camera arm attempt 2

A few months ago I tried to build an automatic camera moving thing, which sort of worked, but it had a lot of problems
See for yourself: • Automated camera arm (...
But now I'm back with different motors, new 3D printed parts, and a new simplified control circuit.
Maybe it will work this time...
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This isn't the only way to do it.
It's probably not the best way to do it.
But it's how I did it.

[@snakezdewiggle6084]

I feel your pain man, I really do. Back in the days of overclocking and water cooling. I had a great plan to bolt the motherboard upside down on the under side of the computer desk. The rest was inevitable. Not my best idea....

[@Johadart]

Hi Kent, have a look at the pulleys on a drill press, it will help with the movement speed, great job so far mate, keep it up 🤙🏼🇦🇺 Joe from Australia 🤙🏼🇦🇺

[@Cartocopia]

Love @15:00 the Canadian taking for granted being able to stick a Robertson screw onto the driver and waving it around and not needing a third hand...😂

[@Multi-Skill-Bill]

Not really hearing the motor through speakers (not headset). But if it is a worry, you could use some foam rubber of some sort between mounting surfaces. That should take care of any minimal motor noise. Unless your talking about sound interference. In which case I hear none. Hope this helps. Great project!

[@steubens7]

makerbase has some neat servo steppers up to nema 23 size, super cheap. the serial control mode lets you set end stops and acceleration profiles, command to angle. would still need ballast but the motor could be directly connected

[@markfergerson2145]

Yes, we can hear it. Most of the noise likely comes from motor noise transmitted to the mount as you surmise. Rather than sticking some low durometer rubber under the motor mounts you might try some between the wooden “chassis” and the shelf you attached it to. That would prevent you needing to replace both pulleys. Yeah I know, you’re probably going to change out the motor pulley for a smaller one. Mounting the motor on rubber will make tensioning the belt kinda iffy. Also, some of the noise may be being transmitted by the camera arm. Replacing that with a wooden stick that has some built in compliance might help. In any case, congrats on achieving “proof of concept”.

[@ozsynergy]

You could make it go slower by using 2 diodes in parallel (one reversed) between motor and relay to drop enough voltage to slow down motor without stopping relay from working. Those micro switches are quite noticable sound wise

[@jerril42]

Awesome! I'm glad you got it working. There is a little noise, perhaps dampening will help, but it doesn't bother me as it is. I liked the circuit, I'll look around to see what I have and maybe replicate it for fun. Thanks Mr. Stuff. Take care.

[@haydenc2742]

Can you put a few milliseconds pause between steps, this way it swings back and forth slower...yet still has full power to swing the arm Very cool design!

[@stephenrogers7886]

I like your idea but I think if you added a 5v. D.C. motor controller in between the motor and the relay it would be slower and quieter for you. They are only £3 on eBay from China. Thanks for the videos.

[@NerdCaveYT]

great project I like how you did not over complicate things using a microcontroller and simple electronics, I always struggled the last few years to mount anything anywhere since every time I rent a new apartment I don't want to damage walls, now I have this simple camera desk stand which limits the amount of area I can capture

[@snakezdewiggle6084]

@NerdCaveYT Ummm... 2 transitors, caps, resistors, is all that is needed. Its called a "flip flop". Or you could use a single OR Gate. Or a 555, or 556 ic, Or 2 magnets and a relay. A door hinge, with string wrapped around a bobbin. How simple do you want it.

[@NerdCaveYT]

I said I like that he did not over complicate things? So since you do not understand let me then explain to you, that there are channels that would use a computer like raspberry pi to do a a simple task, which only needs basic electronics@@snakezdewiggle6084

[@astromanian_UK]

@ 7:48 no noise noticeable. Looks good so far!

[@johnfoster3895]

You may try changing the size of the belt wheels on top, smaller on the motor side -OR- larger on the arm side -OR- both.

[@pileofstuff]

There is a practical limit how small I can go on the drive pulley when 3D printing them. The teeth start getting "softer" around the edges and won't maintain grip on the belt as well at very small sizes.

[@HazeAnderson]

very cool 👍

[@wrxs1781]

Well done and looks good, like everything else I would have taken a different approach but what you have created seems to do the job.

[@RottnRobbie]

'Way too fast, and way too noisy' - yes, I'm afraid so. But also ... How long is your no beer _On call for work_ rotation? Coffee cooling on the coaster the whole video, and I'm sure what I just watched you do would easily take me a week (even if I had a 3D printer)!

