Drones and handheld stabilized gimbals have become very popular consumer electronics products in recent years. As a leading supplier of rotational current-carrying solutions, JINPAT offers a wide range of products for this field. However, not all drones and handheld gimbals available on the market are equipped with slip rings. Let’s take a look at what types of drones and stabilizers use slip rings and what types of slip rings are used.

First, let’s take a look at the handheld stabilized gimbal, which is generally divided into entry-level and professional. Entry-level products are primarily designed to provide stable shooting conditions for smartphones. Due to the light weight of smartphones and the flexibility of human hands, these gimbals do not require 360° rotation capability and therefore do not need slip rings.

On the other hand, gimbals equipped with slip rings are primarily aimed at the professional-grade market and are suitable for mounting professional DSLRs and camcorders. These professional-grade devices are heavier and difficult to operate with one hand, especially in scenarios such as film and video production, where precise shooting techniques and framing are critical. To increase the mobility of camera equipment, gimbal manufacturers typically install slip rings between the power section and the gimbal motors. This allows the gimbal to rotate indefinitely with the camera, resulting in stunning special effects shots.

As a result, most of the UAVs and gimbals equipped with slip rings on the market are focused on professional-grade products. As a slip ring supplier in the consumer electronics industry, JINPAT supplies millions of slip rings to this field every year, mainly using the standard LPMS series slip rings covering 6~12 channels. The ultra-miniature slip rings have the advantages of light weight, compact size and outstanding performance, which makes them stand out in this field. In addition to the consumer electronics industry, ultra-miniature slip rings are also widely used in instrument making and other industries.

A similar situation applies to the gimbals of aerial photography drones. In some low-cost aerial photography drones, their three-axis gimbals are tightly integrated with the drone body, which limits their ability to infinitely rotate the camera. As a result, the field of view in aerial photography is limited to a certain range in the forward direction, requiring constant adjustment of the drone’s position to obtain panoramic images. In contrast, professional-grade drones can not only be equipped with more specialized lenses for aerial photography, but also carry small payload gimbals with additional functionality. To improve flight endurance and reduce unnecessary power consumption due to excessive movement, adding slip rings to the gimbal becomes a cost-effective solution.

keywords-Capsule slip rings、Flange slip rings、Capsule slip rings、Miniature slip rings