DSLR Camera Slider

[pcmofo]

Hello guys. I saw a sample of the MakerSlide at the Maker Faire NYC and the first thing that popped into my head was to use it as a camera slider!

Here are two examples of the least expensive camera sliders available...

http://www.glidetrack.com/products/glidetrack-sd.html

http://www.zazaslider.com/products.html

Even still these are about $300.

To take the MakerSlide and turn it into a camera slider would be very easy. All that would need to be done is to drill a threaded hole or create a plate with a threaded hole for the underside of the track to mount it to a tripod. Alternatly, one could use other 8020 components to create feet to use the slider on a table.

The shuttle or sliding part the camera mounts to can be exactly the same as the one shown with the same ball bearings. Again, only a small hole would be drilled to attach a tripod head to the top via a screw from the bottom.

These are all very easy modifications anyone could do with an existing MakerSlide piece and trolly. The real advantage comes in both the cost and versatility of the Maker Slide. Since the slide is about $3 a foot having multiple lengths and custom configurations is practical. Because of the 8020 configuration attaching and mounting is much easier with no need to drill holes everywhere.

One thing I would really love to do is to incorporate a very nice motor/controller/belt combo to be able to control the sliding remotely and with speed control. I'm sure all of you know existing motors, motor controllers, belts, pulleys, and mounts that will work with the MakerSlide. With that in mind I could really use your help in finding the exact parts I would need to slide the platform over a 3 foot length of Maker Slide and run off a 12v battery pack.

I have plenty of experience with micro controllers, soldering, and wiring. I have not ever made anything mechanical or with motors however and I am not trying to reinvent a wheel. I just need a solid solution that uses high quality parts to create smooth and relatively low noise operation.

If anyone has links, pictures, or parts I can order it would be a huge help. Thanks in advance!

[TLHarrell]

For motorizing a camera dolly, I'd consider just mounting a pinch wheel roller to the plate and drive that with a stepper motor. Control of a single stepper (direction and speed, or move a set distance) would be pretty simple and could be handled with a microcontroller. A belt (as long as the track section) would not be needed for position indexing accuracy like in a laser or CNC setup. If the pinch wheel slips slightly, it isn't a huge issue. Benefit is it's a very simple mechanical setup which can be easily dismounted and switched to a different track.

[bdring]

Is the noise from a stepper an issue?

They tend to make a bit of noise. You can isolated them a little. Running at large microstep rates helps. Choosing the smallest motor possible helps too, but it will likely be heard if it is on the carriage with the camera.

If you put the stepper at the end it might help. You might be able to thread the belts through the side t -slots to keep them protected and out of the way. Use some smooth idler pulleys to wrap the ends. You need to figure out way to grab the belt in the slot, but that is probably not a big deal.

[r691175002]

I think that the ideal solution will be completely contained on the trolley and usable on any length of makerslide. Assuming accurate absolute positioning isn't necessary this should be very cheap. If absolute positioning is required you can just add a 20$ rotary encoder.

I feel like one could do this with a hobby servo (continous rotation) and a rubber wheel. Just bolt it onto the carriage in such a way that it contacts the extrusion. Should be able to provide enough friction and would be super cheap and small.

I can easilly imagine this working for my d60 and costing under 30$ + whatever length of extrusion(s) you want.

By avoid racks or belts and relying soley on friction one can avoid modifying the extrusion.

[pcmofo]

This is a good example of exactly what I would like to recreate


http://www.kesslercrane.com/bloom-pocket-dolly-s/96.htm

[naPS]

Holy Schneikies, 1100 bucks for THAT? You can easily create that with makerslide for a very small fraction of that cost. Amazing.

[r691175002]

Seeing how they are used made me reconsider my design. If there is no need to switch the carriage between extrusions there are very few advantages to my strategy of using a rubber wheel for linear motion (aside from cost).

Questions from there become how accurate you want motion control to be. Do you need seconds to minutes or seconds to hours/days? Is a relative percent speed acceptable or do you need precise timing.

Closed feedback will be necessary for very slow or precise speeds. I'm not sure if steppers are smooth/quiet enough and the video used a servo.

Mechanically, regardless of how you decide to build it, it should be very simple.

[pcmofo]

While you can use sliders for a variety of things like time lapse video etc. I want to use it for real time shots. This means that I would most likely be using a 1m/3ft section thats a complete system that can be tripod mounted or set on a table with small feet. Over the 3 foot distance the camera would travel at maybe 0.5 ft/s at the fastest, and maybe 0.125 ft/s at the slowest.

Simple motor speed control could be used to control the speed via a pot. A few buttons or a toggle switch would control starting and stopping along with direction. Combined (as shown in the kessler video) you could start the camera at a slow speed then ramp up speed then reduce speed again. A simple leaf switch as a limiter on either end would keep the slider from running off its rails.

While the distance and speed does not need to be precise, having consistant movement is a good idea. The quieter the motor the better. Having a way to tension the belt is also a good idea. I see this as a complete unit that can be deployed quickly when needed. It can be hand operated by manually moving the trolly over the rail, or the motor and controller can be used, in any starting position to more precisely control speed and create a smooth shot.

Again, I see most of the parts needed in the online store with the exception of maybe a mount for the motor and the exact belt placement. Does anyone have any ideas or pictures as to how a motor and belt system would mount to the MakerSlide?

[BenJackson]

I think the easiest thing would be to make (in my case I'd 3d print) a block that screws into the ends of the makerslide so that a belt can loop around the entire extrusion. The drive end would mount two guide pulleys and the motor (with the belt folded over the drive pulley partially by the guides) and the other end would just be two guide pulleys.

[pcmofo]

What I was thinking was to make a L bracket motor mount such that the motor axle is pointing perpendicular to the sliding direction of the rail. One side would have the motor mount and the other side of the L would have threaded screws to attach to the end of the maker slide vby tapping the end holes in the excursion. The opposite side would also have an L bracket similar to the motor mount. Instead of mounting a motor it would have a bolt with another pulley on it. The motor mount would be fixed and the dumb pulley end could have a slot for the pulley bolt allowing it to be adjusted to tighten or loosen the belt.

The belt would run over the top of the maker slide and under the carriage. Using the various bolt holes the belt could be clamped to the underside of the carriage though I'm not sure exactly how or how easy it would be to remove or attach accessories. The belt would most likely not be centered due to the placement of the motors and need to access the bottom of the maker slide to attach it to a tripod.

I see a few problems with this setup like the belt hitting in places. If anyone has any good ideas for belt and motor placement I would love to hear them.