Robotic button pusher [closed]

Question

I purchased a Gigapan Epic Pro a while back (www.gigapan.com).

I love this device but I would like to be able to access the buttons on it, from a distance. (I want to mount the unit on top of a camera crane unit - about 10ft off the ground).

I would still need to be able to push the 7 buttons from the ground.

Here is a high res photo of the unit in question

(Original)

(Added image of 7-button control panel)

Preferably I would like to use some kind of remote control unit with a joystick for the movements but this is a preferance not a necessity.

I have no experienc ein robots or engineering at all, so if someone would care to explain the process to get this done I would greatly appreciatte it.

Answer 1

Given the lack of robotics / engineering expertise as stated in the question, the following approach is relatively non-challenging, and could potentially be built at home as a DIY project:

• Acquire 7 low-power, miniature push-type or push-pull solenoids, with stroke length between 1 and 2.5-3 mm. Two examples:
  1. Miniature solenoid - type MGBP010: 10 mm x 9.4 mm x 24 mm, 24 Volts, 2.5 mm stroke
     
  2. Small push-pull solenoid 110C: 11.3 mm x 11.3 mm x 13 mm, 3, 6 or 12 Volt models, 1.5 mm stroke
     
• Buy 7 pushbuttons and some basic electronic parts (wires, capacitors, power supply suitable to power 7 of the solenoids you select, etc)
• Wire up each solenoid through one pushbutton, such that pushing the button causes the solenoid shaft to extend, and releasing the button retracts the solenoid shaft.
• Mount the 7 solenoids on a board or hard plastic sheet arranged precisely as the buttons on the control panel are arranged.
• Attach some soft material, such as pencil erasers, to the solenoid shafts
• Mount this "robot fingers" board atop the Gigapan control buttons, carefully aligned, and tape or clamp it in place, leaving room for the 1.5 to 3 mm stroke to just sufficiently push the buttons, without breaking them.
• Now, when you push any of the pushbuttons, the respective solenoid will punch the control button, your remote hands are ready!

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While the above method is pretty low-tech, thus with little risk of failure, I am sure many experts would be appalled at this approach, and would insist that a microcontroller and a host of other electronics be used.

Therefore, here are some additional bullet points, for such an approach:

• Obtain a basic, low cost microcontroller development board such as the Texas Instruments MSP430 Launchpad ($4.30 delivered world-wide) or an Arduino or clone.
• Find a suitable schematic from the web, for accepting 7 inputs from 7 pushbuttons, and 7 digital outputs
• Connect up a MOSFET or BJT driven switch for each of the solenoids, with flyback diodes across the coils to protect those transistors, such that a "high" on one of the digital outputs will activate the respective solenoid.
• Experiment with your code till the remote fingers behave as desired.
• Set all this aside once satisfied, and just implement the low-tech version described earlier.

Answer 2

I'm in New Zealand - just across the pond. How many of these can I sell? :-)

GEP manual here - no indication of remote controllability.

ebay = GEP for sale - $US895

It seems unbelievable that the manufacturers would not have made these units "remoteable" but a quick web search does not reveal any information that suggests that they can be remotely controlled. Making it so should "just be a matter of engineering" [tm].

Two main methods suggest themself.

You could make a completely external button pusher using 7 solenoids or servos mounted on a frame which was able o be located rigidly relative to the GEP. This is clunky and Heath Robinson but would work and leaves the unit unopened for resale and warrant purposes.

The "proper" solution would be to make electrical contact with the joystick/button connections and operate parallel electrical switches remotely. This is liable to be very easy conceptually and in practice anywhere between not too hard and stunningly difficult, The latter is extremely unlikely, but designers sometimes do very very obscure or unusual things. So it's best mentioned, just in case.

Actual remoting in either case can be by wore or wireless in a range of flavors (Bluetooth, WiFi, ISM band short range, ...)

If you need the LCD display remoting , again two main methods suggest themselves. The Mickey Mouse Heath Robinson clunky method is to use a small video camera (web cam level) to view the display and drive a remote monitor. This is liable to be very satisfactory if done even half well and MAY be much much easier than accessing the LCD signals electrically. LCD signal access may be easy and may be diabolical. Worst case they may use some form of COB (chip on board) on LCD glass driver with no leads accessible and for an extra bonus could throw in a processor as an integrated part of the LCD. This is an unlikely approach but COB is quite conceivable. If they do use integrated driver you may be able to access the LCD drive data stream which could be very easy to remote and to decode. Or not. The webcam approach does have advantages and is a nice fallback position if you do decide to try direct access and fail.