How to figure out which motors to choose

May 17, 2011 2 Replies

Dear All,



I hope this posting finds you well.



A colleague of mine sent me a question about how to set up a camera jib controlled by motors, which would be controlled by a micro controller. Below is the text of his email. A diagram of the set-up can be viewed at:



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Any help would be appreciated.


Sincerely, Mike Chua email: stpatryck at gmail dot com



I am wondering if I can attach a motion control motors to this jib so that I can program certain moves to it. Priority will be as follows:


  1. Motor to control vertical tilt for entire jib (thats motor #1), so that the whole arm tilts up and down. This is x-axis rotation.
  2. Motor to control camera tilt (x-axis rotation) 3. Motor to control to control camera panning (y-axis rotation)
  3. Motor to control jib rotation (y-axis)

In addition, it is also possible to mount this thing on a track and control the linear movement with linear motors, but I think that is taking it into another level of complexity.



As you can see, the big jib is counterbalanced so that the total weight being moved is not that big. The camera head, on the other hand, is not counterbalanced, but it is only moving a DSLR weighing max 5 lbs.


People I know involved with robotics just love to buy those cheap battery drills. For $30 you get a motor, transmission, battery, and a charger. Here's an example of one:

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If precision is not required and just for a prototype then DC motors are easy way to go with. And if its something for a professional grade thing then stepper motor will be the right choice.

regards, ali

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