These are some pics of a pan tilt unit I made for my camera to make taking 360 panoramic images easier. The user presses one button and the whole unit will automatically rotate and take pics for me, while I sit back and relax and hope the wires don't get tangle up.
The pan tilt unit is powered by an Atmel Atmega8 micro-controller. The motors used are Hitec HS-785HB Sail Winch Servo. The PVC parts were cut from my CNC machine. The controller box allows the user to have manual control over the panning/tilting as well as camera focusing and capturing. A 12V battery is included in the controller box and should provide a couple of hours of operation.
A video of the pan tilt unit in action.
The completed pan tilt unit.
A closer view of the bottom servo. The top part is connected via a precision grounded 10mm steel shaft on a bearing, that has been pressed into the PVC. I didn't calculate the gap between the top and bottom half properly. There is probably only like 1-2 mm of clearance! Luckily, the steel shaft and bearing have a very tight tolerance.
Another steel shaft and bearing assembly used for the tilt part. The bearing is not visible in this pic.
