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OK so it has been a while since I have been back here but I thought I’d post an update to the camera slider. I’ve been looking at simplifying the electronics part of it and have managed to potentially do away with the Sparkfun Arduino ProtoShield Kit. Instead I’m looking at putting the components that are on the Protoshield on a single board with the Arduino.

I’ve looked at two main development boards: the Adafruit MENTA – Mint Tin Arduino Compatible Kit with Mint Tin and the SpikenzieLabs Prototino ATMega328- Kit. Both are very good but I’ve decided to try the Prototino simple because it is smaller. The kit pictured below, is easy to assemble. (image courtesy of Spekenzielabs)

Prototino ATMega328- Kit - Click Image to Close

and makes a nice small package once complete. You will need either another Arduino to program the chip or use an USB FTDI adapter/cable, or simply transfer the chip from another build..

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As far as space goes a preliminary placement of the main parts shows that there is plenty of space to put the Big Easy Driver and the optocouplers as well as the resistors and the connecting wires.

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I’ll play around with placement a bit more and will hopefully have an operational replacement for the original build up and running soon. It will easily fit into the original box as well.

 

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Timelapse change

I finally got the rail and went to fit the gantry plate only to find that there was not enough clearance between the rail and the bottom of the gantry plate, the screws and Tee nuts were hitting the rail. I purchased some 30mm M5 screws and some 3mm spacers and replaced the standard 25mm screws that came with the wheels. Now the gantry fits the rail with a couple of mm  clearance . I have now updated the rest of the rail component and will be adding the controller box build in the next couple of days.