[@keithwebb9768]

Now you are using a DC motor why not use one of the cheap PWM motor speed controllers to adjust the speed and possibly reduce noise, also rubber mount the motor should help.

[@sirgoodenough65]

The clicking and the grinding are both easily audible, and the movement at that speed is a problem. Maybe 5 or 10% of that speed without the relay and it would work.

[@jwrtiger]

Like your channel and your DIY's. I can definitely hear both the motor sounds and the micro-switches clicking. I patched your video in DaVinci Resolve and noted in Fairlight you have a very nice voice level in this video. The ratio of your voice to the micro-switch clicks is around -15 dB, which is not very good. I didn't measure the motor level. Possibly going optical to completely get rid of the mechanical switch noise might be a fun project. On the negative side you would have to take it down again ; ). As mentioned I enjoy your videos and your humor.

[@Taliesen.]

at around 23 minutes. Ya, can hear the motor and also the switches.

[@DavZell]

You can barely hear it. I kept thinking you should try a smaller pulley on the motor to slow it down more.

[@therealemmpunkt]

Try to get a worm drive motor. Should be slower and less noisy... Downside: You can´t move it by hand!

[@frankowalker4662]

Great fix. I could'nt hear the motor. (my ears are shot)

[@wasdaletimelapse7658]

Maybe you could have fixed the camera to an oscillating desk fan😂😂😂

[@noggin73]

I'm guessing the 3D printed gears came from an OpenSCAD design. This is why I like 3D printing. How are you going to control it? You use that dinky power supply in most of your videos!

[@pileofstuff]

Yup. the openscad gear generator, plus a bit of tweaking in tinkercad. I'll eventually power it from a random wall-wart from my accumulation of parts.

[@nigelworwood8530]

Could you run the relays on "full" volts and have a pot on a darlington pair for the motor ... model railway dc controller style

[@cyberhornthedragon]

i could hear the first one you tried but the second i couldnt hear at all till you mounted it over head the speed is a bit fast perhaps a change in the pulley size again but for a change of angle during say a time lapse itd be great!

[@pileofstuff]

I can change the pulley sizes a little, but there are space limitations.

[@DustinWatts]

Nope... can't hear them Although, I'm listening through my MacBook Pro speakers...Ow and btw.... the popularity of those ferrules in Europe is because they are mandatory for serviceable connections. Edit: In the last shots it is hearable.

[@gordanmilne7034]

Nice work, we can get some vertical beer shots to check for the kings shilling.

[@jyvben1520]

silent run, no motor, foot pedals to pump air to expanding pistons that move the arm, but would the opposite escaping air make a noise ?

[@pileofstuff]

Interesting suggestion Pneumatics is a field I haven't explored yet.

[@michaeltempsch5282]

Unlikely to be noisy if opening is big enough,especially given the slow motion wanted. If it still turned out to be an issue, a muffler could be mounted.

[@TheUnofficialMaker]

i don't hear it.totally usable.

[@danman32]

PWM Controller

[@DeathbyKillerBong]

surprised you did not take motor from old oscillating fan for the oscillation, low power and runs super slow

[@donaldkormos5529]

You might try a different stepper motor controller with your original stepper motor config ... checkout a TMC2208 or similar. Drastically cuts down stepper motor noise and maybe improved operation. Lots of videos posted for using it with 3D printers. Will likely need heat sink. Cheers ... all the best!!!

[@pileofstuff]

For the stepper the biggest problem I saw was the stepping was amplified a lot over the length of the arm. It was too bouncy to use the video.

[@donaldkormos5529]

My understanding is that the TMC22xx controllers use a much better approximated sine wave output to lower noise ... maybe it would improve the bounciness as well ... just a suggestion ... all the best ...

[@Thuid]

Maybe a worm gear or a wade’s extruder type gear set with an intermediate shaft/gear set to increase torque and provide a break in the vibraitons and noise. The nice thing with a stepper is it would give your the ability to do preprogrammed motion or repeatable positions using a home switch and a set of buttons. Some stepper controllers allow for the improved quiet stepping.

[@EsotericArctos]

Being honest, once mounted I couldn't here the motor as much as I could here the clicking of the switch and relays. Maybe the switches can be swapped for photo sensors and the relay with a solid state in time? :) It's a simple, yet clever and effective little project. Love it. Simple is sometimes the best