Member Challenge Accepted - Universal LANC Controller for DSLR cameras -- Episode 595

1) alert the internets tariq.ahmad 
2) the two idlers are premade parts. I did not have smooth ones. smooth ones would do fine, the decision was for availability and knowing the belt would glide smoothly on aluminium while a 3d print might have more friction + I did not have suitable bearings in stock for a printed version.

Two notes:

1) The link above for "All the CAD and code" fails with a page not found message. Presumably it worked at one time, but it's broken now.(community.element14.com/.../147337)

2) The two tension pulleys were printed with gear teeth on them, but they only touch the smooth side of the belt, making the teeth redundant - see the video at time 20:06. Was this an oopsie, a conscious choice, or did you simply reuse an existing part? (And of course, if it was a choice ... please say why).

you will b e held accountable by your 3d printers anonymous buddy.

i have a commercial sidefocus for dslrs and the side loads are very comparable, moreover because the adjustments for the positioning of the motor(and in return the tension) is just held by friction, excerting to much force is not of aconcern as the camera would just turn a bit when the load gets to big, same with reachign endpositions (the belt just slips).
A 3d printed ring with GT2 teeth would improve trackiong, but also loose this little safety feature. OS there are tradeoff to be made.
for bigger lenses I would certainly recommend to print a ring with the right teeth as it might slip during fast movements.

sure it can, if you don't need reproducable positions than any motor can work even without encoder.
I chose the stepper specifically for torque and reproducability of positions.

I copied the belt design from a Community memebers reply on the original post, i just altered it to mount to the camera base instead of directly to the lens.

oh yes that is a good idea!

one of the things I really hope for is some community memebers with software skills taking up stuff like this and improving it, because my bytewrangling os not even halfbaked enough.

Clem, Good Solution. But the camera lens does not take kindly to large or even small side loads! Just a thought what would happen if you attached a 3D-printed gear to the lens ring?  just think of how you hold the camera and use just two fingers on the focus ring. You could do the same thing.  ~~ Cris

Great build Clem.

I wonder if a pulsed DC motor could be used instead of the stepper motor.