Yvon's KAP rig #4
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Hi all,
I started designing a 4th KAP rig using a small remote control from a Linx Technologies evaluation kit that I bought 8 years ago. This will finally allow be to control the rig remotely after 8 years of autoKAP. The evaluation kit is still available from Linx Technologies but it is slightly different.
I'm building the whole control circuit on the receiver's prototype area. So far, I have my design on paper and I started soldering the sockets for the ICs (MSP430 microcontroller and 2 stepper motor drivers). The sockets are translucide and I put some LEDs inside. On power on, the microcontroller LED will turn on and each motor driver LED will turn on when the stepper motors are powered and moving. The LEDs won't be visible in the air but since I'm designing it, why not do it with style. LOL :-)
I will post my progress on this thread. Feel free to comment and suggest any idea. This will help me refine my design but will also help others that want to build their own rig.
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This should be awesome! Ground up KAP remote, instead of using airplane controls and servo/camera interface devices. The linx technologies website is interesting too. Good luck.
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Hi,
Here's a first draft of my schematic (Large copy here).
On the left side, D0 to D7 are the signal lines coming from the Linx receiver, one for each button on the remote. D0 to D3 are read directly with the microcontroller. D4 to D7 are converted into one analog signal that the firmware will decode. I had to do this because the microcontroller didn't had enough pins to read them all.
Upper right, these are the two stepper motor drivers. The LEDs are connected to one phase of each motor. When a motor is moving the LEDs will blink alternatively.
Below that, the interface to trigger the cameras. For the Canon A590i, I'm planning to use a SDM script to trigger on the USB power. For the T4i, there's a remote input connector which only needs two signals pull to ground; one for focus and the other one for the trigger.
Finally, at the bottom right corner, this is the power supply for the video transmitter. I want to control it remotely so I can save battery power when the rig is in autokap mode. I can turn it on once in a while to make sure everything is ok.
This is a draft and I still need to test a few things to make sure it works as expected before I can solder everything together on board.
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One thing that I forgot to mentioned is that this circuit can also be used to drive servo motors. Only the firmware in the microcontroller has to change.
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