GoPro RC Car Mount

It's fun to race RC cars around outside or terrorize your coworkers, but what's there to show for it afterwards? That just means that it's time to strap a video camera onto them and record all the action from the car's point of view. This is a job that's perfect for the lovely GoPro camera.

Step 1: Mount #1: the Front Bumper Cam

This car originally had a small plastic bumper on the front. Fortunately, this was detachable so there are two screw holes on the underside that a new bumper could be attached to.

Of course, you'll also ned to pick up a camera. I'm using the GoPro HERO3: Black Edition. The 720p footage at 120 fps is well worth it.

Step 2: Design and Print

I modeled a new bumper with a GoPro mount in Tinkercad and printed the result out on an Afinia H-Series 3D Printer with Natural-colored filament. It's a small piece so it prints up quickly.

_{Pictured here is a version printed on an Objet printer.}

Step 3: Attach and Secure

Attach the GoPro to the custom mount like you would with a regular GoPro mount. Then add some padding between the camera and the back piece of the mount. This will dampen some of the vibrations during shooting. Secure the camera to the back with some strong tape. I'm using Gorilla tape here.

Then just turn the camera on and drive around to see how it looks!

Step 4: Mount #2: the Third-person View

This isn't a pretty mod, but it works. The front bumper view is nice, but it's still missing something. By putting the camera behind the vehicle we get to see the car in the shot. The result is like a video game and a little more fun to watch, especially when the car is driving more slowly around an office.

This camera attachment is being used on a RadioShack RC Car. It's a nice, big RC vehicle than most and has loads space to attach a GoPro mount.

Step 5: Design and Print

This file was also designed in Tinkercad and was printed on an Afinia H-Series 3D Printer with red PLA filament. The design was very rough with the holes in place for zip ties, but it still worked great.

Step 6: Attach and Drive

This RC car has a small plastic cage on the back. It was perfect for putting the mount and and securing with a few zip ties. Vibration is once again an issue so I stuffed some bubble wrap between the printed mount and the body of the car. With that in place, I secured it all with some Gorilla tape. It won't win a beauty pageant, but it worked fine for driving around our office.

And that's it, there are now cameras on RC cars! Go out and terrorize your coworkers and have some video proof to show off later.