Lapse Pi – Motorised Time-lapse Rail With Raspberry Pi

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e Pi Motorised Time-lapse Rail with Raspberry Pi http://www.davidhunt.ie/motorised-time-lapse-rail-with-raspb

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Lapse Pi Motorised Time-lapse Rail with Raspberry PiBY DAVEH| PUBLISHED MAR 07 2013

Page 1 The plan and some construction shots and info

Page 2 More Construction

Page 3 The Circuits, the Code, plus a video of the rig in action

Heres a side view. You can see in the picture below the way the skate bearings are bolted

onto the dolly tubes and sit on the rails. The 45 degree angle of the bolts into the tubes

allows easy mounting onto a 3/4or 1rail. And you can always use longer bolts for thicker

rails. Thicker pipes give you the possibility of longer, more stable rails. Anyone for a 10

metre time lapse rail? Seriously though, my local hardware store has 21ft gas pipes, Im

thinking about it!

And a closer look. Underneath you can see the timing belt with bearings on the left with the

motor, then the box with circuits in the middle, and battery pack on the right. I used 6-pin

mini-din connectors from the Pis GPIO, as it gave an adequate number of pins in a nice

neat form factor.

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Another view from underneath .Velcro is great to keep everything attached!

Here you get a look at the timing pulley in that dark cavity above the motor. Thats what pulls

the dolly along the rail via the timing belt. Sending a pulse of 12v for 150ms to the motor

drives the dolly about 3mm. Perfect for those slow pans. Its important that the timing pulley

is correctly matched with the timing belt. The motor is a 15RPM.

2014 David Hunt All Rights Reserved | Powered by Photocrati


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And finally, a nice low angle shot. I must clean up that Velcro. Not the prettiest solution, but it

sure works nicely. You can also see the switch which Ive used to reverse the direction of

the motor. That simply reverses the polarity coming from the transistor to the motor,depending on its position. A motor driver (such as the one I used in the Macro Pi blog

article) would allow me to switch direction in software, but the switch is OK for the moment, I

dont change direction too often.

An add-on to this project that is not detailed here is my DIY dew heater. I found that during

night time shoots, the camera lens can very easily get fogged up, especially that we have

such damp nights in Ireland. The dew heater wrapped around the lens brought its

temperature up a degree or two, just enough to keep the dew from forming on the glass. The

build instructions for the heater are very well documented on Steve Maddisons blog,

at http://www.cosam.org/astronomy/equipment/dewheater.html. After a few failed attempts at

a night-time lapse, I built the heater, and I was amazed at how well it worked. Zero dew on

the lens in very similar conditions to the previous attempts.


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Gareth JonesMarch 7, 2013 at 9:59 pm#

Great work must admit Im in the process (and may be for some time)

of building the same thing -taken some inspiration from the focus

stacking project, and got the stepper motor bit working. Now need to

build the hardware, though Im planning to invest in an Igus rail I

presume youve seen the Chronos project.

ColbyMarch 11, 2013 at 11:42 pm#

This is incredibly neat! I just have a few questions: What program did

you use to render the video? I presume ffmpeg?

Next, the circuits.

Page 1 The plan and some construction shots and info

Page 2 More Construction

Page 3 The Circuits, the Code, plus a video of the rig in action

Pages: 12 3THIS ENTRY WAS POSTED IN COMPUTER STUFF, PHOTOGRAPHY, TUTORIAL.

The Burren time lapse video locations

Add a 9-pin Serial Port to your Raspberry Pi in

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Also, how many shots per minute did you take? Thank you!

davehMarch 12, 2013 at 9:11 am#

The frames were stitched together using VirtualDub, which is a

great little program for this type of thing.

All sequences were planned for 24 frames per second, so that

makes 1440 shots per minute. However, there are a couple of

HDR sequences in there, so I did 3 shots for every frame, sothats 4320 shots per minute. Kinda hard on the DSLRs mirror

mechanism!

trampaMarch 12, 2013 at 2:28 pm#

very good, will try to make some myself, may use a threaded rod

instead of a belt, well see

where did you get the legs? (Im in Dublin in case you could share

where you got them)

did you say where you got the motor from? just curious

DivelikeastoneNovember 29, 2013 at 4:51 pm#

If you use threaded bar for this, then when rewinding the dolly, the

nut on the threaded bar can overheat and seize, unless you cool it,

bit too troublesome that with oil or coolant getting everywhere.

