How To Make a Motorized Camera Slider

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Taking stunning and smooth footage is so satisfying with a camera slider. As you clicked on this blog, you are surely looking for one. But, the price of getting the camera slider is always in consideration. So, in this blog, you will make your own camera slider. And the best thing, it is a motorized camera slider without breaking your bank.

Starter Pack

The Camera Slider Structure

Pinewood
Diameter 6mm Wood Dowel Pin
Plywood
Diameter 8mm Stainless Steel Shaft
LM8UU Linear Bush Bearing
GT2 Timing Belt
GT2 20 Teeth Pulley
GT2 20 Teeth Idler Pulley
M6 Wood Insert E-Type
M6 Furniture Leveling Feet
1/4” to 3/8” Tripod Screw
Epoxy/Aryclate Adhesive

The Electronic Components

Arduino Pro Mini 5V
28BYJ-46 Stepper Motor
ULN2004 Driver Board
HC-06 Bluetooth Module
Wires
Slide Switch
Roller Lever Micro Switch
18650 Rechargeable Battery
18650 Battery Holder 2 Slots

The Software for Programming

Arduino IDE
Visual Studio Code (Build Flutter application to control camera slider)

Steps To Make The Motorized Camera Slider

Making the camera slider structure is the most crucial part of this project. Alignment of the linear bush bearings and diameter 8mm shaft. So the design of the camera slider is built to be easy to align. Even if you are not an engineer, the design will not be that difficult for you.

If you know about Arduino, then wiring and programming the Arduino parts is just a fingertip to you. The codes are simple and nothing so fancy. The only things, even I myself (obviously not a programmer), find quite a tough time in learning Flutter – an open source framework by Google to build multi-platform applications. Well, the good news is you can just download the apps that I have built and published in Google Play Store, Slide Motion. And besides Flutter, you may use MIT APP Inventor 2 to build the apps.

Designing The Camera Slider Structure

For simplicity, the design of the camera slider is based on pinewood since woodworking is not difficult for everyone to make. And also you can find pinewood in any hardware shop easily. The 3D of camera slider, Fusion 360 is a great option for a hobbyist to start with. Visit my GrabCAD to download the design.

Motorized Camera Slider L500mm ISO View 2

Motorized Camera Slider L500mm ISO View 1

Motorized Camera Slider L500mm Side View 1

Motorized Camera Slider L500mm Side View 2

Motorized Camera Slider L500mm Bottom View

The Circuit

Every hobbyist should know about Fritzing. It is easy to represent the wiring diagram. And it is free too.

Programming The Motorized Camera Slider

The programs are divided into two parts, one part is the Arduino program for the functionality of the motorized camera slider and the second part is the Flutter program for controlling the unit.

Arduino Codes

Main

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

const int stepPinA = 4;
const int stepPinB = 6;
const int stepPinC = 8;
const int stepPinD = 10;
bool motDir = false;

bool isButton = false;
bool lastButton = false;

const int switchPinL = 11;
const int switchPinR = 12;
bool switchState = true;

long prevMillis = 0;
long interValMillis = 150;

SoftwareSerial bleSerial (2, 3);
const byte numChars = 32;
char receivedChars[numChars];
char tempChars[numChars];
int isTravelled = 0;
int speedVal = 2;
int delaySec = 0;
bool isReceived = false;

void setup() {
  bleSerial.begin(9600);
  delay(100);

  pinMode(switchPinL, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(switchPinR, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(stepPinA, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(stepPinB, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(stepPinC, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(stepPinD, OUTPUT);
  delay(100);

  if(digitalRead(switchPinL) == false){
    motDir = !motDir;
  }
  delay(100);
}

void loop() {
  unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
  while(switchState == true){
    receivedData();
    if(isReceived == false){
      strcpy(tempChars, receivedChars);
      parsedData();
      isReceived == false;
      motDir = !motDir;
      switchState == false;
      currentMillis = millis();
      prevMillis = currentMillis + 3500 + delaySec*1000;
      isButton = !isButton;
    }
    delay(10);
  }

  if(isTravelled == 1){
    programFlow(halfClockwise, halfAnticlockwise);
  }
  else{
    programFlow(rotateClockwise, rotateAntiClockwise);
  }

  timeCheck(currentMillis);
}

Sub–Tab 1

void receivedData(){
  static byte index = 0;
  char endMarker = '\n';
  char readChars;

  while(bleSerial.available() > 0 && isReceived == false){
    readChars = bleSerial.read();
    if(readChars != endMarker){
      receivedChars[index] = readChars;
      index++;
      if(index >= numChars){
        index = numChars - 1;
      }
    }
    else{
      receivedChars[index] = '\0';
      index = 0;
      isReceived = true;
    }
  }
}

void parsedData(){
  char* strtokIndex;

  strtokIndex = strtok(tempChars, ",");
  isTravelled = atoi(strtokIndex);

  strtokIndex = strtok(NULL, ",");
  switch(atoi(strtokIndex)){
    case 0:
      speedVal = 20;
      break;
    case 10:
      speedVal = 10;
      break;
    case 20:
      speedVal = 2;
      break;
  }

  strtokIndex = strtok(NULL, ",");
  delaySec = atoi(strtokIndex);
}

Sub–Tab 2

int cycle = 2560;

void rotateClockwise(){
  step_1();
  step_2();
  step_3();
  step_4();
}

void rotateAntiClockwise(){
  step_4();
  step_3();
  step_2();
  step_1();
}

void halfClockwise(){
  for(int a = 0; a <= cycle; a++){
    unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
    step_1();
    step_2();
    step_3();
    step_4();
    timeCheck(currentMillis);
    if(switchState == true || a == cycle){
      switchState = true ;
      bleSerial.print("D");
      break;
    }
  }
}

void halfAnticlockwise(){
  for(int b = 0; b <= cycle; b++){
    unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
    step_4();
    step_3();
    step_2();
    step_1();
    timeCheck(currentMillis);
    if(switchState == true || b == cycle){
      switchState = true ;
      bleSerial.print("D");
      break;
    }
  }
}

void step_1(){
  digitalWrite(stepPinA, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(stepPinB, LOW);
  digitalWrite(stepPinC, LOW);
  digitalWrite(stepPinD, LOW);
  delay(speedVal);
}

void step_2(){
  digitalWrite(stepPinA, LOW);
  digitalWrite(stepPinB, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(stepPinC, LOW);
  digitalWrite(stepPinD, LOW);
  delay(speedVal);
}

void step_3(){
  digitalWrite(stepPinA, LOW);
  digitalWrite(stepPinB, LOW);
  digitalWrite(stepPinC, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(stepPinD, LOW);
  delay(speedVal);
}

void step_4(){
  digitalWrite(stepPinA, LOW);
  digitalWrite(stepPinB, LOW);
  digitalWrite(stepPinC, LOW);
  digitalWrite(stepPinD, HIGH);
  delay(speedVal);
}

Sub–Tab 3

void programFlow(void funcA(), void funcB()){
  if(isButton != lastButton){
    delay(delaySec*1000);
    lastButton = isButton;
  }

  if(motDir == true){
    funcA();
  }
  else{
    funcB();
  }
}

void timeCheck(unsigned long currentMillis){
  if(currentMillis >= prevMillis){
    if(currentMillis - prevMillis >= interValMillis){
      prevMillis = currentMillis;
      if(digitalRead(switchPinL) != digitalRead(switchPinR)){
        switchState = true;
        bleSerial.print("D");
      }
    }
  }
}