Thread: using a wireless drill motor to motorize my camera ? USB power supply at 4,5 Volts?

i think you may be better off tapping a fused 5 volt regulator (7805 radioshack) off your 12 volt line (google if you want to know how to wire it, plenty of info). then you can use a voltage divider (resistors) to get the 4.5 volts. if the current is more than 1 amp you may need to run a couple of them in parallel and make sure you heatsink them.

i don't think (don't know what exactly you have) that the half volt will be that big of a difference, but just to be safe you can pull the voltage down to the 4.5V. if it has ic's then the half volt might matter?

i would not tie into the computer!

extending the controls will not be a problem as long as the distances are not superlong.

i am curious to how this is going to turn out. please post pics when you work it out.
hope this helped some.

good luck.

Originally Posted by natemart

i think you may be better off tapping a fused 5 volt regulator (7805 radioshack) off your 12 volt line (google if you want to know how to wire it, plenty of info). then you can use a voltage divider (resistors) to get the 4.5 volts. if the current is more than 1 amp you may need to run a couple of them in parallel and make sure you heatsink them.

i don't think (don't know what exactly you have) that the half volt will be that big of a difference, but just to be safe you can pull the voltage down to the 4.5V. if it has ic's then the half volt might matter?

i would not tie into the computer!

extending the controls will not be a problem as long as the distances are not superlong.

i am curious to how this is going to turn out. please post pics when you work it out.
hope this helped some.

good luck.

Thanks man for your ideas!
In fact the 4.5 V would not be a problem since i have a 12 volt converter for less voltage, then i guess i would use it...but the big idea would be to control these from my dashboard or automate it to have it rotating between some angles to get a good field of view picture when parking or as a blind spot camera!

If you attach a potentiometer to the shaft of the motor, you can then control the position of the motor using a motor controller (or any microcontroller with a driver chip). Then you need to write a PID to control the feedback... and then you have a servomotor

You're better off buying an RC servo and hooking it to a microcontroller than trying to write your own control.


Or just buy something like this: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/8bc4/

Hack off the top and put your camera on it. You're gonna spend more than $40 doing the same thing.

Going with what malcom was suggesting, I was going to suggest a stepper motor, This way you have full control and know what angle your facing. This can then be controlled from the USB via a USB interface card. The stepper motor you can also use to "brake" itself and stop it from moving when going over bumps and so on.

But yea either a servo or stepper motor. I'm sure if you visit one of your local hobbie shops they should have an old servo or two they can give you next to nothing if they wont for nothing.

^^ what Malcom and Mayham said...

And, there is alrady webcams with motion out there...