Week 17 Application & Implication

by Moritz Begle

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Posted on May 15, 2013 at 15:00 PM

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What will it do ?

Camera Dolly`s are all very expensive so far. The aim of my proposal is to create a motorised dolly where you can mount a camera on it. The idea behind this is to create an automated camera dolly system that is easy to create, use, and alligned with the idea of being affordable at the same time. It will be able to move along 3 axis. Specification:

- It will be powered through a fableo and a external powersupply.

- move on a rail, pan & tilt controlled through steppermotors

- Adaptable for diffrent Cameras

who has done what beforehand ?

Through my research i found already some opensource projects like "slidee" "DIY powered by arduino" and in my opinion one of the best projects done by "Steven Brace" which i will start to combine (rail+pan&tilt) and use them as a reference.

In terms of electronics I will use the bipolar stepperbridge of the FAB9000 from Francisco Sanchezas a reference.

what materials and components will be required ?

- 3 Nema 17 - Steppermotors

- 3 bipolar Motordrivers Tiny44

- Fab Arduino Leonardo

- Joystick

- V slot Rail (20x40x1500)

- Plexiglass 5mm Structure

- Plexiglass 2mm Parts being attached to the rail

- Programmer Fab Isp

- External powersource: 12V

Where will they come from ?

- the rail will come from Openbuilds & the electronics from Cookinghacks and Digikeys, and the plexiglass from Servei Estació

what parts and systems will be made?

The module is composed by:

- The body will be lasercutted

- The mechanics & gears 3D printed or lasercutted

- The “brain” (Arduino leonardo + Bipolar stepperdrivers + Joystick for manual controll)

- Sliding rail with platform

- The assembling system (joints)

what processes will be used?

Eagle, Rhino, Grasshopper, Lasercutting, 3D printing, Arduino, Processing

How much does it cost?

what tasks need to be completed?

I start with the input device which is a usual joystick that whether can be found "here" or being created by yourself simply with to potentiometer. I am also using a switch i created in the "Input device week" to stop my camera dolly at the end of the rail. both systems still need to be implemented.

As a Output device I decided to order 3 Nema 17 Stepper Motor (cookinghacks) to move my camera dolly in 3 axis. I managed to move single steppermotor now I want to combine all three of them with an using the board of "Francisco Sanchez" and connect them to my leonardo.

Leonardo

I adapted the "Fab LEO" to my needs and added the inputpins for my Joystick to move the camera dolly along the axis as well as adding a TX/RX communication to network between the stepperdrivers and a 5V powersupply for the bridges.

Interface

Once the networking is done, I will desing a processing interface to be able to control the dolly through through diffrent predefined programs and also directly through sliders at the computer.

Design

Currently the mechanism is still in process. The frame will be lasercut out of 5mm plexiglass as well as the plates for the Steppermotorsout of 2mm. The gears/and wheels are being 3dprinted. The v-slot(20x40x1500)rail can be ordered at "here". But unfortunately my order got stuck at the customs since a month so I developed a new system which easaly can be reproduced in a LAB as it doesnt rely on the v-slot railsystem.

how will it be evaluated?

My aim of the whole project is really to be able to apply diffrent fabrication methods beeing able to understand the machines how they work and being able also to repair & fix them and furthermore to develope my skills in terms of programming and electronics production, as i am having nearly no background according to that.

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