see a redriver on the sensor side. I don't see how it could work over such a long cable. The voltage sag alone would probably put it out of spec.

 

[jokiin]

Billybobbonnet
Are you sure the sensor doesn't have digital signal loss over such a long cable? When I took apart the maxi I didn't see a redriver on the sensor side. I don't see how it could work over such a long cable. The voltage sag alone would probably put it out of spec.

I would think that even if it did work at 52cm it's risky to go spending $280 on cables that are even longer and have a higher potential for signal loss issues, 15cm is normally pushing it

 

[SawMaster]

It's very interesting nonetheless, and I'm glad the Maxi is getting the kind of cam enthusiast attention the M1 got If the cable works well there could be a limited market for it, but I don't see very many sales at that price I could be wrong with that though

Eletoponline365 is the official ebay seller for Mobius and has direct connections with the manufacturer, so they would be able to relay your information along. Tom Franks on the RC forum or @Isoprop here on DCT might be able to help with that as well. The company owner/developers do not want to have direct public contact so whatever you do will have to go through one of those folks.

Phil

 

[Billybobbonnet]

Hi guys,

Thank you for the feedback. As I said on RC forum, I do record 1080p 60 fps as default with 20, 42 and 52 cm cables without any issue in quality. I made a side by side video with a regular mobius maxi and a 52cm cable one and couldn't tell the difference in quality when comparing similar frames.

I also made a 8+ hour long video with that 52cm cable and a powerbank and it worked fine.

The only issue I had, and I believe it is not cable related, was to record with wifi & stream on. It overheated the maxi and crashed it after 20 minutes or so.

@kandrey89 and @jokiin , I have been warned that circuits and cable length are designed relatively to the voltage a few months ago. Since I was in a good streak and had no issue in practice, I came to neglect this. But I guess it still stands, and about the 100 cables, you have a point. It would be risky. I couldn't find a supplier who could sell them off the shelves, by unit, so I couldn't try it. I guess I will keep looking.

If the cable works well there could be a limited market for it, but I don't see very many sales at that price

What do you mean? That would be too expensive? The camera unit, including the case, weights less than 15 grams. You also now what to expect from the maxi in terms of video/audio quality. I don't know of any device on the current market with such specifications and the price doesn't seems to be high (e.g. comparing to a go pro)

 

[SawMaster]

I'm speaking only of the cables, the Maxi (even with it's faults) is still a good deal for the money. I haven't noticed a lot of people remoting the lens modules like this- there have always been some doing that but a small percentage overall. It would likely take a year or more to sell 100 cables at the price you've stated which might be OK from a hobbyist perspective but that's not so great a business model. Just not a lot of demand for the product as I see it.

Phil

 

[Billybobbonnet]

@SawMaster Oh, ok. I am not trying to get a business running here. I am just doing it as a hobbyist for a non profit project, recording professional cooks for teaching purposes. The unit price for the cable is 2.80$, so it is not such a big expenditure. However, the PLA printed case requires 1 hour of printing for a finished product that doesn't look very finished (3D printing flaws) and the whole time spent to produce one unit would make it absolutely not fit to make money out of it. At this scale, plastic moulding is also out of the picture. I was just hoping to sell 2 or 3 dozen sets to academics or hobbyists in order to pay for some of my time. And to be honest, I still wonder if it is worth it.

 

[SawMaster]

I had my math messed up- I was thinking $28 per cable but $2.80 is cheap. Yeah I like the case but 3D printing still costs a bit. I wonder if some other cam's remote lens housing could be adapted for this, maybe glue the lens module in then attach an existing clip?

If costs could be made cheap enough it would definitely sell enough to make the effort worth it even if it didn't make you rich

Phil

 

[Harsh]

No point unless you already have customers lined up.

 

[Dashmellow]

@SawMaster Oh, ok. I am not trying to get a business running here. I am just doing it as a hobbyist for a non profit project, recording professional cooks for teaching purposes. The unit price for the cable is 2.80$, so it is not such a big expenditure. However, the PLA printed case requires 1 hour of printing for a finished product that doesn't look very finished (3D printing flaws) and the whole time spent to produce one unit would make it absolutely not fit to make money out of it. At this scale, plastic moulding is also out of the picture. I was just hoping to sell 2 or 3 dozen sets to academics or hobbyists in order to pay for some of my time. And to be honest, I still wonder if it is worth it.

This seems to be an interesting and worthwhile project and I admire your ingenuity but I'm wondering about the wisdom of going to all this trouble and expense for this particular purpose when a simpler, cheaper, easier solution exists. For years now many of us have been mounting Mobius cameras on hat brims to easily create a very effective FPV camera.



Having said that, I think your concept has many other interesting potential applications beyond being mounted on the stem of eyeglasses. For example, it could make for a very stealthy dash cam with a hidden camera body out of sight and away from the heat of the sun. Of course, many have done this before using the available extension cables supplied by Mobius but yours seems to be an especially nice execution.

 

[Billybobbonnet]

@Dashmellow Thank you for your kind words.

About the hat brims way, that is indeed effective, but the form factor is important in some contexts where I am recording. Some of the professionals recorded are serving in fancy restaurants and can't have a hat on. Some chefs also request some dresscode and liberty of movement that wouldn't be possible with this solution. Not saying that mine is better overall, it is just more suited to these contexts.

About questioning the wisdom of going to all this trouble and expense for this particular purpose, well , I certainly overdid it. It has been fun, so far, however!

 

[Dashmellow]

@Dashmellow Thank you for your kind words.

About the hat brims way, that is indeed effective, but the form factor is important in some contexts where I am recording. Some of the professionals recorded are serving in fancy restaurants and can't have a hat on. Some chefs also request some dresscode and liberty of movement that wouldn't be possible with this solution. Not saying that mine is better overall, it is just more suited to these contexts.

About questioning the wisdom of going to all this trouble and expense for this particular purpose, well , I certainly overdid it. It has been fun, so far, however!

Thanks for the explanation. Makes more sense now!

 

[SawMaster]

The value of fun far exceeds the value of money. Glad you're having fun with the project and you've done well with it

Phil

 

[jchantw]

Hi all, my mobius maxi is permanently showing orange light on the start button, after i changed the charging cable.. pressing any button or holding them yields no change..can anyone help me to diagnose what's hanging up my cam? Even with the small capacitor, the orange light remaind lit for a long time.. Thanks in advance for all your advice!