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Before making my 2 Gyro stabilizer http://www.instructables.com/id/Universal-2-Gyro-Image-stabilizer/ from 2 hard disks, I had been thinking about the concept for about a year.
In an experiment, I connected a loose HD to a computer power supply, and felt the resistance to its change of position. I figured a HD in the horizontal and one in the vertical plane (X- and Y- axis) would dampen almost all unwanted shaking.
The 2 Gyro stabilizer model is very successful, but practical use of the device is limited, due to bulk and weight.
A single Gyro has its theoretical limits. A strong Gyro in the front / back plane (Z - axis) could dampen shaking, but would not correct rotation. But if rotation around the optical axis is only a minor component of motion blur... , the advantage is less weight and power requirement.
In an experiment, I connected a loose HD to a computer power supply, and felt the resistance to its change of position. I figured a HD in the horizontal and one in the vertical plane (X- and Y- axis) would dampen almost all unwanted shaking.
The 2 Gyro stabilizer model is very successful, but practical use of the device is limited, due to bulk and weight.
A single Gyro has its theoretical limits. A strong Gyro in the front / back plane (Z - axis) could dampen shaking, but would not correct rotation. But if rotation around the optical axis is only a minor component of motion blur... , the advantage is less weight and power requirement.
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I've been playing with an old Seagate five-platter SCSI drive today, poking and prodding the TPIC1533 motor drive IC. Unfortunately whilst the motor runs on 12 volts, and one side of each driver (pulling the motor wire down to ground) uses 12 volt pulses, the other side of the driver (pulling the motor wire up to 12 volts) uses pulses of 24 volts so that's yet another supply rail to deal with! Obviously other drives may be easier (or harder) to control, but for this old Seagate I need a 6 phase, 480Hz, 12/24 volt power supply so it's a job best left to the drive itself!
Swings and roundabouts with faster drives, too. 10K drives have slightly smaller platters, 15K drives smaller still (think 2.5" platters in a 3.5" drive and you get the idea) so the increased gyro speed (and whine) is countered by the decreased spinning mass.
When I connect them to a PSU the spin for a few seconds and then stop. the only way to start them spinning again is to disconnect them from the PSU and reconnect.
How do I keep them spinning for more than a few seconds at a time?
took off the weights,
mounted two at vert and horiz,
two 9volt batteries in a small plastic box with foam to hold in place,
and velcro'd it onto my DIY steadycam rig and it kept the rig more stable than without. I thought it would be too small to have any effect, but, it worked a little bit.
I got the idea from this very article or "ible".
Thanks.
You can use just a couple of small electric motors, cheapo units that are bigger than two fingers, it will work.
You know, when taking it into the field for a few times, these things come into consideration. Right now, I'm quite happy to put this small scooter battery in my inseparable shoulder bag. When still doing experiments, the last thing one wants is to have to go back home because the power source ran out of juice! A rechargable NiCd battery in decent shape could be substituted.
For video, or when going on a long trip, I think this is still one of the better solutions.
For urban use your suggestion seems excellent. I think a cell phone battery (Li-ion) would be the best candidate.
I'm curious what voltage is actually used for the platter motor, if I can find another junker drive at work I'll check. I just trashed 5 old scsi drives last week... Perhaps you could still eliminate one of the voltages with a 3.5" drive. You should be able to get rid of the PCB as well, and run the power straight to the motor. The magnets and head assy can be removed. The magnets and their mounting plates add quite a bit of weight.
Good idea, its a good use for a bad hard drive.
I cannot add any suggestion at this moment to improve it. Reading about your comment on your difficulty of holding your camerasteady when shutting, I remembered an Idea that I use to train people onhow to properly hold as camera and softly press the shutter button, itis by using a laser pointer temporarily attached to the camera to showhow much movement is done when pushing the shutter button down. Keep practicing until the laser dot projected onto a wall lookssteady. The tool-like lasers like the Black and Decker can projecta pair of lines at 90 degrees, which helps in developing a sense ofhorizontality to properly level the camera too.
Finally, practice placing your finger laying on the camera body top, andusing ONLY the fingertip to SLOWLY squeeze the shutter,avoiding pushing the whole camera when operating the shutter. Theold rule of thumb in 35 mm photography was to select a shutter speedreciprocal of the lens focal distance; that is, if using a 135 mm shorttelephoto, one should use at least 1/125 second exposure with hand heldexposures. But with modern image stabilized lens or sensor, anaverage two stops can be saved (that would be 1/30 sec.) Now, using yourHard disk stabilizer can add at least one more stop. This is anexcellent idea and I truly commend you for your approach. Keep-up thegoog work!
amclaussen, Mexico City.
Thank you for the laser suggestion!!! I think this is the best way of training to be a good photographer.
These cars are super small and the charge up in like 5 mins.
I dont know if this info helped at all.
These would be alot smaller to carry around than a HD and it charges super fast. But they may be way to light for a big camera.
It might be possible to use as is, or rewinding could be necessary. It needs a controller as used in RC planes. Some folks make their own controller: letsmakerobots.com/node/2898
Did you give any thought to hacking into the hard drive so you couldwire the 12v directly to the motor and bypass the drive electronicscompletely? If possible, that'd eliminate the need for the 5v section ofyour power pack.
James
If it was a DC motor it would only have 2. Or maybe the other two are for speed reference?
I dont think so on second thoughts, because with the stepper the speed can be controlled very precisely with no sensor delay at all.
James
Wouldn't that be great!! I would love to see an instructable about how to wire a HDD motor, with or without the board. It would allow to eliminate the arm and reading heads. This way, the spacers between the platters could be replaced by platters salvaged from other HDDs. (Today, I was at the town waste disposal, to get rid of nasty bramble clippings (ouch, $%##@&^*!!!!), and during the 15 minutes of unloading, I saw 5 old computers being thrown out, most likely with their HDDs still in it. So easy to get components- and other great stuff, like a perfectly working petroleum heater for my recently finished greenhouse!!!
http://www.tigoe.net/pcomp/code/category/arduinowiring/51
it is for arduino, but its not hard to modify. Basically all you need is a bipolar stepper driver chip, or a dual H-Bridge and some way of pulsing the input signal pins (Microcontroller? let me know if youve had any experience in uC stuff). the stepper driver chip will probably be a modified dual h-bridge anyway lol
The motor will run on 12V and the chip 5V, so a simple 5V linear regulator for chip (/micro) and the 12v from the battery would probably suffice.
james
As im 15 and i have a mother with a stupidly mad clean-freak obsession, she randomly comes past and cleans my keyboard sometimes and i hate it. Thankfully i've never had to spend 2 days fixing it lol
regards
I had a Mechano motor when I was younger, and when I put a rubber toytire (Part of my mechano set) on the end, and turned it on.... thatmotor would almost stay perpendicular to it's power cord I was hangingit from. Only SLOWLY moving downward (With gravity).... so that wasunder 300 grams of weight, that would be MORE than enough tostabilize a camera... even a EOS Digital Rebel XT (Professional Camera,larger amount of weight to stabilize.
I think I will try something for my little hand held..... see if Ican come up with a smaller, more practical, solution.... However I lovethe use of Hard drives!
but great Instructable.