Here's my instructable for a home build timelapse dolly. The pro rigs for this are pretty pricey, so I made my own :)
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Signing UpStep 1: Software
The heart of this machine is a Raspberry PI, a low cost small footprint computer. It runs linux so it's easy to write and deploy code on it. It also has a GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) connector which we can control.
The code is pretty basic and written in python
I use the Raspian distro on my Raspberry Pi.
First, I installed Python, WiringPI and WiringPI-Python.
Next, I export the pins I will be using. I need two pins as outputs, so in a shell I type:
gpio export 18 out
gpio export 23 out
Now I can play around with pin 18 and 23.
Next, I write a python script to allow me to input exposure time, interval and number of shots. Here it is:
import wiringpi #get wiringpi-python
from time import sleep
io = wiringpi.GPIO(wiringpi.GPIO.WPI_MODE_SYS)
triggerpin = 18 #set my pins
motorpin = 23
io.pinMode(triggerpin,io.OUTPUT)
io.pinMode(motorpin,io.OUTPUT)
wiringpi.pinMode(triggerpin,1)
wiringpi.pinMode(motorpin,1)
exposure = input('exposure time: ') # pick exposure, interval and number of shots
interval = input('interval: ')
shots = input('number of shots: ')
motor = 72.8/shots
print 'begin'
while shots != 0: # loop through actions until complete
io.digitalWrite(triggerpin,io.HIGH)
sleep(exposure)
io.digitalWrite(triggerpin,io.LOW)
sleep(0.5)
io.digitalWrite(motorpin,io.HIGH)
sleep(motor)
io.digitalWrite(motorpin,io.LOW)
sleep(interval)
shots = shots-1
print shots
You may notice the motor time is 72.8 / number of shots - this means I can select a number of shots and the Pi works out the motor times needed to run the length of the track.
I save this to a file named 'timelapse.py'.
To make this easier to run in the field, I create a bash script to export the pins then run the python script:
#! /bin/bash
gpio export 18 out
gpio export 23 out
python timelapse.py
And save this as t.sh. I made it executable, so I simply need to type ./t.sh in a shell to get things up and running.
The code is pretty basic and written in python
I use the Raspian distro on my Raspberry Pi.
First, I installed Python, WiringPI and WiringPI-Python.
Next, I export the pins I will be using. I need two pins as outputs, so in a shell I type:
gpio export 18 out
gpio export 23 out
Now I can play around with pin 18 and 23.
Next, I write a python script to allow me to input exposure time, interval and number of shots. Here it is:
import wiringpi #get wiringpi-python
from time import sleep
io = wiringpi.GPIO(wiringpi.GPIO.WPI_MODE_SYS)
triggerpin = 18 #set my pins
motorpin = 23
io.pinMode(triggerpin,io.OUTPUT)
io.pinMode(motorpin,io.OUTPUT)
wiringpi.pinMode(triggerpin,1)
wiringpi.pinMode(motorpin,1)
exposure = input('exposure time: ') # pick exposure, interval and number of shots
interval = input('interval: ')
shots = input('number of shots: ')
motor = 72.8/shots
print 'begin'
while shots != 0: # loop through actions until complete
io.digitalWrite(triggerpin,io.HIGH)
sleep(exposure)
io.digitalWrite(triggerpin,io.LOW)
sleep(0.5)
io.digitalWrite(motorpin,io.HIGH)
sleep(motor)
io.digitalWrite(motorpin,io.LOW)
sleep(interval)
shots = shots-1
print shots
You may notice the motor time is 72.8 / number of shots - this means I can select a number of shots and the Pi works out the motor times needed to run the length of the track.
I save this to a file named 'timelapse.py'.
To make this easier to run in the field, I create a bash script to export the pins then run the python script:
#! /bin/bash
gpio export 18 out
gpio export 23 out
python timelapse.py
And save this as t.sh. I made it executable, so I simply need to type ./t.sh in a shell to get things up and running.
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One could also easily modify this to rotate the camera and perform automated panorama photos.
Great job! Could you please give more info about software and hardware. Where can I get that control unit? Maybe there is some special instructions found on internet for programming timelapse controller? if possible please post here or email me emils@emils.lv
Cheers,
Rick