Jeero: a rotating plate for 3D object video
This project shows how easy is to create tools for Communication Design using Fabbing techniques and OpenSource Hardware.
During my stay at Fab Lab Amsterdam I thought it would be nice to have a tool for shooting video of 3D object. Often a static picture is not enough to document a complex project.
Jeero is a simple rotating plate powered by a cheapo servo motor controlled by an Arduino microcontroller.
The hardware structure is made from 4 pieces of multiplex wood milled in the Shopbot, the rotating plate itself is made of matte white acrylic.
To facilitate the rotation, for laser-cutted wheels are placed between the wood structure and the plastic turning plate.
The internal electronic hardware features a circular LED array (32leds, 12V, 12cm diameter) that illuminates the plate from below creating a nice light for video and photo shooting.
A simple Arduino program is making the motor rotate clockwise and anticlockwise depending on a maximum value that you can specify in the code. In this way is easier to shoot a video in both direction and than decide which one to pick. As default a servo motor can rotate at maximum 180°, but it could be easily modified for a 360° rotation.
Here is the code I use:#include <Servo.h>
Servo myservo; // create servo object to control a servo
int potpin = 1; // analog pin used to connect the potentiometer
int pos = 0; // variable to read the value from the analog pin
int CW = 1;
int max= 180; // max degreet of rotation
int val;
void setup()
{
myservo.attach(9); // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
}
void loop()
{
// scale it to use it with the servo (value between 0 and 180)
for(pos = 0; pos < max; pos += 1) // goes from 0 degrees to max degrees
{ // in steps of 1 degree
myservo.write(pos);
val = analogRead(potpin); // reads the value of the potentiometer (value between 0 and 1023)
val = map(val, 0, 1023, 0, 100); // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
delay(val); // waits 15ms for the servo to reach the position
}
for(pos = max; pos>=1; pos-=1) // goes from max degrees to 0 degrees
{
myservo.write(pos);
val = analogRead(potpin); // reads the value of the potentiometer (value between 0 and 1023)
val = map(val, 0, 1023, 0, 100); // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
delay(val); // waits 15ms for the servo to reach the position
}
}
In general the system works pretty well, as you can see from the video below. Of course it could be improved using a stepper motor and more light. However the challenge of my experiment was to create this tool in the cheapest way, so that it would be easy to replicate.
