[Robotgroup] Looking for 1/4" Aluminum

[Richard Abbott]

Philip,
       Try Trident Metals, on Longhorn Blvd., just north of 183 and, I believe, just west of Burnet. I noticed that your current design has the servo lifting quite a heavy load of the camera. You might consider making the camera mounting arm longer and put a counter weight on the other end. At the same time, I would suggest a simple bearing be put where you have the upper servo, to support the weight of the arm with the camera and counter weight. Extend the shaft somewhat and lock it to the arm, put it through the bearing, and then connect it to the servo. That way, the servo only has to provide the rotational force, which won't be much if you counterbalance it well, and the side load will be taken up by the bearing. Your servo will be happier.
  Rick Abbott

Philip Warner <philip at warner.net> wrote:
  Is there a place in Austin that sells ¼” aluminum or does anyone have a few
extra pieces left over from a project they would sell? I’m looking for 3,
7” x 2” pieces for a camera mount base I’m building for my project. Here’s
a link to plans I made up of what I’m trying to build with these aluminum
pieces. http://www.phil007.com/panobot/images/base_design.gif 



The project is a panobot that takes a series of pictures that are made into
a spherical panoramic picture. It’s automated using an Arduino board, a
Pololu micro servo controller board with two servos. 



My panobot http://www.phil007.com/panobot/ 

A spherical panoramic picture from the panobot
http://fieldofview.com/flickr/?page=photos/philwarner/2210583561



Thanks,

Phil











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