Some questions of my DIY project

Do you know about kinematic design ? It can be very helpful for this kind of thing.

The basic idea is that any object can move in six directions: translation in X Y or Z, and rotation around the X Y and Z axes. (This applies to camera shake and stabilisation among other things).

The principle is to apply only enough constraints to prevent those of the six movements you don't want. This makes it much easier to make something that is accurate but simple. The best introduction I know is in a little old book by Braddick called "Mechanical Design of Laboratory Apparatus". If you Google this you will find a PDF to download, or you can buy a used copy for a few dollars on Amazon.

(Recently the people who design robots have made this subject very heavy and mathematical.)

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One possibility for the legs would be to buy an old tripod on eBay and cannibalize it.

AlehCemy wrote:

Hey all,

I'm currently designing a DIY project involving a portable track for time lapse and dollies and a pan-tilt head. However, I live in a weather that can be a little tricky, because of humidity and heat. So I'm obviously worried about the materials I'm going to use. I know I'll probably use carbon fiber as the rail (I'll use a system of "snap" connections with shock cords) because of its portability and resistance.

Now, I don't know if I do a closed case for the platform that is going on rail (which will have the motor and controller), because I don't know how much heat will be generated inside. Is there any way I can do a estimative of how hot will be inside? And which material would be best for the case? Aluminum may have the problem of heat after a time shooting.

I have no idea of what I can use as legs for the rail, since I want it to be extendible to a certain height, portable and easy to mount. Any ideas? I have some ideas for the mounting, but not for the portable and extendable part.

And about the pan-tilt head, I don't know if I should use 3D printing (carbon fiber or ABS) or aluminum to do the case. The cost will be more or less the same. What do you guys think? Anyone has a good material to understand better the differences on harmony drives, DC motors, stepper motors and so on? I thought about using a DC motor with a belt drive system but I don't know if it will allow a smoother operation, slower pans and high precision.

Sorry for the many questions, I'm still learning things along the way. And sorry for any writing mistake

Where did my answer go?

Anyway, about the aluminum, it is a good conductor of heat, but you might want to add some extruded heat sink strips to the case. or possibly a small vent fan if you have enough battery power.

This is a classic application of what I like to call 'catalog engineering'. Much of what you want to do has been done already.

This is a low-cost vendor of control automation hardware, great for doing budget projects:

http://www.automationdirect.com

Also, you can get pre-made linear actuators that can do precise linear motion, again at low cost:

http://www.trossenrobotics.com

AlehCemy wrote:

I thought about using a DC motor with a belt drive system but I don't know if it will allow a smoother operation, slower pans and high precision.

Maybe you'd want to use a geared drive with a stepper motor? Less slack and more precision?

indigoer wrote:

I would like to add the Famaga site the to list. They try to compete with AutomationDirect and have a lot to offer.

Welcome to dpreview.

The posting you replied to is many years old, and the original poster has never returned after asking the question, so I don't think they would benefit.