Now that I’ve finished editing the 2009 DVD for WMSTR, I have started a new project to aide in my capacity as ‘that guy with the camera’ for the show next year. That is to build a jib crane for filming more great footage at Rollag. Mounted on top of the Cushman, it will have a collapsable 10′ boom to allow for a wider variety of camera angles. Having had the use of the mighty bucket truck at Rollag for the last few years has been great, however, it’s hard to move around large masses of people, and if I happen to move around in the bucket, so does the camera shot.

So, what you see here, is the very basic start of the pan/tilt system that will hold the camera when finished. You may also notice a little bit of RC gear atop the temporary pan mast. (which is to be replaced with steel) Many of the rigs I’ve seen online have been manual control, or fixed position, which might work well for some applications, however, I always seem to over-do things, and this is no exception.

The pan/tilt mechanism will be controlled by 360 rotational RC servos, compared to standard servos, which have a 180 degree spread. I may swap out the tilt servo for a higher torque DC motor if the servo can’t handle the camera mounted on it.

On top of that, (or below rather) will be a DC motor to power the main boom function to raise and lower it. Also, will be a motor to handle the rotation of the entire rig. I will most likely be controlling those with an H-Bridge module from Robot Power. Their gear plugs right into my RC gear with no mods, and should provide the power I need.

All this good stuff will be mounted on TOP of my Cushman, and counter weighted to allow an easier time of the motors to move it around. It will be powered by a 12V battery, have a solar panel on the roof to aid in charging, as well as power an LCD monitor so I can preview what I’m filming from the ground.

I’ll be sure to post more photos as I get more work done, and of course final product.