The OpenMoco system is an open-source software and hardware motion control system for time-lapse photographers and videographers. We also strive to provide an open environment for the photographic community to discuss all types of motion control and contribute free and open software and hardware designs for all types of photography.

The OpenMoco Reference Design

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Here on the OpenMoco.org website, you'll find a number of open-source, free, and user-contributed software and hardware designs.  The core focus of the OpenMoco system is the Official OpenMoco Reference Design.  This design includes the system architecture, the system software components, and the system hardware components.

 

OpenMoco Architecture High-Level View

 

Dolly prototype v1 details/review

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Here's my break down and impressions on the v1 dolly prototype. Keep in mind this was only the first stab & learned a LOT from it. It's also a bit on the expensive side so we're pushing the value engineering as we move into v2 & v3. Stay tuned... =) Test videos are here

Stats:
about 15lbs total
72 inches long with about 60 inches of travel x 8 inches wide
bout $700+ proto cost (+ shipping and various little hardware store bits)

Positives:
-Have to credit Chris for hitting the motor selection on the nose. Perfect match for power consumption, accuracy and torque. Love this little beast!
-Vertical and/or upside down? no problem!
-Extremely smooth from close examination of the raw files. Any doubts/questions I had going into testing were quickly erased. I think the feathering 'between' moves built into the OMTLE really helps here too.
-Didn't see any hiccups even under 100 steps per move. (400 step ballpark seemed to be the 'sweet spot' with a wide lens)
-Relatively simple to put together with only a few eccentric 'ikea moments' (if you know what I mean!).
-Quite compact...

Negatives:
-I didn't really like the looped belt arrangement and motor position at the end of the rail.
-Couldn't disengage quickly, try out a setup and 'slide preview' the results on cam.
-Lots of connection wiring hanging about and I had to get a 6' shutter extension cable to go to the camera on cart
-Too many custom parts...
-Rail is on the long side for trekking. (but I'm confident it would fit in a ski bag)
-I'm thinking not the best bang for buck at the end of the day.

Dolly prototype v1 running openmoco slim

milapse's picture
January 30, 2010 by milapse
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All tests on Vimeo in HD: http://vimeo.com/9626538

We're working hard behind the scenes to get some tangible results from the openmoco engine and get you all some looks at hardware solutions. Finally pulled all the pieces together on our first dolly concept and found the results to be very encouraging (to say the least). Here's a sample video on youtube and the source file for close inspection.  I'm running the system using the windows pearl slim interface. From what I'm seeing the youtube compression is causing a little studdering but check out the source file to inspect the super smooth operation): Enjoy and look forward to more info as we continue to move forward! Not cool enough for you? Okay, okay how about verticle moves...

Get Updates From Twitter

January 22, 2010 by shutterdrone
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OpenMoco.org now has a twitter-presence. Follow @OpenMoco to get live updates to the site. When writing new articles or forum posts, make sure to look at the "Post to twitter.com" option below and make sure it's checked so that your update goes out!

We're constantly working on adding new content and value to the site. Stay tuned as we start porting all of the GUI development discussion from Google Wave to the forums here!

Forums Active Again

January 14, 2010 by shutterdrone
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We got the forums working here on OpenMoco again, they're still not perfect but highly improved. Feel free to Register and join in the discussion! We'll be quickly working to populate many of the off-line discussions we've been having about UI and system design, and look forward to hearing from all of those we haven't yet.

You can access the forums from the links at the top and on the left of this page.

An OpenMoco Hardware Prototype

January 4, 2010 by shutterdrone
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We're making progress with hardware kits that will soon (maybe early Q2 2010?) be available for purchase. The idea is to use laser-cut acrylic panels and mostly off-the-shelf hardware (there will only be a couple of custom circuit boards, and one gear has to be custom-bored) to provide simple kits for the DIY motion control enthusiast to build their own systems without heavy investment in tooling and without having to focus on all of the fundamentals. In such a world, you could create new software, or just get out and shoot without first buying expensive CNC machines, or have to figure out yet one more way to come up with that right gear ratio.

The idea is that these kits would trade a little sweat equity from the end-user for cost, providing a system capable of just about anything you can imagine at a fraction of some of the pre-built systems' cost.

Getting Up and Running with OpenMoco Slim

December 17, 2009 by shutterdrone
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While the Timelapse Engine provides all the functionality needed to perform the motion control for your time-lapse video, you'll still need a way to interface with the engine. The engine can communicate with any computer that has a USB port, so we'll just need some software to tell it what to do. OpenMoco Slim is the first, and most basic interface to the time-lapse engine. It's a simple application that provides a low-profile way to interact with the engine and script complex sequences of motion in Windows, Linux, and OSX.

We'll cover how to get Slim up and running, and walk through the basics of using it.

Motion Techniques and Terminology

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When building a motion control rig for timelapse, gigapano, or other photographic motion control, it is important to first establish which type of motion technique will be appropriate for your project. You must know which technique(s) you wish to employ before beginning motor selection and overall system design.

While some of the techniques described here will be well-known and agreed upon by the time-lapse community and others, some are purely hypothetical and crafted to encourage experimentation and thought on the subject.  Please feel free to add any additional techniques, or discussion as a comment to this article.

Arduino Intervalometer Basics

July 31, 2009 by shutterdrone
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OpenMoco TimeLapse Engine 0.81 Released

May 6, 2009 by shutterdrone
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Version 0.81 of the OpenMoco Timelapse Engine is now available for download.

Changes in this release:

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