Board index » delphi » Camera Tilt-Pan

2003-08-05 12:24:23 PM
delphi243
I know this isn't the right group, but I have no idea where to ask this.
I am looking for a cheap stepper motor controller to build up a camera tilt
and pan platform. The controller needs to be external and preferrably
controlled through a USB interface with appropriate drivers and API that I
can interface through Delphi under WinXP. I do not want a programmable unit
(ie the BASIC STAMP) as I want to control everthing directly from a notebook
computer.
The platform will be for a Video Camera and NOT a web cam.
I've looked on google extensively, but could not find any cheap solutions
that meet all the requirements. I will be writing custom software that will
not only control the platform but will also process the video data coming in
from the camera.
If anyone has any links to web sites that offer what I need, I would greatly
appreciate it.
Best Regards
 

RandomAccess writes:
think of, presuming you want to control this thing with a Delphi app.
:)
-Craig
--
Craig Stuntz [TeamB] . Vertex Systems Corp. . Columbus, OH
Delphi/InterBase Weblog : delphi.weblogs.com
How to ask questions the smart way:
www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
 

Thanks Craig,
Are you able to move the post there?
Best regards
 

RandomAccess writes:
-Craig
--
Craig Stuntz [TeamB] . Vertex Systems Corp. . Columbus, OH
Delphi/InterBase Weblog : delphi.weblogs.com
Everything You Need to Know About InterBase Character Sets:
delphi.weblogs.com/stories/storyReader$306
 

I wonder if you could use the robotic legos for something like this...
 

"Craig Stuntz [TeamB]" <XXXX@XXXXX.COM>wrote
borland.public.delphi.real-time for real-time application discussions; and
borland.public.delphi.numerical-comp or
borland.public.delphi.algorithms for numerical computations and algorithms discussions.
These subjects don't seem to fit anywhere else. Rgds, JohnH
 

On 04-Aug-03, RandomAccess said:
There are many difficulties in designing such a thing. The first thing to consider is the precision required. If the camera will normally be shooting only a short distance (like less than 20 feet), the design can be fairly crude, and still be effective. OTOH, I have worked with a professional pan/tilt head carrying a camera that was shooting about 400-500 feet, and control becomes very difficult. Consider a shot of a 6' tall person, framed head to toe, at a distance of 400' from the camera. Now do the math to determine the angular field of view, and then to determine how small an angular shift is needed to *smoothly* pan 6" in either direction.
Cheap remote pan/tilt mechanisms use soft metal gears and as much plastic as they can, to keep costs down. If you are dealing with longer distances, you need all metal construction, and very good motors, drive trains, and control systems.
As someone who was involved in the design of a professional unit some years ago, I can tell you that this is not conjecture on my part.
--
Bill
--------
In a free society, government has the responsibility of protecting us from others, but not from ourselves. -- Walter Williams
 

<William Meyer>wrote
 

On 05-Aug-03, John Herbster (TeamB) said:
--
Bill
--------
In a free society, government has the responsibility of protecting us from others, but not from ourselves. -- Walter Williams
 

Hey,
Come ON! Let's not waste a good thread.<G>
Long distances and fine control. What equipment. Outdoor is MOST important.
i.e. we want license plates and face pics BEFORE they gain entry, etc. Need
auto and interactive control of outdoor HIGH camera.
Regards,
Jim
--
email sent to: XXXX@XXXXX.COM
is discarded without being seen.
Sorry for any inconvenience.
"RandomAccess" <XXXX@XXXXX.COM>writes

On 08-Aug-03, J Tabor said:
A modest bit of math will quickly show that approaching the control in a brute-force fashion simply won't do. Even granting the possibility of a 12 bit ADC in managing positioning, the increment of 360/4096 is pretty coarse with such a long throw. And segmenting the range is about as comfy as segmented memory was on DOS <g>. Instead, the design needs a good deal of ingenuity, when you must deal with such conditions. If it must also be cheap, then the complexity of the solution will be that much greater -- many solutions are available, if cost is not a limit.
--
Bill
--------
In a free society, government has the responsibility of protecting us from others, but not from ourselves. -- Walter Williams