What I want to do
Build a cheap picavet to stabilise the camera for kite mapping (or balloon mapping). (a picavet is a platform suspended by several strings that hangs in such a way that it stabilises itself according to gravity; i.e. it 'absorbs and adjusts to' jerky movements and thus acts as a kind of 'movement buffer' so that one gets less blurry pictures)
My attempt and results
Cut out a ~120x120 mm cross-shaped piece of plywood.
The inner part of the shape has a jagged platform for securing the camera using elastic bands (the jagged edge helps secure the elastic bands). Then made holes at then ends of each 'arm' using a small nail (&hammer), followed by screwing in screws with loops at the end. Also put in 2 nails on the top part of the platform to secure elastic bands. Used the following site to set up the strings properly: http://aggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/balloon-borne-camera-part-3-stringing.html
Attached the picavet using carabiners to 2 loops on the string holding the kite (approx. 20 m from the kite). Also used a kitchen clip to keep the strings in order during transport and storage:
Questions and next steps
I want to make the same picavet with real pulleys instead of the screws with loops. This will increase the price, but I suspect it will make the picavet stabilise more quickly and evenly (i.e. increase its 'movement buffering' capacity).
5 Comments
Can I attach more pictures???
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TedF, Good design. Just drag and drop photos to where the cursor is in the edit window. Blocks (pulleys) will help a lot to keep it level, especially since the center of mass will not be far below the level of the eyes. To make it level quicker without blocks, lower the camera an inch or two by putting a piece of styrofoam or something between the camera and the plywood. Let us know how it works. Chris
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