Been there.

davehMarch 12, 2013 at 4:18 pm#

Legs were in woodies, but they only had 2 left where I got them. Lookedlike some kind of wall hangers. 1 each!

And eBay for the motor.

mikeMarch 13, 2013 at 2:27 pm#

Great writeupwhere did you get the chrome pipes?


Mike, Local hardware store, shower curtain rails!

Dave.

Brian Willi amsMarch 13, 2013 at 2:56 pm#

Hello,

Im thinking that most of the parts you used are familiar to professional

photographers, because nearly all of them are a mystery to me! I would

love to build one of these, but I dont have a clue about what these parts

are or where to buy them:


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skate bearings

dolly tubes

timing belt

mounting plate

Would it be possible to make a list of parts with their original purpose

and where you got them from please? Just a wee bit more detail?

daveh

March 13, 2013 at 4:54 pm#

Brian,

None of those terms are photographic terns!

I sourced most stuff from my local DIY store. mounting plate is

simply a rectangular piece of steel, which I drilled myself. Tubes

are pieces of pipe, timing belt from auto shop, skate bearings from

ebay. Research, research, research!

Dave.

Brian Willi amsMarch 13, 2013 at 9:22 pm#

Thanks Dave,

in that case, would it be possible to get a few more pictures of e.g.

where the timing belt is connected at each end? (And what is a

timing belt when it isnt used for this job please?)

Thanks!

Brian


Brian,

Ill try and get a picture of the timing belt clamps. Its all made

with what I had available to hand, or available in the local

hardware store.

Wikipedia has a very good explanation of what a Timing Belt

is.

Regards,

Dave.

Emanuele SantoroMarch 13, 2013 at 3:40 pm#

Hi!

Some of the images are just beautiful!

Is it possible to get them in digital format to use them as desktopwallpaper ?

Thanks in advance,

Emanuele

davehMarch 16, 2013 at 9:59 am#

Emanuele, let me know which scene, and the resolution you want,

and Ill send you one!


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TexyMarch 13, 2013 at 6:26 pm#

Fantastic work again Dave.

As the timing for the shutter isnt quite as critical as for the water drop

shots, you could use gphoto2 to control the camera via usb.

Cheers,

Texy

JakeMarch 14, 2013 at 4:54 am#

Thanks for sharing this, I feel inspired to try this myself and am

wondering if you had considered trying curved pipes? I know that getting

two pipes curved the same might require some metal fab equipment.

But imagine the shot you could get as the time elapse pans over a shot

with another axis in play.

TexyMarch 14, 2013 at 1:32 pm#

Hi,

for the toothed pully and belt, try looking at the 3d printer spare parts oneBay.

They are usually T5 pitch and can be bought together.

At least, thats my plan ,lol

Texy

Bob PackMarch 14, 2013 at 3:44 pm#

Im wondering if any of your shots used the whole length of the rail and if

so, how long it takes to run the complete sequence. Obviously it would

depend on shutter speed, but what would be a ballpark f igure for a

daylight shot vs a night shot?

Im also guessing you have to take your laptop with you to start the pi

off and adjust the variables according to conditions?

Would really like to put something like this together myself so just trying

to figure out everything thats involved.

Thanks for the excellent post though!


Bob,

Rail length is 1.8m, so if you want 240 shots (10 seconds at

24fps), youd move 1.8m divided by 240, or 7mm each frame. Itdoesnt actually depend on shutter speed.

If youre doing 240 shots in day-time, and using 3 seconds

between shots, thats 12 minutes.

If youre doing 240 shots at night-time, and using 30 seconds

between shots, thats 120 minutes (2 hours).

If you want to do a lapse with more frames, reduce the distance

moved between each frame. 3.5mm will allow you to shoot twice

the number of frames.

Rgds,

Dave.


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Bob PackMarch 14, 2013 at 5:07 pm#

Im still a little confused. Does this mean youre just using the

camera in bulb mode and controlling the shutter with the Pi?

Or is the camera setup, and the Pi just triggers the shutter and

waits until its done?

I would have thought if the GPIO pin was set high for a certain

length of time, this would be controlling the shutter.

And how do you configure it on location?

