Reconfigurable Rig

This aerial photography rig was designed by @Ranon Prichard as an Autodesk Student Expert Intern project funded by Autodesk. it is designed for taking panoramas without the need for any electronics other than a camera. Panoramas may be assembled with software such as the open source Hugin, Microsoft's Image Composite Editor, or used to make 3D scans with programs such as Autodesk's Recap 360.

A panorama made with Hugin:

The goal is to create an affordable yet versatile rig that can be reconfigured in a number of ways for use in pole, balloon and kite aerial photography in several configurations. The parts are standard hardware store parts and laser cut plywood pieces.

Research notes on the rigs and their usage are tagged reconfigurable-rig. Please post your research.

The parts, 3D printing and laser cutting files, and assembly instructions are available in the Reconfigurable Rig Github repository.

About the Development

The rig features a rubber band powered pan mechanism which uses a pipe fitting filled with silly putty as resistance, inspired by a design by Simon Harbord. More details in this note.. Electronics free alternatives to the Silly Putty panning mechanism are explored here.

The rig was inspired by Tinker Toy type connectors, and the use of beverage tubing in KAPtery rigs. The use of cable clamps and 2D parts to make Tinker Toy-like pieces enables the parts to be produced via laser cutting for more affordable kits.

More configurations for pole photography are explored here.

Development and Beta testing

If you would like a Reconfigurable Rig, please contact mathew@publiclab.org. The rig is currently undergoing testing. Beta Testing questions are listed below.