3D Printed Camera Gimbal (Tinkercad Contest)

Hello, This is a camera gimbal that I designed in Tinkercad. The main gimbal was made from This Jar Handle and a five ring gimbal / gyro which I cant seem to find anymore. The Tinkercad design can be found Here. This was designed to work on a Powershot SX620 HS but it has also been tested on a IXUS 190, 185, 160. It should fit most Point n Shoot cameras.

Supplies

• A 3D Printer
• Some Screws - About 3 mm In Diameter
• A 1/4'' screw

Step 1: The Concept and Design

The concept is that there is a weight at hanging off of the center ring. This will make the rest of the gimbal rotate around the center ring. The center ring has to be replaced by the blue one in the last picture because that one has a hole in it. I will try to make this hole in the main gimbal so all you have to do is print it. To design it I had to take a handle from a jar holder (thingiverse) and a gimbal (also from thingiverse). I had to get rid of 2 rings from the original so there is less moving parts but still enough to have a two axis rotation. the camera holder was easy to design because all you had to was measure up the camera, make a box that it wold fit in, and then work out where to put the tube for the 1/4'' screw. The pin that connects the gimbal and camera holder was literally four cylinders. One at the bottom, one for the pin bit and two for the screw holes. The center gimbal ring was also pretty easy to design. All I had to do was get the duplicate the gimbal, use some cubes to get rid of the sides, and then get a 20mm cylinder and make a hole.

Step 2: Printing It

Some of the pieces need supports but mist of them don't. The main gimbal needs supports just under the handle and the camera holder bit needs supports on the bottom of the tube. (Not inside the pipe). The camera holder also needs a raft to stop warping on the corners.

Step 3: Replacing the Center Ring

You will need to replace the center ring with the ring with a hole in it. You will have to force it a bit but you should be able to get it. I printed mine in PLA. You first have to take out the inner two rings from the handle. Then you will need to take the center ring out. This will be harder that the other ring you pulled out because the plastic is the same thickness but it is a tighter circle. Once you have done that you will have to push the center ring with the hole. And then finally push the inner two rings into the ring with the handle.

Step 4: Adding the Camera Holder

This step is pretty easy. All you need to do is put the pin through the hole. Then you will have to put a screw through one of the two holes the camera holder and screw it into one of the two holes in the pin bit. You may need to put something the holes in the pin thing if your screws are to small. I used a Leatherman© Wave to screw the screws up because it has a removable screw driver which made it easier. Make sure you do up the screws tight but not to tight because you could strip out the inside of the holes.

Step 5: Adding the Camera

This is the easiest step. All you need to do is hold the camera in position do the screw up with your fingers and then tighten it with a screw driver or pliers. Don't do it to tight because you might brake your camera.

Step 6: Improvements

Since this is a gimbal that is based on weight on the bottom, it is prone to swaying. This can be made less obvious by putting a spinning weight n the bottom. This would work like a gyro. You could use a old PC fan and chop all the blades off and get rid of the frame so you only have a motor. This might work on its own or you could add weight. (Just make sure that it is even on each side so that it doesn't make the swaying worse.) I am also wanting to put a button on the handle to control the camera. CHDK would help this become possible.

Thanks for taking your time to read my instructable. If you would wish to donate, you can donate Duino Coin to the address "JordanJ"