This ESP32-Powered Camera Slider Is Both Cheap and Easy to Build
Sasa Karanovic has designed and built a DIY camera slider that can move in two axes while also having Wi-Fi connectivity.
The idea
For many video and time-lapse projects, camera sliders are often necessary parts of a photographer's kit since they offer a stable platform upon which a camera can smoothly glide across at a known rate. This is important because any small bumps or changes in speed can result in diminished video quality or even a failed project. Due to the expensive nature of these systems, maker Sasa Karanovic decided to design his own version from the ground-up that would not only be almost entirely 3D printed, but also have a simple web interface and inexpensive components.
Designing the slider
The vase of the slider is made of a single square aluminum extrusion that spans its entire length and is capped on one end by a NEMA17 stepper motor and the other with an idling pulley. On top of this sits a small platform that houses another stepper motor and the camera mount. Turning the camera to either side is accomplished by using a large, toothed pulley to pull on a timing belt and rotate the camera base. Meanwhile, the camera pans by being slid along the lower rail with another timing belt attached to the platform.
Fabrication
Karanovic started constructing everything by first 3D printing the end caps and camera platform. After this, he attached one stepper motor and its associated pulley to the platform and mounted everything to the aluminum extrusion once the wheels were secured. The rest of the assembly process involved placing the two end-caps onto the extrusion and wrapping a timing belt across where it was then fastened.
Controlling the device
The two stepper motors are independently driven by a pair of DRV8825 stepper motor driver modules mounted onto a custom PCB. Limit switches were placed next to both motors so that a zero point can be determined in order to home the axes for maximum accuracy. The ESP32 runs a simple web server, which displays a single webpage containing buttons and sliders that set up how the system is to operate.
To see more about this project, you can visit Karanovic's blog post here on his website or watch this build log video here on YouTube.