Submitted by trondhindenes on Sun, 08/08/2010 - 11:39
Posted in
Hi,
Im very interested in the OpenMoCo project, but I'm afraid I have no experience with the Ardunio platform (or any other controller boards for that matter). I've been looking around this page for a "You need to buy these components and perform these steps" to buy what I need and get started, but I cannot find anything clear. Googling a bit, I've found several versions of the Ardunio platform along with several addons - I'm basically clueless here.
I am an able software developer/scripter/photographer, so I just need a hand to get started.
Any help would be appreciated!
Im also a complete newbie but
Im also a complete newbie but here is the hardware list for the Timelapse Engine: http://openmoco.org/node/33
PS. I saw the Openmoco site months ago but it was so annoying what it does or what it is that I completely forgot about it and went further. Now after a couple of months Im back and I digged deeper.
best regards
Daniel
You need to decide what you
You need to decide what you want to do and then do the research and build what you need. Another great resource is Timescapes.org their forum. There are discussions on Motion Control timelapse and other timelapse subjects that you may find informative. There are lots of guys building rigs of all sorts so you can get some ideas. I have had a some timelapse experience and a little motion control experience so for me the hardware wasn't too difficult but software is altogether different. You should be able to find enough info here to get started but I don't think there is a step by step because everyones needs are different. Timelapse motion control can be done pretty inexpensively if you apply some creative thought to it.
Cheers
trondhindenes if you just
trondhindenes if you just want to do some basic research and experiment with the Ardino to learn the concepts here is what you need. This will get you a small setup to learn with.
Go to Sparkfun.com, I have bought from these guys as well as a lot of others for different part but you should be able to get all the starter stuff from them.
1. SparkFun Inventor's Kit for Arduino, has a lot of stuff that will be useful now and in the future.
2. Stepper motor
3. Easydriver Stepper Motor Driver
To get a good taste this is pretty much it. You can find the software at Arduino.cc. You can find the OpenMoco Timelapse Engine software here. Tutorials you can find all over, again try arduino.cc they have a lot of tutorials and projects others have done. All of the software is opensource so that shouldn't cost but the stuff above is around $120-130.
Other sources of Arduino stuff:
Sparkfun.com
Adafruit Industries
Robot Shop
Fun Gizmos
Liquidware
Cheers
Sweet, thanks for the
Sweet, thanks for the inventors kit tip, seems to be a good idea to learn the basics first :-) Gonna start there and see where that takes me.
Hey guys, sorry for how
Hey guys, sorry for how difficult the site was to parse previously, I've been working on making it more friendly to operate. While I don't think we have nearly enough stuff here to form a complete idiot's guide (*grin*) yet, I think that we'll get the basics done up into formal content and organized better very soon. I agree with Robert, that it's hard to have the right step-by-step guide that works for everyone's needs. Better to offer information on how to make the right decision for yourself, and have good tools to build on so you don't have to make as many mistakes that other people have made.
I'd like to hear any ideas you guys have for how to make it easier to put all of the content together here, and what I can do to make it easier to get going.
You can look at the software here as a starting point, or a finishing point. If you want to write everything up from scratch, it can be useful to look at some examples in how others do it, especially if you get stuck somewhere.
As for just getting started, getting an Arduino starter-kit is a great idea. Stepper motors are a great way to get more accurate and repeatable moves (I prefer them above all others), but if you want the lowest cost and easiest to implement for simple motion control, you might start with DC motors. Then, you'll know what kind of drivers you'll need, and what kind of control you'll have to write. It's always ok to make a simple version first and completely replace it later, if you can afford the time and effort.
Remember to always work on one problem at a time =) If you've never built a motion control system before, better to start with the electronics and software, getting some basics down, then move onto basic motor control, and then start working with making parts and assembling different configurations.
!c