camera stabilizer using PID controller

Project Title

camera stabilizer using PID controller

Project Area of Specialization Electrical/Electronic EngineeringProject Summary

The goal of this project is to create an affordable camera stabilizer (the “stabilizer”) for consumers to use with cell phones or GoPro cameras. The stabilizer compensates for three axes, yaw,pitch and roll, as well as vertical movement. The system (currently only compatible with one cell phone model) is handheld and uses a combination of brushless DC motors, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), and a microcontroller to compensate for the operator’s movements, stabilizing the phone for non­shaky, high quality video recording. The stabilizer provides a low­cost alternative to professional stabilization solutions employed in the production of feature­length films? the system is designed for amateur video producers and enthusiasts to have access to physical camera stabilization. The final system is also intended to provide higher quality stabilization than the rudimentary physical (i.e. springs and counterweights) or software (post­production) solutions available now.

Project Objectives

The goal of developing a low­cost camera stabilizer for the consumer market is attainable, and given 6­12 more months of development, this project could be turned into a full­fledged consumer product. The vertical stabilization aspect, however, would need to be replaced by yaw compensation? this would provide better real­world performance, and make the stabilizer both smaller and lighter. Given the popularity of “everyday” people making their own videos for YouTube, a system this inexpensive  could be a gateway into a market which is essentially untapped. In addition, the software used to control the camera stabilizer could be easily adapted to stabilizers outside the “handheld filmmaker” realm, such as drone photography and videography. This licensing (or expanded product line) would provide for lucrative increases in market share served.

Project Implementation Method

In the beginning of the project a lot of time went into studying how an active stabilizer functions and its separate components. All the information was gathered online through academic articles, forums and videos through the YouTube platform. By studying how complex the system of an active camera stabilizer it was decided to eliminate the process of making a mechanical construction of the gimbal and use an existing one due to lack of time. An existing commercial gimbal was disassembled and the mechanical construction along with the motors was utilized in the project. The choice of components that was used in the project was made based on previous similar projects and on the recommendation of the supervisor of the project. The programing of the microcontroller  was done in Arduino IDE software.Each system of the project was tested separately using a breadboard and very basic connections to ensure that the systems worked properly. When testing was done all the necessary components like the motor driver  circuits, microcontroller and the wiring was soldered onto one single experiment card and the separate programs was merged into one.

Benefits of the Project

YouTubers

People who post daily or weekly to YouTube with a significant following.They would want easy to use technologies that create high quality videos that their viewers appreciate.Portability and simple to use.  Be recorded without visible camera shake.

Amateur Filmmakers

People who enjoy making videos, documentaries, etc. They are on a small budget and this could be used in replacement of expensive DSLRs.  Record using a cell phone.  Easy to record moving scenes.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The stabilization of the camera is very important to eleminate shakes and vibrations in photography, provides accuracy in tracking moving the target and sa on. the controll system for this gimble will be developed using various control methods and alogorithems to provide better and efficient performance with flexibility, accuracy and feasibility.

Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry MediaOther IndustriesCore Technology RoboticsOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	12340
self design balancing plateform	Equipment	1	10000	10000
MPU6050	Equipment	1	450	450
three servo motors	Equipment	3	280	840
battery	Equipment	1	250	250
wires	Equipment	30	10	300
assembly nuts and bolts	Equipment	25	20	500