Pano Controller Firmware 2.2
Open Arduino-based Platform for high-resolution panoramic photography controlled via Bluetooth App. Can be used to upgrade the board of a Gigapan EPIC 100, with the 3D-printed PanoController V4 Platform (On Thingiverse) or with other platforms with stepper motors.
The design goals for the new versions 2.2 and beyond are as follows:
- Expose all basic operations that the platform is capable of as discrete G-Code commands via Serial/UART
- On-demand send platform parameters and current status (position, battery etc) needed to configure an application and track the execution.
- The External (iOS) App (Bluetooth LE) or similar application will create and send the G-Code program to run the panorama or other activities.
- As the above App can display all the information, a display is no longer necessary on the platform.
See the Official Facebook page for demo videos and more progress photos.
Features:
Software
- Zero-motion shutter delay! When gyro is connected, waits for platform to stabilize before triggering. Extremely useful feature to compensate for tripod stability, platform's own movement or wind gusts.
- Supports a subset of G-Code allowing full remote operation of the platform via a Bluetooth LE or serial. This enables running other programs than just panoramas (time lapse for example)
- Precision sub-degree movement using the StepperDriver library
- Smooth movement and iOS App Demo (2.1)
Hardware
- 32-bit ARM controller board (Gigapan had 8-bit AVR)
- Bluetooth LE control via iOS App
- Battery voltage from 10V down to 6V due to the DRV8834 stepper driver used. Other drivers will enable different voltage ranges if necessary.
Wiring map
An Adafruit BLE device is now required for Bluetooth LE connectivity. Wiring is mostly stable but subject to change if new devices or options are added.
Controller
The controller unit comes with no display. All the controls and status are presented via the iOS App.
Feather M0 / Bluefruit
Status: in active development. Using onboard Feather/BLE. Builds in Arduino or PlatformIO.
- A0
- A1
- A2
- A3
- A4 - Battery Voltage via divider: Vin---[47K]---A0---[10K]---GND
- A5
- SCK - BLE(internal)
- MOSI - BLE(internal)
- MISO - BLE(internal)
- RX/0 - CAMERA_FOCUS active LOW
- TX/1 - CAMERA_SHUTTER active LOW
- 4[BLE] CS (internally connected)
- 7[BLE] IRQ (internally connected)
- 8[BLE] RST (internally connected)
- SDA/20 - MPU-6050 board
- SCL/21 - MPU-6050 board
- 5 - DIR
- 6 - VERT_STEP
- 9[A7] - HORIZ_STEP
- 10 - nENABLE
- 11 - MPU-6050 Vcc (to be able to power on separately)
- 12 - MPU-6050 INT
- 13[LED]
Teensy LC / 3.x
Status: builds on PlatformIO. Bluefruit SPI Friend is required.
- A0 - BATTERY - Battery Voltage via divider: Vin---[47K]---A0---[10K]---GND
- A1
- A2
- A3
- A4 - SDA - MPU-6050 board
- A5 - SCL - MPU-6050 board
- A6
- A7
- D0/RX - CAMERA_FOCUS active LOW
- D1/TX - CAMERA_SHUTTER active LOW
- D2 - MPU-6050 INT
- D3 - MPU-6050 Vcc (to be able to power on separately)
- D4 - BLUEFRUIT_SPI_RST
- D5 - DIR
- D6 - VERT_STEP
- D7 - BLUEFRUIT_SPI_IRQ
- D8 - BLUEFRUIT_SPI_CS
- D9 - HORIZ_STEP
- D10 - nENABLE
- D11 - SPI_MOSI - BLUEFRUIT
- D12 - SPI_MISO - BLUEFRUIT
- D13 - SPI_SCK - BLUEFRUIT
All
- Vin is 6-10V when using DRV8834
- 3.3V step-down adapter from Vin to Vcc for logic power
- All ~SLEEP tied to Vcc
- All VMOT tied to Vin
- All M1 tied to Vcc (preset 1:32 mode)
- All M0 left unconnected (preset 1:32 mode)
- All ~ENABLE tied together
- All DIR tied together (multiplexed in software)
- 100uF capacitor at Vin
- 10uF capacitor at Vcc
- 10K pull-up resistor from Vcc to ~ENABLE
- Voltage divider Vin---[47K]---A0---[10K]---GND
Notes
- Atmega328-based boards are not supported, see issue #57
- Serial or Bluetooth LE is required for the current design. Only the Adafruit_BluefruitLE library is supported for now, but any UART-type protocol should work with minimal changes.
Setting stepper motor current limit for DRV8834
- Vref0 = 2V +- 0.1V
- Pololu schematic shows Risense = 0.1 ohm
- Itrip = Vref/(5*Risense)
- So set Vref = Itrip/2
Gigapan EPIC 100
Gigapan motor spec is 1A, so 0.5V. At full step the current limit is 0.7*Itrip, so we have to set Itrip to 1.4 and Vref to 0.7V as upper bound.
Lower current
Tested with ~1.5lb zoom lens+camera. The minimum Vref that avoids skipping is about 0.3V (0.6A to motor), but it will vary with camera weight. It may be possible to use lower current even, if we reduce the speed.
Bill of Materials
Electronics
- Microcontroller, one of below
- Adafruit Feather M0 Bluefruit tested
- PJRC Teensy LC
- PJRC Teensy 3.1+
- 2 x DRV8834 Low-Voltage Stepper Motor Driver from Pololu.
- (for Teensy) Adafruit Bluefruit SPI Breakout
- GY-521 board with MPU-6050 6-axis accel/gyro (3.3V version)
- Step-Down 3.3V converter (Pololu D24V5F3)
- 47uF electrolytic capacitor
- 10K resistor
- 47K resistor
- 2 x 4-pin female connectors for motor connections
- 3-pin connector/jack for remote shutter and camera-specific cable with connector.
- 2-pin power connector/DC power jack
- 6AA battery holder or a 6V-10V power source.
Libraries
- Adafruit_BluefruitLE_SPI
- StepperDriver
- Wire
Hardware
Well, this is a controller, so it needs a pano platform to control. I used the Gigapan Epic 100 but any platform with two motors (or even one, I suppose) can be used. The only thing required of the platform is the two stepper motors, one for horizontal movement and the other for vertical.
- 2 x Bipolar Stepper Motors
and reduction gears.
- Examples:
- 39BYG101 0.5A
- 39BYG001 1A (used in Gigapan platform)
- Notes:
- the DRV8834 current limit must be set according to motor spec
- reduction gear settings, motor acceleration and RPM are set in examples/PanoController/config.h
Previous Versions
The previous versions of this project had different goals and do not require an external app:
- Version 1.4 is a self-contained, standalone controller with joystick, IR remote and optional bluetooth directional pad.
- Version 2.0 is a two-unit (platform and remote control, both Arduino) using 2.4GHz radio