Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Mechanics and Construction => Mechanics and Construction => Topic started by: onda on June 19, 2012, 12:23:21 PM

Title: Complete noob first build
Post by: onda on June 19, 2012, 12:23:21 PM
So this is my first robotics project (not counting in a beetlebot) and I was wondering what would be the best approach.
Basically what I'm making is a panorama/time-lapse device (similar to this: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/syrp/genie-motion-control-time-lapse-device (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/syrp/genie-motion-control-time-lapse-device)). This would include a winch, and another motor rotating the camera, and then something to hit a switch, say every minute (http://www.doc-diy.net/photo/eos_wired_remote/ (http://www.doc-diy.net/photo/eos_wired_remote/)). All of this would have to be adjustable, say by three dials or sliders etc.. I was planning on using arduino, but as I said I'm a complete noob and honestly have no idea if you can adjust the speed of a motor with dials using arduino. Any suggestions, tips links to useful guides etc.?
Title: Re: Complete noob first build
Post by: newInRobotics on June 19, 2012, 03:23:33 PM
It's not very difficult to achieve, especially with continuous rotation servo (servo might jitter under load) as potentiometer position (dial) can be directly translated into servo speed by ADC in Arduino (or any other microcontroller with ADC and PWM capabilities). To handle big and heavy camera, You probably want to go with stepper motor (it requires stepper motor driver) driven in micro-steps (steppers don't jitter).
Title: Re: Complete noob first build
Post by: jacksonian on June 28, 2012, 02:31:30 PM
There is a group of people who have made this easy to build and program yourself.

Their company is Dynamic Perception, and they use arduino and have a program called OpenMoCo.
I made a timelapse camera slider with their help, and I'm sure you can create a time lapse panarama rig as well.
Title: Re: Complete noob first build
Post by: netbotic on July 02, 2012, 09:26:32 PM
Yes, you can use any microcontroller. I used a GoPro in time lapse mode to do some multi angle shots. It worked well, I used a standard servo for two fixed positions but the configurations are unlimited with simple changes.

http://youtu.be/ozZPIc2vSiQ (http://youtu.be/ozZPIc2vSiQ)