so this might be a weird question but im working on a project that needs a thermal imaging camera on board and the client specifically wants DJI Inspire 2 because thats what they already have in the fleet and i guess their insurance is set up around it. the Zenmuse XT2 is the obvious answer but availability is becoming a real issue and the prices on used ones have gotten kind of insane.

started looking at whether anyone has done custom payload integration on the Inspire 2 gimbal mount. i know the Zenmuse system uses a proprietary interface for power and data and DJI obviously doesnt publish that spec publicly. curious if anyone has hacked around it or used a third party gimbal adapter. i saw something on github a while back about reverse engineering the UART protocol on the gimbal port but it was pretty old and i dont know if it still applies to current firmware.

not looking to do anything sketchy, just trying to solve a real production problem without spending 8k on a used XT2 if there are other options

yeah the gimbal interface on the Inspire is pretty locked down, DJI uses their own SDK for Zenmuse integration and they havent really opened that up for third party manufacturers in any meaningful way. the github stuff you saw is probably from like 2018 era tinkering and i wouldnt trust it on a client job honestly.

the more practical route ive seen people take is just mounting a lightweight thermal cam on a separate fixed plate underneath and accepting that you lose the stabilization, then stabilize in post or use a camera with its own IBIS. depends on what the thermal footage is actually being used for though. if its for inspection work a bit of shake might be acceptable, if its for broadcast that probably doesnt fly

we had a similar situation about 18 months ago, client had two Inspire 2s and needed thermal and the XT2 supply chain was a nightmare. we ended up sourcing a used XT2 from a survey company that was upgrading their whole fleet and got it at a reasonable price, took a few weeks of hunting but it was out there. might be worth posting in some of the commercial UAV facebook groups, that gear moves around more than you'd think when survey companies refresh their equipment.

also worth calling DJI enterprise directly sometimes they have refurb units that dont show up on the main site. got a quote once that was way better than anything i found used