Fr Robert Ballecer, SJ? a few weeks back you started a PTZ build Is there a plan to integrate ...

[G+_Ben Reese]

Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ? a few weeks back you started a PTZ build. Is there a plan to integrate that into this budget podcast studio setup?

 

Browsing Thingiverse, I came across this plan that seems like a real solid design for controlling even heavier cameras and uses servos so maybe a bit easier than steppers. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:898517

 

With the Vixia camcorder you showed off, is there a way to add remote zoom to the camera? It would be awesome if all 3 (PTZ) could be controlled from an Arduino!

[G+_Golden Retriever]

I believe a servo is just another name for a stepper

[G+_Ben Reese]

Tod Sage they're sometimes used for similar applications and some servos may use steppers internally, but they're typically controlled differently.

A servo is given a position and it moves there automatically. An internal potentiometer might tell it where it is currently and it knows how to move to where it needs to be. Most servos have a limited rotation range unless modified.

A stepper has a few wires coming out and you control which way and how fast it moves. As a motor, it will do full/continuous rotation.

[G+_Golden Retriever]

Right, my experience with the stepper term was in robotics, the position feedback was an optical disk in the shaft, the disc itself basically was plastic with opaque and transparent sections along the outer edge of the disk they would pass and led through the disc with the sensor on the other side and simply count the pulses