DIY crane with pan/tilt remote head and full remote camera controls...

I have the remote head form servo city, and while it's hooked to the joy stick it doess have a limited range of motion, however when I run it via a servo motion controller from my computer it moves untill i tell it to stop moving.

so if you do order one, I would sugest you order the cheaper pan tilt system, as the only real difference is the motion range they should travel

Jason
 
Sorry, I meant to direct that to Jason. I'm interested in the Servo City head, and was wondering how it worked in the "real world".
 
You can crack the bottom off the servo and tinker with its insides and get it to do 180 degrees with the normal joystick. It involves soldering afew resisters onto the bottom of the potentiometer inside the case.
 
Yes, it is full proportional control, the further you push the joystick from the centre, the faster the head moves.
 
hoarp001 said:
The stand is really the weak point, but it is rated for 80kg so I suppose it will be ok... The bike fork was from a local bike shop, was £5, and since its designed for jumping about on, the stresses its designed for well exceed 80kg.

the joystick is an apem 5000 series analogue joystick from rs components. Unfortunately it wont work on its own, it needs something to take its signals and turn it into power for the motor. I used a Roboteq AX500 robot control board. It takes a while to get it all working but once you worked it out its much easier.

I didnt do it from blueprints but I was considering doing a walkaround video that pointed out all the bits etc etc. Would that be helpful?

I do have a massive word document that has pretty detailed instructions of how I built it. Email me if you want it....
Click to expand...

Hi bro, Iam on the way to built my joystick controller, and I get a dead end on that electronic system, can you email me (adiyudawardana@gmail.com) that instruction, please I need it very much, and if there is any suggestion for dc motor/servo pls, give the instruction step by step, cause Im not really understand about the electronic stuff ,lol..
Thanx for your attention..
 
erm.

The crane was about £150, the head was about £150 and the controller for the head was about £200.

Not too much really....
 
I have just finished a jib/crane with a pan & tilt head too. Cost me a total of £150 to £160
It reaches a total height of approx 12` , it can be extended by adding a section to 15` or shortened to a height of 9` by taking another section out.
COSTS:
Aluminum tubing = £ 60
Steel plates = £15
2x 12v motors (ebay) = £ 16 + 4 P&P (£20)
Aluminum cogs for motors (turns heads) x4= £10
Suspension wire (plastic covered = cleaner) £5

Bearings x2 £8 (from a motor bike, from a breakers yard, works perfectly)

Other bits for joints & other metal parts £10

Remote Control (from a RC helicopter) £Free
Variable resistor to adjust speed of motors £Free (from an old stereo)
Various other bits (wires, on/off switchs)= again from old stereos, etc.. £free
Wire to run from control box to the head £ 18
A few other parts that I can't remember the cost of, say about £15-ish

Cheap LANC remote control off ebay. £19.99 + £5 P&P (not inc in price of jib, as i can use in on my `Man 525` tripod too.
Lanc extension £7

Weights from an old set of lifting weights (plastic ones with sand inside) for counter balance.
========================================================
I didn't use a control box like you did. I simply rewired the remote control switches to a 12v battery, on/off switch, `RC L/R`, `UP/Down`Variable resistor to adjust the motor speed, etc.
It all works perfectly.

I used the RC joypads to enable me to turn the head fully left and right, up/down. The more i push the joystick the faster the head turns. If i just move the joystick a little the head moves slowly. I have no need for a switch to swap from left to Right like you have, I simply move the joystick L/R & up/down.
The added variable resistor acts as a speed buffer. If i turn the VR a little then the maximum speed of the head turning is pretty slow. If i crank it right up the speed is very fast. The motors have covers around them to look better and to dampen the noise (which was quite low before the covers).

I also used aluminum cogs, one attached to the motor and one to turn each part of the head. ie, by having a smaller cog on the motor and a bit bigger one on the head section (both for tilt and pan) i get a gradual turn instead of a jerkey one. By using this method the reaction to the joystick move creates a smooth head turn. I had to buy a nylon cog set from a market stall for £1 to get the ratio right.

I have a monitor stand to the left of the jibs swing arm with a old DVD player off ebay (£14 inc Post) It has a s-video & composite input and i simply pluigged the Z1 into it to use it as a good quality monitor, far cheaper than a dedicated monitor and a far better picture than the one used in this forum. Screen is 10" I think. I make a cover so that it doesn't resemble a dvd player anymore (looks more poressional). I was going to use a PSone LCD screen, but it was too small (good picture though and it was only £6 on ebay) & looked cheap.

So the total cost with everything is about £200. I also had some stickers made with the name of my videography business on too (+ my name) for £5. Everyone that has seen it thinks that it is a retail professional one. Sprayed matt black.

I used a old, but solid tripod as a stand, but I think i will make a dedicated one with detachable wheels, that can also fit onto a dolly that I also made myself from aluminum tubing, skateboard wheels and some ali tubing. The wheels fit around the ali tubing like a rollercoaster. Very stable and a fraction of the price of a retail version. Cost approx £55 for the dolly stand and 2x 6` straight tracks and 2x 4` curved tracks.

Over the summer I am moving house to one with a garage, i will then making them to order so watch this space.

You can see what mine looks very similar to if you go to the link below. I based mine on one that is almost an exact copy. I used this as a template and improved some parts (the RC control system, I used 2 handles = one for the LANC and one for the head controls. The monitor sits to the left of the controls and i move the whole jib with the same handles. This way I have total control over everything in front of me. I also have a 12v battery platform under the tripod stand. I can use mains power too if i want.

Pheww

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/floor-dolly-j...wItem&pt=Lens_Accessories&hash=item5191ac04a1
 
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