Fusion 360 Links:

Full Assembly: https://a360.co/3vB2vgE

This is a rough or alpha design for a nose mounted UAV pan and tilt camera platform. Note this is not a gimbal. It’s goal is to allow a UAV pilot to look up and over their wing and fuselage as well as down and under the fuselage or towards the ground with a hopefully unobstructed view.

I’ll be attempting to keep this project up to date as time allows.

NEWS: 22SEP15
–ALRIGHT! The whole assembly has been recreated complete with tooth profiles and appropriate pinions. Now, i haven’t had a chance to have this printed and tested. I literally just finished the design. It’ll be about 2 weeks till i have a chance to test fit and gear meshing.

NOTE: with every part update there’s an “instructions” update.

The servo mounts are designed currently for a Vigor VSD-22YMB servo. It has similar dimensions to a Blue Arrow D50024MG and that’s the servo i hope to size this to in the end but i have not been able to find a concise datasheet on my target servo.

The design process started with basic sketches, to AutoCAD, to Inventor, to Fusion 360. Part of the design process was starting from software i recognized on ward into software more suited for 3D printing. A lot of this is a learning process about the software as much as it is about prototyping and refining my design. This is by no means a final design.

Update:

14SEP15-Located and corrected issue causing bad repair of Pan Gear in Meshmixer

15SEP15- v2 of the Pan gear has been uploaded. It’s designed to decrease failure rate and need for material in the 3D printing process. it needs to be structurally tested against the servo’s weight and torque. May add in epoxy or hot glue to reinforce the servo.

16SEP15- They have teeth!! Also, the tilt mount on Pan Gear v2 now has an extended guide to prevent binding from pressure and torque exerted by the tilt drive gear.
– Added in some drive gears. I don’t have any design parameters on the servos spline though and i’m certain the tooth profile on the tilt gear needs tweaking so they’re incomplete for now.

18SEP15 – CAMERA MOUNT!!! alright so it’s a rehash of a design i found relatively common on here for a board camera. This one I remixed from Mochaboy’s PZ0420 / 600TVL Board Camera Housing. I’ve included an image of the relevant camera mount dimensions so others can fit their own on. sadly i first drew it all in imperial instead of metric.
– Reinforced the connecting points on the pan mount and added some minor support to the Pan servo mount to help relieve possible tension from the servos mounting point from pressure against the gear. Still need to actually built though lol.

22SEP15 – So I’ve replaced the older design with the new one incorporating a bunch of updates, most important of which are proper tooth profiles. The redesign was also done in mm so i updated the dimension image for the camera mount fitting. I’ve also included dummy servos in the assembly image. They are sized after a VSD-22YMB winch servo. They’re dimensions are very close to the Blue Arrow D50024MG i plan to use. I hope to be making a few of these in different materials and especially difference methods. I found the standard method of printing same material supports only makes finishing the parts to proper fit an utter pain so I’ll be looking for someone who uses disolvable support material for the next build as this will hopefully be a functional prototype.

Known issues i need to address: to name a few
-Test servo fitting and gear slide meshing
-Attachment method to air frame
-Explore alternate pan gear mounts, possibly a linear rail bearing design.