Today, we will try to transform this concept idea for a 3D printed camera robot into... ...this. I got the idea for this project after seeing the results from this camera slider I designed and printed a little while ago for recording my workbench activities. As you can see, I designed this slider with a curve, allowing me to work uninterrupted, confident that everything is in frame because the curve keeps the camera focused on my workspace at all times. And seeing the potential after this, I was excited to upscale this idea to suit my entire workshop. So like many of my projects, this one also started in-cat, and after finalizing the design, I printed all the parts. Maybe a bit more context would be helpful. Let's rewind a bit and try that again. These are all the printed parts, neatly divided into three groups, the X-axis. The Y-axis. And the Z-axis with the camera mount. But first up, let's start with mounting the X-axis rail brackets. And because my workshop is weirdly long and narrow, we'll need to mount quite a few of these. So to ensure our brackets are perfectly aligned, let's fire up the line laser. To make marking the holes even easier, I've designed and printed this tool. Which aligns with the laser line, ensuring our brackets will be perfectly positioned. And not end up like this. So, after first marking. And then drilling all the holes, I mounted the first row of brackets. And to save some time, let's duplicate this row to the other side. With all brackets in place for the first X-axis, it's time to add the rail. For the rail we'll be using this 16mm PVC pipe, commonly used in garden irrigation and electrical installation. However, we hit a snag with the flexibility of the PVC pipe. Luckily, it is quite an easy fix. To align the rail properly and prevent the slider from derailing at these joints, I printed these oversized internal connectors. With some force they can be compressed for easy insertion into the pipe. Creating a nearly seamless joint. Now that that's solved and all the rail is in place, we can assemble the sliders for this rail. But before we do that, there are two things we have to do first. The first is perhaps the most relaxing part of projects like this. Melting the threaded inserts in place so we can easily screw the parts together later. And the second thing we have to do is mount all the bearings in the wheels, which need to be press fitted into place. And luckily, I've got just the right tool for this job. With those things done we can assemble the slider. Each slider simply consists of four wheels sandwiched between a top and bottom plate. The secret of the slider's lies in the design of the wheels. They are shaped to form perfectly around the rail as you can see, which hopefully should be enough to keep the sliders on track. And for each set of rails, we need a matching set of sliders. After sliding them on, we secure the ends of both rails with these end brackets to prevent the sliders from accidentally riding off the rail later on. Next, we can mount the y-axis underneath the two sliders. And since these sliders are the only fixed points for this rail, we need something a little sturdier than the rail we used for the x-axis. So instead we are going to use this 40mm PVC pipe. So instead we are going to use this 40mm PVC pipe, which is much stiffer as you can see. And just to be safe, we add some extra brackets for more rigidity. And after all the parts are bolted together, let's find out if the camera holder works as intended. The camera holder has three key functions, height adjustment, rotation around the z-axis, and tilt. For tilting, I designed this geared mechanism that locks and releases with a slider knob. And the height adjustment and z-axis rotation are based on this quick release clamp mechanism which has an eccentric pivot point. So let's assemble it and see if it works as design. The height adjustment is perfect and really sturdy. Now, let's test the tilt mechanism. This also works exactly as expected, a solid 10 out of 10 if you ask me. But we still can't call it a robot yet, because at the very least it needs some motors, a microcontroller, and batteries to power everything. So, it's time to assemble the drive unit of this cantry. Normally, you would use something like a rack and pinion or a belt to convert the motor's rotation into linear motion. However, both of these options require additional components like pulleys or couplings, which can significantly increase the project's cost. So instead, I wanted to try something simpler like this rope, for example. And after some out of the box thinking, I ended up with this mechanism that you might recognize, because I've stolen the design from my 3D printer. And I probably don't need to tell you which part of the printer I've taken this idea from. Exactly! The filament feed mechanism. Simple and effective. To complete the project, there's just one thing missing now, because how are we going to control it? My first idea was to control everything with my smartphone via Bluetooth. But after trying this for a little while, I found the control to be somewhat disappointing, because you had to open the app and ensure you were connected, etc. There had to be an easier way, I thought. So, I designed and printed this controller with a joystick that sends signals through a 433 MHz transmitter to the receiver in the drive unit. This allows me to change the position much faster. And finally, there is one thing. Or six things actually, which I added in this design that don't work yet. And those are the three magnets in each gear with which we can keep track of the number of revolutions using a Hall Effect sensor I added below the gear. This function would add position control, which makes it able to pre-program certain positions that we could then call using the push button function on the joystick that we have not yet used. So, for example, when you have programmed five positions and you want to go to position three, you press the joystick three times and the camera will automatically move to position three. So far, I'm very pleased with the result. The only thing that might need an upgrade soon is the rope for the linear drive as it's already starting to phrase slightly. But as long as it keeps working, I'll keep it just as it is. For everyone who would like to tinker with the design or the code, all files are available for free via the link in the description. I hope you enjoyed this video, and I would love to hear your thoughts on this project.