Control a DJI RS gimbal from a PC over Bluetooth

How the gimbal normally gets its orders

When you open the Ronin app on a phone and the gimbal appears, the two are talking over Bluetooth LE. As far as we can tell, every mode change, every joystick nudge in the app, every setting you touch travels over that link. It is the control channel the RS gimbals we know of ship with, and on the RS 3 Mini it is effectively the only one, since as far as we can tell the Mini has no accessory port for a RavenEye transmitter or a control dongle.

DJI does publish a developer protocol for people who want to drive its gimbals. As we read that documentation, it targets the accessory port, which the RS 3 Mini does not have. Even on gimbals that have the port, you would need a hardware bridge plugged into it and your own software behind that bridge. For DJI subject tracking software on a Windows or Mac machine, the Bluetooth link is the only door in we know of that requires no extra hardware. As far as we know, nobody had opened it from a computer.

What GimbalPilot does

GimbalPilot speaks the gimbal's Bluetooth link from the computer's own Bluetooth radio. To the gimbal, the laptop looks like the thing it expects to be talking to. As far as we know, GimbalPilot is the first software to control a DJI RS gimbal straight from a PC or Mac over Bluetooth.

It does so from a browser. Chrome and Edge implement Web Bluetooth, which lets a web page ask you to pick a nearby Bluetooth device and then talk to it. Open gimbalpilot.com/webapp, click Connect gimbal in the Connection tab, pick your RS in the browser's chooser, and the page is steering the gimbal. Video comes in the same way, through the browser's media API from your capture stick, and the AI that finds the subject runs on your own GPU through WebGPU (with a WebAssembly fallback). Nothing is uploaded; the only thing our server sees is your login.

Three things we won't do on this page: publish the protocol, publish the command set, or call it official. It is DJI's unofficial protocol, reverse-engineered by us for the gimbal we own. DJI has not endorsed it and owes us nothing. That is stated on the pricing page and in the refund policy because it is the most important thing to know before you pay.

What that means on a rig

No phone on the rig. Nothing clamped to the gimbal, no extra weight on a gimbal chosen for being light, no phone battery to babysit.
No RavenEye. The transmitter that, as we understand it, does DJI's tracking on larger gimbals is not needed, which matters on the RS 3 Mini, where DJI's support pages say it is not supported anyway.
No dongle. Nothing in the accessory port, which as far as we can tell the Mini does not have.
One laptop. The same machine that already has the capture stick in it. Camera, gimbal, laptop; one browser tab in between.

The practical upshot is the companion guide, How to get auto tracking on the DJI RS 3 Mini: click the person in the monitor and the gimbal follows them, with no tracking hardware bolted on.

Which gimbals

Verified: DJI RS 3 Mini. It is the gimbal GimbalPilot was built on and the one that runs a livestream every Sunday in Sweden, so "verified" means we use it every week.

Discovered but unverified: the rest of the RS family. The RS 2, RS 3, RS 3 Pro and the RS 4 family expose the same service on the Bluetooth link, so the web app finds them and lets you pick any of them in the browser's chooser. What happens after that, we have not tested, because we don't own them. If you do, try it during the free trial and send a report to hello@gimbalpilot.com, whether it worked or not. Every report grows the verified list. And if it turns out incompatible after you subscribe, cancel and the current period is refunded.

The camera too: zoom over Bluetooth LE

The same idea extends to the camera. GimbalPilot pairs the camera from the browser over Bluetooth LE the same way it pairs the gimbal, and drives its zoom over that link. On the verified Sony ZV-E10 II that gives true variable-speed zoom, so the framing you chose holds as the subject moves. Other Sony bodies with Bluetooth remote support (the ones on Sony's own remote-compatibility list; the app names them after you link) are unverified; we expect them to behave similarly but have not tested any. The Blackmagic Pocket 4K/6K family is supported from Blackmagic's documented protocol and not yet verified on hardware. Zoom needs a power-zoom lens on either. Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm zoom is not supported: tracking still works with any camera that can feed HDMI into the computer, and zoom stays manual on the gimbal's own path.

