This Robotic Rig Is Like Having Your Own Camera Assistant

While tripods and traditional camera sliders work well for most purposes, when you’re working on something on a table it would be nice to have a true overhead camera mount. What would be even better is if this device could slide, pan, and tilt, adding a bit of interest to a shot that might otherwise be not that interesting.

Although you could probably press a motorized slider into such duties, this automated overhead camera assistant by KronBjorn is designed expressly to hang your camera upside down. It employs a stepper motor to pull the camera along, and two others to pan/tilt it from above. It's controlled by an Arduino Mega with a RAMPS 1.4 motor driver board that's best known for its use in 3D printers. The system is constructed with off-the-shelf and 3D-printed parts, though each printed part is 6mm thick, meaning it could also be constructed with a CNC.

In addition to a clever mechanical assembly, the build includes Arduino software that lets you set up keyframes for each automatic shot via the serial monitor. While it might not be quite as good as having your own personal cameraperson, the setup looks fairly straightforward to use, and would provide a lot of creative freedom!