Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 Dolly Project

Submitted by skyml on Mon, 09/20/2010 - 17:18

Posted in

Dollies

Was inspired by a project someone did making a pan/tilt (pano head) device using the Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 for motors, gearing and motion control (http://ivrpa.org/blog/1833/aotpr_part_9 ... _of_a_pano). There is also another inspiring video out there where someone used an older lego kit to make a simple motion dolly for time lapse (http://www.trailerparkstudios.net/videos/tps-timescape).

This next week I will start a project where I hope to use the design ideas from the suspended Dolly (http://www.youtube.com/user/UnknownLobs ... hMmUFWflyw) and Digital Perceptions single rail dolly and other ideas our there incorperating the Lego Midstorms NXT for motor and control. For $279 plus the dolly parts it looks very fesible to create a very functional time lapse motion dolly with even multi axis control (the kit includes 3 motors and multiple sensors with very creative programing).

Am open to any ideas or comments anyone might have on this project. Will have to finish a project I am on first, heading out to Joshua Tree tonight for some night motion time lapse using a Celstron Skywatcher head I just finished, before I can start this dolly project.

Should be fun.

Sorry for the long delay.....

Submitted by skyml on Thu, 11/11/2010 - 09:31.

Sorry for the long delay..... have finally started the Lego NXT dolly project. The dolly rig ran $100 for parts and the Lego NXT 2.0 kit ran about $270 USD.

Will be finishing the carriage this weekend I hope and mounting the motor/gear assy/and controller after that.

Will post results soon. Other hopeful additions are adding the touch sensors to limit travel on the rail and perhaps adding 2 additional axis of control with the other 2 motors. Still trying to figure the best way to control and fire the shutter.

Very nice work! Doesn't the

Submitted by shutterdrone on Fri, 11/12/2010 - 15:14.

Very nice work!

Doesn't the lego have GPIO ports? If so, you can make a simple opto-coupler setup to trigger the camera. Remember if you're using limit switches, they should be tied to a hardware interrupt, otherwise a lag in your software or some bug may cause them to fail and your rig destroy its self at the wrong time. =)

After many distractions, I

Submitted by skyml on Sun, 12/26/2010 - 21:11.

After many distractions, I finally have a working copy of the Lego NXT 2.0 controlled Motion time lapse dolly! Did a bit of redesign from the posted pictures, added in-line skate wheels and went through two revisions of the drive system but it is working now. At preset I am limited to horhizontal tracking due to the build, weight and design. I started this before Jay and Chris at Dynamic Perception brought their Stage 0 Dolly to the market. In the end, I will be buying their Dolly which is a much better product and is already working with my Skywatcher Pano head. Will get back in a few days with photos and a link to some video for anyone interested in seeing what a box of Legos can do.