Digital Bird Motorized Dual Action Camera Slider

Top box for Nextion display has been made 2mm deeper to allow more room for cables. I found when assembling the remote that it was difficult to get everything in without putting pressure on the back of the display which can stop the touch from working properly.

UPDATE   31st March 2021

For any one following this a quick update on where I am with the complete system.

The port over to the ESP32 is know complete and opens up a new world of possibilities due to having so much more processing power, and better WIFI . The ESP32 also has much better certification and will allow me to ship complete kits without troubling over the legalities!

The new mother boards are on the way as I write this and anyone who purchased a kit with the old board will have it replaced free of charge. 

The Nextion display is know a remote which is WIFI linked to all parts of the system and movable between them or just held in your hand.

There are some other small improvements to the slider including an improved method for tensioning the belt and the locking mechanism which is on the introduction video but not shown on the build video. The Nextion display as mentioned is to become a remote and therefore the hinged plate has been revised to accommodate this.

The Pan Tilt head is ready for release and I will be doing this as soon as the new pcb boards arrive. Since making the original overview video the head has undergone a number of improvements. 

1) The head can know accept a 1:50 gearbox on the Tilt which should significantly improve its lifting capabilities on heavier systems. Previously I was using 1:30

2)The Nextion display can know be mounted directly on the face of the head so no need for the additional buttons for IN, OUT and PLAY.  Know there are only two buttons on the control panel one to mount the head the other to dismount all other commands are through the nextion.

3)There is know an RJ45 port on the face of the head ready to accept the up coming focus motor.

4)Because the ESP32 is so powerful all three steppers Pan/Tilt and Focus and controlled by a single CPU 

5) The pan access is know powered by a Nema17. Previously I was using a nema 14 but with the demand to allow the system carry heavier gear this also had to be upgraded. Unfortunately this means the head is also slightly longer, something I was hoping to avoid but form follows function as they say.

The Video Turntable also is having an upgrade. Just as capable but more compact and offering the added benefit of being usable on the slider as a simple Pan Head. This will be released shortly after the pan/Tilt head.

The focus motor is well under way and  I am just awaiting parts before finalising its pcb design and testing. Probably another month or two away before this is ready for release largely due to parts shipping times.

Additional software features Just started working on a method of allowing multiple key frames on the moves which would give us the ability to program say 6 key frames with user selectable speed and Acceleration ramps between each.

That's it for know if you can thing of anything else you would like to see on the system I would love to here from you. I cant promise to satisfy every request but if it is at all feasible I will take a look.  

How do some companies get away without certifying their devices?

You may be asking yourself how companies such as Sparkfun, a business based on selling electronics kits and wireless development kit companies continue to sell large numbers of non FCC authorized kits, with seeming impunity. For Sparkfun, the rules that apply in most cases relate to “subassemblies”. This just means that Sparkfun’s customers will most likely use the products to build larger products containing a number of subassemblies. For example, that may include an Arduino™ processor board along with several sensors or peripherals and an LCD. The user may even put all of these parts into an enclosure. If the user sells this product containing multiple subassembly parts in an enclosure, for all intents and purposes they are now a “manufacturer” and their equipment is subject to the normal FCC authorization procedures.

For those out there like myself working on Kit projects be sure an d make yourself aware of the legal requirements before they hurt to much.

I found this to be the clearest article on the subject

https://emcfastpass.com/fcc-rules-kits-subassemblies/

Was blissfully unaware of the breadth of the FCC regulations concerning RF component imports!

Unfortunately due to different import regulations around RF/WIFI component imports I am unable legally to supply the RF-Nano board or the Nextion display as part of the kits and so those items will have to be sourced by the maker separately. A real pain in the ........ On the plus side these are readily available everywhere .