Sorely tempted to swing by Maplin and B&Q on my way home

tonight


Bob, Camera is triggered, and then waits. Then moves

the camera, and triggers again. You need to be careful

that the delay is longer than the shutter speed. Have a

read of the Python code, and it might be a bit clearer.

scott mMarch 14, 2013 at 4:43 pm#

Thank you what an outstanding project! very nice tutorial!

Simon DMarch 15, 2013 at 2:49 pm#

Love it.

By changing the track system you can have one with sleepers. This

means that your track can be as long as you want. If you make it in

sections then you can make a whole Hornby system and run it where

you will.

JimmyDMarch 17, 2013 at 5:55 pm#

Im planning on having the rPi trigger my camera as well, but it is a

VERY long time since I last played around with electronics. Could you

provide what transistor and resistor you have used?

Thanks

daveh

March 18, 2013 at 5:43 pm#

Jimmy,

I pulled the transistor from an old PC PSU, so I dont exactly know.

Its a beefy enough one, though. As for the resistor, I think I used

1K.

Dave.

Isaac RowberryMarch 18, 2013 at 1:51 am#

Was there any welding required?


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Isaac,

I dont have a welder. All nuts and bolts!

Dave.

Liam WelfordMarch 18, 2013 at 5:58 pm#

Can you provide any more details about the motor. Is this a stepper

motor, or just a standard dc motor?

If its a DC motor does it have to have a certain RPM, or does it need to

be geared down, how are you making it turn (and then move the rig) an

accurate amount.


12V DC motor @ 15RPM. Pulse 12V to it each shot. Have a look

at the code to see the pulse sequence.

Kasper HolstMarch 20, 2013 at 9:13 pm#

This is a very nice time lapse rig. Im impressed by the build quality.

In the Shutter Release circuit, what is the purpose of the NPN

transistor? Is it used as switch?


Yes, Kasper. Its a switch. Thanks for the comment!

CliveMarch 21, 2013 at 8:09 am#

Thank you so much for sharing this build, I just stumbled across it

chatting with someone at work. As I see it you are only restricted to the

pole size and timing belt length for Hzl movement? This has really

inspired me, thanks once again from Brisbane QLD, Australia.

DarcadeMay 26, 2013 at 12:17 pm#

Wonderful photos I will build it for me too

Thx so much !

DBanerjeeJuly 2, 2013 at 5:39 pm#

Hello David,

I recently came across your blog and loved each one of the entries. I

especially loved the things that you did with the Raspberry Pi. Awesome

stuff! Now I am inspired to get on for myself and try the moving


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Cheers.

davehJuly 9, 2013 at 6:34 pm#

Htc 5mm pitch 9mm wide 14 tooth. Had to drill the hole for grub

screw myself with a tap & die kit to attach pulley on to motor shaft

properly. Short message, writing on phone.

OllyJuly 11, 2013 at 8:30 am#

Awesome, rail in progress will report back with findings and

results.

THANK YOU!!

OllyJuly 17, 2013 at 5:10 pm#

Hi David,

Ive just hacked the remote for the 5d and obviously it has 3 wires, red,white and green (presumably +, & GND) Ive figured out that touching

red and white together triggers the shutter. So thats what Ill be using in

my circuitry but what should I be doing with the green wire??

Ive noticed that if greens wrapped around red then theres no

noticeable difference but if wrapped around white then the camera

doesnt show a preview of the shot on the rear lcd screen.

If left out of the equation altogether, again, no noticeable difference.

Thanks

daveh

July 17, 2013 at 8:42 pm#

White is most likely ground, with red and green being shutter

release and focus respectively. You dont really need the focus for

typical timelapses, as your lens will most likely be on manual focus.

Rgds, Dave.

laurentAugust 14, 2013 at 2:04 am#

Great David, thanks for all the tips.

I m trying to control my Nikon through a cronjob calling gphoto2 every

minute but I have to perform a USB reset after each shot. Would you

have an easy solution at hand for this matter?thanks in advance

Laurent

davehAugust 14, 2013 at 8:14 am#

Laurent, the latest version of gphoto2 has fixed this problem,

version 2.5.2. Are you comfortable compiling the libs and binary

from source ?


