Camera Phone Supporter

This project comes from the difficulties to keep the same angle, distance and light quality on photos taken with a cellphone, especially, when you have the desire to register a big format document via photos. The idea is to build some sort of helper tripod-like, equipped with led lights, that could ease and regularize the photo parts of the documents that you want to digitalize, with the convenience of using your cellphone.

Step 1: Materials

- Model:

1.- MDF or any light wood material, 500x400x3mm

2.- 16 Pins 5/16 x 1/2

3.- 8 Pins 3/16 x 3/4

4.- 8 Butterfly screws 3/16

5.- 16 Hexagonal screws 5/16

6.- Led strip (you can choose the light of your liking)

7.- 4 Plastic wheel 32 mm

8.- 1 External battery with USB connection

- Tools

1.- Pliers
2.- Boxcutter
3.- Iron solder
4.- Solder wire

Step 2: Laser Cut Pieces

First, you need to download the dwg archive attached to this post. Take the MDF/wood material that you want your model to be made of. Place it on your laser cutter and specify the power and speed that suits the machine. At the end of this step, you'll have every piece necesary to make the model.

Step 3: Assembling the Pieces

Organize the pieces by pairs, each of the final pieces are made of two of the original pieces. It is easier if you start with the pieces that make the phone case, which form a rectangular form that connects with the mobile sticks. The sticks are formed by three parts, follow the holes in them and put the 3/16 pins with the butterflies screws to secure them in place. You'll find that if you loose the screws a little, the sticks become articulate, so you can fix them with any angle you want.
Finally, you'll have to take the inferior part of the sticks, and fix them in the holes of the last rectangular pieces.Then, put the 5/16 pins through the holes, with heads pointing down, to secure the wheels.

Step 4: Adding the LED

Take the LED strip and cut four modules (the strip has modulated marks to cut it). Take the USB cable and cut in two, you'll need to keep the micro USB part. Measure the distance between the sticks (they'll have to be open, as in the picture of step two) to start building the circuit. Cut three pieces of wire with those measures, and peel the plastic from the extremes. Do the same with the extreme of the USB cable, there you'll find another four color wire, one red, one white, one black and one green. Usually, wires green and white are for data, so, you won't need them, but it is recommended to test them.

Once the wires are cut, solder them to the extremes of the LED strips, finishing with the USB cable (remember to use red for positive and black for negative through all the circuit). When you're done with this, take off the paper that covers the adhesive form the back of the strips and fix them to the inner side of the inferior of the sticks, (the third and biggest part of them) leaving some space between the wheel pieces and the LED, so the wires can pass through.

Fix the micro USB in the phone case, in the horizontal piece that stands in the middle of the rectangle. There, you'll put you're external battery and it will serve as the power for the LED lights.

To use it, just put you're phone in the phone case, and put the supporter over the document that you want to digitalize. Take the first photo, and move the device in orthogonal form to take the others. You'll find that the device can be be disarmed to carry it with you. For this, you can take off the wheel pieces and the third part of the sticks, where all the LED circuit is, and set it apart.

Step 5: Tests: Composition

The series of photos above, is formed by three pictures taken from a big architectural plan. I was testing the distance and stability of the device, and the aspects are regular, so it is a lot easier to put a lot of pics together in an edition software.

*The photos are not taken with the LED strips working, but with an external and unidirectional source of light, that's why there are shadows marking the borders of the photos. Some time soon, I'll make one testing the lights.