Latency and robustness, honestly

Steering is a stream, not a command. GimbalPilot sends the gimbal a small steering update many times a second rather than one big "go here" instruction. That is what makes the motion look like a smooth pan rather than a series of steps. How quickly the subject is found each frame depends on your GPU; the top strip shows the backend and a live fps readout.
Pairing can take up to a minute. In our experience the gimbal advertises itself over Bluetooth in bursts, not continuously. Leave the browser's chooser open and wait; if the gimbal has not appeared after a minute, power-cycle it and click Connect gimbal again.
One connection at a time. In our experience the gimbal holds a single Bluetooth connection. A DJI Ronin app in the background on any phone or tablet keeps it, so close the app fully everywhere before connecting from the computer.
Background tabs are fine. Browsers throttle hidden tabs, so GimbalPilot keeps its timing in a background worker that is not throttled: switching tabs or minimizing the window does not stop tracking. Closing the tab or letting the computer sleep does, so keep the machine awake.
A human can always take the wheel. Touch a stick on an Xbox or PlayStation controller and you are flying the camera immediately; let go and tracking resumes after 0.4 seconds. There is an on-screen joystick too.
Firmware is the risk we can't control. A DJI firmware update could change the protocol and break the app, possibly permanently. If your setup works, hold off on gimbal firmware updates until we have confirmed the new version. If an update does permanently break it, cancel and the current billing period is refunded; see the refund policy.

Verified environment

DJI RS 3 Mini
Sony ZV-E10 II (zoom). Other Sony bodies with Bluetooth remote support are unverified; Blackmagic Pocket 4K/6K is supported from Blackmagic's documented protocol and not yet verified on hardware.
Elgato Cam Link 4K (capture; most UVC devices work)
Chrome or Edge on Windows 11 and on Apple Silicon macOS. Linux is unverified. Safari and Firefox have no Web Bluetooth and cannot run it.

The Windows and macOS desktop apps from the earlier beta (0.9.2) are coming back soon in compiled form. Until then the web app is the way to run GimbalPilot, and it has every feature the desktop app had.

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Common questions

Can a PC control a DJI RS gimbal over Bluetooth?

Yes. The gimbal already speaks Bluetooth LE to DJI's Ronin phone app, and GimbalPilot speaks that same link from a PC or Mac's own Bluetooth radio, out of a browser tab in Chrome or Edge using Web Bluetooth. As far as we know it is the first software to do so. No phone on the rig, no RavenEye, no dongle in the accessory port.

Do I need the DJI Ronin app running?

No. It must be closed. In our experience the gimbal accepts one Bluetooth connection at a time, and a Ronin app sitting in the background on any phone or tablet still holds it. Force-quit it everywhere, then click Connect gimbal in GimbalPilot's Connection tab.

Which DJI gimbals can it connect to?

The DJI RS 3 Mini is verified; it is what we develop and test on. Other RS-family gimbals (RS 2, RS 3, RS 3 Pro and the RS 4 family) are discovered by the app because they expose the same service on the Bluetooth link, but we have not verified them. Try yours during the free trial and send a test report to hello@gimbalpilot.com. If it turns out incompatible after you subscribe, cancel and the current period is refunded.

Is this an official DJI API?

No. As we read DJI's documentation, its official developer protocol targets the gimbal's accessory port, which as far as we can tell the RS 3 Mini does not have. GimbalPilot uses the unofficial Bluetooth protocol that DJI's own app uses, and we do not publish it. DJI could change it in a firmware update; if that permanently breaks the app, cancel and the current billing period is refunded.

Does it work on Mac as well as Windows?

Yes. Chrome or Edge on Windows 11 and on Apple Silicon macOS are verified; Linux is likely fine but unverified. The browser has to implement Web Bluetooth, which rules out Safari and Firefox. The native Windows and macOS apps are coming back soon; the web app is the way to run it until then.

What happens if the browser tab goes to the background?

Tracking keeps running. The gimbal is fed a steady stream of small steering commands many times a second, and browsers normally throttle hidden tabs, so GimbalPilot keeps its timing in a background worker that browsers do not throttle. Switching to another tab or minimizing the window does not stop tracking. What does stop it: closing the tab, or the computer going to sleep, so keep the machine awake.

Related: How to get auto tracking on the DJI RS 3 Mini (no phone, no RavenEye). More answers in the FAQ, or email hello@gimbalpilot.com — a human answers.