Notes on Kite Aerial Photography: Equipment
KAP Rig #3 is a lightweight, four-channel camera cradle designed around a Yashica point-and-shoot camera. The rig ended up at 1 pound, 3 ounces and is easy to lift in light winds.
The maiden flight of KAP Rig #3, a replacement
for KAP Rig #1. (27K jpg, November 1996).
All things considered, KAP Rig #1 did its job and then some. Still there were improvements to be made like the addition of horizontal / vertical format change and a reduction of weight. In retrospect, the first rig was hastily finished because I was more interested in seeing if the concept worked before investing a lot of time in it. A new design would allow nicer details and finish. So after finishing KAP Rig #2 I kept going and built this new rig. It combines features of Brooks Leffler's Better Brownie Box VI and Wolfgang Bieck's format rotation scheme. I used the same materials applied to previous rigs: basswood and aluminum angle. I also upgraded the camera to the T4 Super, an updated version of the venerable Yashica T4. All in all I am pretty happy with the combination.
Front and side views of the rig (27K jpg left
and 26K jpg right, November 1996).
KAP Rig #3 takes a little more space than its predecessor in order to allow for the camera's format rotation. I was more attentive to balance in the construction of this rig, working from the camera outward to so that the camera and each successive bracket were supported at their neutral points. Care taken here lessens the load on the servos and thus battery charges last longer. I'd not fully appreciated this in the first rig. I also used a different method to constrain the plan rotation axis bolt. The antenna was adapted from a telescoping pocket pointer.
Front view of the rig with camera removed (25K
jpg, November 1996).
I left the camera off in this
shot so you could see the rotating bracket that holds the camera.
The rig's components are:
1. Plan rotation axis - a 6-32 bolt constrained by an aluminum
spacer inserted through the wood crossbar.
2. Plan rotation gears at 1:4 - adapted from RC car parts and
mounted on an HiTec HS-80 MG servo.
3. Four channel FM radio receiver.
4. Antenna made from inexpensive telescoping pointer.
5. Tilt rotation servo - a HiTec HS-80 MG used in direct drive.
6. Horizontal / vertical format rotation bracket pivoting on a
thrust bracket taken from an old floppy disk drive.
7. 1/4-20 nylon bolt for camera tripod socket
8. Nylon gears to drive format rotation - coupled to HiTec HS-80
MG servo via torque tube.
9. HiTec HS-80 servo with wooden stick to serve as "pseudo
finger" for shutter release.
10. 4.8 VDC, 600 mAh Ni-Cad battery pack made with high-capacity
AE cells.
Views of the rig in flight showing film format
rotation (35K jpg left and 36K jpg right, November 1996).
At this writing I've only flown the new rig a half-dozen times. So far, so good. I will keep you posted as I gain experience.
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All rights reserved. Revised: Friday, May 09, 2003
URL: http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/~cris/kap/equip/kaprig3.html