Old and dirty RC camera dolly with 3 panning settings

[Marxpek]

Hey everyone,

in my quest to get better video shots without investing money, i decided to make a motorized dolly from pieces of Lego i have and rarely use, as you can see, i do not care for its looks, just the function.

it can just drive as a dolly, pan at 3 different speeds while driving, or just pan when you set it on 2 bricks.

The dolly works good on a smooth surface and has about 240 degrees of unobstructed view while panning, even with the most basic Lego mount on top of the turntable my phone did a decent shot. (phone wedged between the green lift arm attachment shown in the video) it is still a bit shaky but a better mount might fix that, it was made for a action cam in mind, which is lighter and more centered on the turntable, giving better results.

The rc car unit is not needed but it comes in handy since it will allow for speed control with the built in IR-receiver, it could also be made with a frame and a single motor. The rc car unit has a hard time steering this weight, but it can be done, for even more movement in a shot, the shots in this video are in a straight line while panning.

i know bigger wheels would give a more stable ride, but then it wont be able to steer with this unit, but i will probably give it bigger wheels anyway.

If anyone has tips on how to mount a phone on a turntable, i would love to hear. My biggest issue is that the lens on phones is at the top, or to one side when you hold it sideways while filming. If you want the lens above the turntable (for true panning) the whole thing becomes very unbalanced, giving shaky images during panning, since the turntable is causing more friction.

Of course any other tip is welcomed as well.

[agrof]

I solved the phone fixation on my dolly with angled liftarms. The phone stretches them a bit, which is enough to be clamped, and sits perfectly without any movement. I used the axles with bushes to adjust the clamping force: if you set it lower, the clamping is stronger. Also can be increased with rubber bands. I hope this helps.

 

[Marxpek]

1 hour ago, agrof said:

 

I solved the phone fixation on my dolly with angled liftarms

 

Thanks for that idea, i had the same, but i am not happy with it.

i used a similar solution for my phone in this video, but the problem remains, the lens is off-centered or the turntable is unbalanced, that does not matter when you are just using it as a dolly, but when panning the lens is off centered.

I did not use any rubber bands yet since i am not happy with the position of the lens in the bracket yet, this has to be fixed first before fixing smaller issues.

[agrof]

My bad, just see that it is a video you put in the post not a picture. 

My guess is that the vibration comes from lego construction itself, it is a precise system, but not precise enough + the material (flexible plastic). I don't have this RC unit chassis, the vibration might come from this as well, as the steering pivot points are probably legoish loose, which is appearant during the drive. Even the tiniest obstacles on the surface give a undumped hit to the chassis, and this hits become an amplitude (vibration) in the loose connections.

The turntable is also a bottleneck in this point of view, although the new type (from 42043) has much less play as the older ones - which You use as far I see. Maybe worth to give a try.

Good luck!

Edited June 11, 2017 by agrof

[Marxpek]

I will take out the rc steering and use bigger wheels, maybe i will try suspension, but my guess is this will only amplify the effects of vibration.

And i will try to make a decent bracket for my phone. would be nice to get it working, but it already works ok with the action cam.

27 minutes ago, agrof said:

The turntable is also a bottleneck in this point of view, although the new type (from 42043) has much less play as the older ones - which You use as far I see. Maybe worth to give a try.

I will have to check if i have a new version available.