Missile Launcher to Webcam Az-El base
This page shows the modification of a toy USB controlled Missile
launcher into an Azimuth & Elevation controller for a Webcam.
The one factor causing me the most delay on this little project
was the software interface side, well that is now coming together;
-
First a USB interface for windows is available LibUsb-Win32
from Sourceforge a port of LibUsb.
-
Second a simple Windows command line interface is available here
as Missile Launcher be
warned the control parameters are not checked so anything other than that
specified will cause errors!
-
Now all I need to do is interface to it from PHP .......
suggestions welcome....
There has recently been a flurry
of interest in these :-) See Scott
Weston's site for Linux version.
As delivered the unit provided only 180 degree Az. control and
about -20 to +60 El. control I wanted at least 270 degree Az if possible and as
it turns out I was able to modify the unit to give about 330 degree Az.
Unit as delivered |
Base opened |
Controller board released |
Controller board |
Cables |
Mechanics of base unit |
The thrust plate & limit switches |
Remove the launcher head - push fit pins and unscrew head. |
Azimuth gear |
Note the "missing" teeth to prevent overrun beyond 180 degrees. |
Modified by cutting extra teeth to allow maximum rotation. |
reposition limit switches on thrust plate to allow extra rotation. |
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Detail ensure they don't touch gear teeth! |
re-assemble and mount Webcam on head. |
OK that's the hardware, now to dig into the software to see if I can drive it
from an interface written in PHP to allow control from the Web .................
Oh yes can it be USB powered ? Yes it seems quite happy, just
jumper lead from the Red USB feed to the other side of the slide switch
and it seems to be happy, haven't tried it with the rocket launcher release
mechanism, but I suspect that the motor drive won't be significantly different
from the other two drives - however I haven't tried it with more than one motor
running at a time, it might trip the USB current limits in that situation.
Shooting the Wife
