pic: Joystick - pots + servos + cmucam

[Chriszuma]

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[jgannon]

That's awesome... I'll have to show the hardware guys on my team. It'd be way better than what we have now.

[CyberWolf_22]

That is a really cool and creative solution to making a dynamic camera mount. All though those joysticks are pretty expensive I think I would have gone and purchased a cheap one from Wal-Mart.

[Jeff K.]

That's awesome. You could have probably just made a box out of plexiglas or lexan and get springs and the servos and made one like that instead of killing a controller...even though the controller isn't really that good.

[russell]

Has anyone looked at how they are going to protect their camera? Can would putting plexiglass or lexan or something in front of it affect it? I just see too much potential for an accident or even an "accident" although those seem kind of uncommon in FIRST.

[activemx]

now thats Elite! i admire you for that!

[Bharat Nain]

Originally Posted by russell

Has anyone looked at how they are going to protect their camera? Can would putting plexiglass or lexan or something in front of it affect it? I just see too much potential for an accident or even an "accident" although those seem kind of uncommon in FIRST.

Teams should absolutely protect their camera. Most of them will have arms which are fairly top heavy and if they tip over, it would not be nice to see the camera fall off and shatter into pieces.

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by russell

Has anyone looked at how they are going to protect their camera? Can would putting plexiglass or lexan or something in front of it affect it? I just see too much potential for an accident or even an "accident" although those seem kind of uncommon in FIRST.

russell,
If they are smart enough to make this ingenious design, let's assume that they are smart enough to protect their camera. The pic simply shows the joystick/camera solution, not the integrated final location.

Chriszuma,
As for the design... this is simple and brilliant. It makes me think of Einstein's quote: "the best design is the simplest one that works". Awesome job.

Andy B.

[Chriszuma]

thanks guys. As for the expense, we had a broken joystick (someone last year fried one of the pots) that I scavenged. I actually got the idea from taking it apart.

I'm thinking i might build a little plexiglass enclosure for it, since right now it's pretty vulnerable to damage.