So ive bought a 100$ camera slider and want to make it motorised .
Loolong for suggestions on weather to use a stepper motor or a servo motor .
I do need it to go in both directions .
Travel distance is only 1 metre .
Id also like to use optical sensors so the camera knows it at the end of the track and also the ability to program thise sensors to automatically send the camera back in the opposite direction once it senses the end of the track/slider .
I AM A TOTAL NEWBIE .
But i learn fast .
Looking a building a remote for this also so o guess im going to have learn about raspberry or adriuno ?
Any suggestions please
Thanks
JEREMY
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Hi Jeremy,
You could do all this with an Arduino and some associated sensors! A servo or stepper motor will work, it really just depends on how heavy the camera is and if you need it to be able to ‘know’ what position its in at any point. I think if you just want it to bounce back and forth between the stops you could make this work with a continuous rotation servo. I would also suggest using microswitches at each end to detect the travel. They are much simpler to work with than optics, and they are much cheaper. This is the method that 3D printers often use to detect limits of travel for the toolheads.
As far as HOW to do it. You have a lot to learn, but its all very easy to learn once you get started. I suggest picking up the Sparkfun Inventors Kit and working through the projects. The project will cover all the programming lessons you will need to learn to be able to get this working, and it also includes most of the electronics parts you might need!
https://core-electronics.com.au/sparkfun-inventors-kit-v4-0.html
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Thanks alot !
Yep ill check out that kit , awesome thanks .
Yah i wanted the camera to know where is was in its motion so as it get close to the end of the track at will gradually slow down not just come to an ubrupt halt .
Also the payload would be around 2.5 kg .
Sometimes though the slider would be on an angle so that wouls change things up .
Again i need to decide weather or not to make a pulley system or a direct drive type wheel straight off the motor that pulls itself directly in contact with the sliders rails .
Hmmm lots to consider.
Cheers .
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Hi Jeremy,
I would recommend a setup with a stepper motor then. This would better be able to handle the higher weight, and it would ‘know’ where it is at any point as long as there is a switch at one end for it to home to. This will be kinda intermediate level coding and electronics though, but all very achievable with resources that are readily available online.
