Hi Bryan and Padre

[G+_peter berrett]

Hi Bryan and Padre

 

I have been watching your last stepper motor episode and have an idea for a cool but useful project for you.

 

If you have played at all with Google' cardboard camera app you will know that you can take stereo 360 degree photos using just your phone. But you have to start the app going and then very slowly rotate your phone around in a 360 degree circle. That is the awkward bit where technology can help.

 

Now imagine you had an extendable monopole with a phone clamp or holder mounted on the spindle of a stepper motor which in turn is mounted to the top of the monopole.

 

An attached Arduino can then be activated by use of a button or otherwise to get the stepper motor to slowly rotate the phone 1 rotation.

 

So what you do in practice is extend the pole to head height, clamp the phone in its holder, start the app recording, start the Arduino rotating the phone and then, whilst keeping the pole still and vertical, ensure you are always behind the phone's camera as it rotates.

 

Result is a perfect 360 degree stereo picture that you can look at using Google Camera.