Camera Pan Angle Problem

[JohnC]

I zero'd out our camera servos by setting them to the default pan and tilt PWM values as per Kevin's default cam code, then built the camera around them. The code says that the camera should pan within about a 130 degree angle (+/- 65 from center), though ours goes only about 80 (+/- 40).

It's really disadvantageous as the camera loses the light very easily off to the sides with this small range. We'd really like to see it get the full range of motion. Any ideas?

[Al Skierkiewicz]

John,
Check the specs on the servo you have mounted for pan. It may be the restricting factor in pan angles.

[jdejoannis]

I am having a similar problem with both pan and tilt not exploring the full range of motion. The camera likes to look up and to the right. Are there some calibration settings for the servos? We are using the default bells and whistles code, the 2007 camera and the 2006 pan/tilt assembly.

Jason

[Kevin Watson]

Originally Posted by jdejoannis

I am having a similar problem with both pan and tilt not exploring the full range of motion. The camera likes to look up and to the right. Are there some calibration settings for the servos? We are using the default bells and whistles code, the 2007 camera and the 2006 pan/tilt assembly.

Jason

You can use the code discussed here to drive your servos past the range the RC would normally provide by using gains higher than 50 (5.0us). Towards the end of the thread I discuss a method to precisely tune the range and center position of your servo(s). I found that I needed a gain of 36 to rotate the servo shaft 90 degrees, which implies that you need around twice that to get the full range.

-Kevin