Motion test on the camera rig

So this is what we’ve been working towards this past week. The above video is a nonsense trajectory with all four axis moving at the same time, just to show that they work. The system itself seems to be functional, there are just a few more tasks- repeatability testing, retrofitting some optical end-stops, and putting the electronics in a nice box.

I think I might build another one of the xy tables to do machining with :-).

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5 Responses to Motion test on the camera rig

  1. Tim says:

    So, what are you going to use this for? What are the aluminum beams called?
    Thanks,
    Tim

    • mahto says:

      I’m working with an artist, who is planning to use this to make stop motion films of interesting biological specimens :-).

      The aluminum beams are 80/20, which is sort of an industrial version of an erector set. Very handy if you don’t know exactly what you want, or need to be able to re-configure a project after building it.

  2. Tim says:

    Thank you for the information! It sounds like an amazing film project. I hope you post it when the artist is done!
    -Tim

  3. Cullen says:

    Matt, It’s been a while since we conversed. I am definitely interested in the software controls of your camera setup, in particular, the rotary table controls portion as well as the X,Y,Z movements. I see that you have a stepper driving the rotary. Did you design the stepper drivers? I have not done much more on my cnc setup since I got sidetracked in building my shop (30′w x 42′l x 16′h) up at the cabin. I just finished installing the roll up doors on each end of the building this last weekend (10 ft tall, 14 ft wide) and getting it sealed up. I still need to run an electric line out to the building. I’ll try to put some pictures up on our web site. I made some orange-cello (vodka recipe) this morning (use orange zest instead of lemon) we like it better, not quite as tart.

    • mahto says:

      Hey Cullen!

      Ha, it’s been long enough that I can barely remember how that circuit works. I used pre-made stepper driver boards, but built a backplane for them:
      http://www.cibomahto.com/2010/06/one-shield-to-fit-them-all-and-in-the-darkness-bind-them/

      and wrote my own controller software:
      https://github.com/cibomahto/ArduinoStepperController

      Unfortunately, I don’t think any of it is going to be up to snuff for machining, which I’m guessing is what you are interested in. The drivers are only really designed to work with small steppers, which is fine for moving bugs but probably suboptimal for anything else.

      Glad to hear that your shop is progressing, and that you’ve been trying different infusion recipes! I just got some more everclear to make a new batch of some sort of ‘cello with, and I’m thinking about making a breakfast fruit version, where I keep adding peels from whatever fruit I have for breakfast each morning :-).

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