Heliotrope actuator research

[originalfoo]

FPV tilt camera Quad UK

[originalfoo]

Pan-tilt anti-vibration

[originalfoo]

SPT200 Direct Drive Pan & Tilt System (Hitec)

[originalfoo]

ServoCity SPT50 Sub-Micro Pan Tilt Kit

[originalfoo]

Lynxmotion Pan and Tilt

[originalfoo]

Propan 360º pan tilt

[originalfoo]

RobotGeek Pan and Tilt

[originalfoo]

All COTS options are too bulky and generally over-engineered for requirements of the heliotropic platter; in particular they all consume too much energy. Looks like a custom pan/tilt mechanism is going to be required for this project.

[originalfoo]

If a pedestal was added to the gimbal, specifically a 3 pole pedestal, the camera could be under a "lid" (like Propan above) - while not in use, the cam would be lowered and the lid would protect it from UV, etc. When the cam is needed, the pedestal lifts up the top part of the gimbal (lid + cam) so it can take photos, etc.

The ability to tilt the camera down (look slightly below horizon) would enable remote visual inspection of the outer rim sensors located in the photonics module, and potentially also do hyperspectral imaging of vegetation and soil.

Range of movements (excluding trucking which isn't planned):

[originalfoo]

Mavic Pro Gimbal

Not suitable, but impressive none the less. Has shock absorbers where it attaches to drone.