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TexyAugust 14, 2013 at 8:50 am#

Actually there is a very easy pain-free method of installing and

compiling the latest version of gphoto here :

https://github.com/gonzalo/gphoto2-updater

Hope this helps,

Texy

davehAugust 14, 2013 at 10:12 am#

Nice one, Texy! Ill give that a go!

Marcus KstersOctober 14, 2013 at 10:49 am#

Hey Dave,

I really find your work pretty inspiring and fantastic.

I am definately planning on building a timelapse-rig myself but since you

pointed out that yours is heavy and awkward to transport I will make

slight changes to your setup.

First of all, Id prefer more security for my camera to prevent the dolly

from falling of the rail. I was planning on adding some kind of

security-catch or an additional set of skate-bearings under the rails, so

that its impossible for the dolly to fall off when assembled.

for the rails, i have too have the feeling that carrying around 2 tubes of

2m length is a bit too much. BUT I am happy to own one of these

backdrop-systems: Walimex Background System

they consist of 2 tripods and 5 connectable tubes of 90cm length each .

Using 4 tubes would make 2 rails with 180cm length each. Plus: If you

work clever, you could still use them als backdrop-kit.

What kind of dc motor do you use? Can you perhaps name the model?

Cheers,

Marcus

davehOctober 14, 2013 at 10:59 am#

Marcus,

Thanks for the comment! Its a good point about the rail, I was

thinking of getting some pipes that screw together so I can

transport easier. But finding pipes that are smooth when

assembled are hard to find. Do yours give a smooth surface at the

join?

On the motor, its a 12V DC reversible 15RPM model, very cheap

on eBay. http://www.ebay.ie/itm/12V-DC-HIGH-TORQUE-

High-power-Reversable-Electric-Motor-15-RPM-Gear-Box-

/141087624043

Its not powerful to move the camera when the rail is at an angle,

so I use a weight and pulley as a counterbalance.

Regards,

Dave.

Marcus KoestersOctober 14, 2013 at 5:59 pm#

Hey Dave,


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I am pretty sure that they are pretty smooth (but not 100%)

when assembled but doubt that there should be any problems

with the dolly. I can try and send you closeup picture of those

pipes assembled, as well a pic of the stuff used to put the

pipes together.

Thanks for the specs of the motor! Have you ever thought of

using a steppermotor to get accurate steps?

davehOctober 14, 2013 at 7:14 pm#

Steppers require constant current for holding position,

whereas in the DC motor theres enough holding force to

hold the position without current, so uses a lot less

battery.

It would be great to see a close up of the pipe youre

using. I might get one myself, as I could do with a portable

backdrop as well!

Marcus KoestersOctober 16, 2013 at 3:52 pm#

I uploaded some pictures of the pipes and the

connectors as well.

Backdrop-System

a big plus is, that the pipes already have holes drilled

in, so that you can non-destructively build a rail out of

them.

tommyOctober 25, 2013 at 4:09 am#

Hey I am trying to build the same thing I am using this other guys

website but I dont really understand how the circuits are supposed to

look can you plz email me a picture of them or something? and not thecircuit thats already on here because I dont understand it. thanks

davehJanuary 6, 2014 at 10:00 am#

Great write up on an alternative version of the electronics for this by

Per Magnusson here:

http://axotron.se/blog/electronics-for-the-lapse-pi-motorised-

time-lapse-rail/

Thanks Per!

By Slo-Pi

on March

13, 2013

at 8:38 pm

By

5 Trackbacks

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napravo in dodal nekaj fotografij ter diagramov. Podobno zadevo pa so

izdelali tudi pri SaratogaWeather, kjer so uporabili statino kamero, ki jo

je upravljal RPi, tako da je zajel sliko vremena gore Mount Timpanagos

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bolj jasne, tako da jih je veliko laje analizirati. [...]

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DISKIDEE

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at 2:53 pm

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LapsePi

on April22, 2013

at 11:37

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By Pi-Rex

on May

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Dolly gedocumenteerd. Je kan er nalezen hoe je deze DIY cameradolly

zelf kan bouwen, met inbegrip van diagrammen en Python

programmeercode. Hunt is niet aan zijn proefstuk toe, want vorig jaar

bouwde hij een Raspberry Pi bordje in in de batterijgreep van een

Canon camera. [...]

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Lapse Pi – Motorised Time-lapse Rail With Raspberry Pi