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Welcome to the build plans for Indy Mogul Episode 43: Radio controlled camera pod. I've always thought it would be cool to have a remote controlled camera mount that could tilt and pan. I got this idea to use remote control cars. I figured it would be EASY to convert the motion of the car's drive and steering assemblies to the precision movements of a camera controller. Boy was I wrong. First off the front steering motor did not have the gear box necessary to attach to anything useful. So now I needed 2 R/C cars instead of one. The biggest challenge then was slowing down the motors from their native rotation speed of 1,000-2,000 rpm's to just 3 or 4. The solution we FINALLY came to was 2 pronged. One was to attach a large disk to act as a flywheel, and the second was to wire in a rheostat.
Here's what you'll need for this project:
Shopping List
-2 thin wooden disks
(I literally was walking to work and a construction worker was throwing these perfect wooden disks out. They were very thin and light. Some type of balsa wood maybe. You could probably cut them out of thin plywood or heavy cardstock)
-2 cheap remote control cars
(If you have 1 or 2 of these laying around then you're set! Other wise pick up a few at K-mart or a garage sale. All you need it the forwards and reverse motor.)
-Some scrap wood
(We used what we had laying around: 15 inch. length of 1"x3", 7 inch. length 2"x4" and a plywood base roughly a 1 ft. square.)
-Insulated copper wire
(Just your standard wire we had laying around the shop.)
-Misc. mounting hardware
(Really a hodge-podge of screws, washers, nuts and bolts we had laying around. The one thing we bought was 8 "tapered faucet washers." They are big rubber washers that help secure the R/C car wheels to the wood disks.)
-2 Rheostats
(You can pick this babies up at Radio Shack and use them like dimmer switches for the R/C motors.)
For the complete video, watch below!
Here's what you'll need for this project:
Shopping List
-2 thin wooden disks
(I literally was walking to work and a construction worker was throwing these perfect wooden disks out. They were very thin and light. Some type of balsa wood maybe. You could probably cut them out of thin plywood or heavy cardstock)
-2 cheap remote control cars
(If you have 1 or 2 of these laying around then you're set! Other wise pick up a few at K-mart or a garage sale. All you need it the forwards and reverse motor.)
-Some scrap wood
(We used what we had laying around: 15 inch. length of 1"x3", 7 inch. length 2"x4" and a plywood base roughly a 1 ft. square.)
-Insulated copper wire
(Just your standard wire we had laying around the shop.)
-Misc. mounting hardware
(Really a hodge-podge of screws, washers, nuts and bolts we had laying around. The one thing we bought was 8 "tapered faucet washers." They are big rubber washers that help secure the R/C car wheels to the wood disks.)
-2 Rheostats
(You can pick this babies up at Radio Shack and use them like dimmer switches for the R/C motors.)
For the complete video, watch below!
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Signing UpStep 1Prepping the Cars
As I mentioned before all we are using is the back wheels that control forward and reverse. So we can remove everything but the rear motor and wheels, circuitry and battery pack. This means you can get rid of the car body, front wheels and motors and anything else that is getting in your way. I basically removed the top piece that makes it look like a car. Disconnected the wires going to the front motor. Then remove the front motor and wheels. Lastly I took my rotary tool and cut away any excess plastic from the remaining frame. Leaving a nice and neat, ready to mount, package consisting of the rear wheels, motor and gearbox, the circuitry and battery pack. All attached to the rear half of the frame. Repeat this on the second car (Car B) but detach the gearbox and wheel assembly if you can. The only thing that should connect this to the rest of the car is the 2 wires going to the circuitry from the motor. Our second car had the wheel assembly in a handy little box that popped right out of the frame.
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I'm thinking the wooden discs are a visual aid for aiming the camera? I would think the size of them would lend well to just driving them directly with the car tires. Component failures and design changes would be easier without having to disassemble the whole thing or redesign for "sourced" components. If both tires are driving the wooden discs, you don't have to jimmy the rearend on a car with actual differential, either.
Also, I wouldn't overlook simple remote-control cars if you can still find them. The lack of radio control makes the system impervious to interferance and glitches. For that matter, you can try to run a wire direct from transmitter to receiver if the system is squirrelly. Wire-guided missles are really radio control-- with the antenna so long it reaches back to the controller.