Devlog
v2 mechanics: the drive modules are out
The second-generation Orbiter mechanics are in the repo as STL, STEP and FreeCAD files: two near-identical rotary drive modules on an aluminium tube frame, with taper inserts and an AS5600 on each axis.
What's new
We grew up on LEGO, and Orbiter is designed the same way: as a set of building blocks you can take into a project of your own. The second generation of the mechanics is the first time that idea is in the files.
The design files are now in the public repo under
cad/v2/:
25 printed parts as STL and STEP, the bought parts as meshes, and the whole
machine as a FreeCAD assembly with one file per part.
Two drive modules, almost twins
The heart of v2 is a rotary drive module, and there are two of them. Their design draws on automotive steering knuckles and wheel hubs: a printed spindle runs in two 6008 ball bearings, and a printed M32×1 nut clamps the bearing stack the way a hub nut would. The housings are mirrored siblings. What differs is where the GT2 pulley sits.
On the azimuth module the pulley is on the output side of the spindle. That makes the module more compact at the cost of a longer overhang, and it gives a vertical support we expect to carry substantial loads.
On the elevation module the pulley sits on the opposite side. The attachment comes closer to the bearing, the lever arm is shorter, and the arrangement is stiffer.
Both spindles end in a 1:5 taper socket. The platform and the arm are taper inserts, and each insert has an M10×0.75 thread for a printed extractor, so you can pull one out without a hammer. Model the matching taper into your own tool or adapter and the module becomes part of something else.
Frame and sensors
The frame is 25 × 25 mm aluminium tube: three 253 mm rails and a 93 mm vertical bar, tied together with printed caps, nut wedges and clamp jaws.
Both axes now read an AS5600 magnetic encoder. The magnet sits in a
HexPlug in the end of the shaft or spindle, and the sensor rides on a
printed ring or a three-legged mount on the housing. v1 mixed an AS5600 with
an AS5048A on SPI; v2 settles on one sensor.
Still v1 in software
The server, the viewer and the firmware still describe the v1 rig. The server reads its pivot and arm geometry from the v1 model, and the firmware reads elevation from the AS5048A that v1 had. Those move over next. The controller board follows the same modular idea, but it's still being designed and hasn't been built yet.
Get the files
Two-axis Wi-Fi pan-tilt camera rig — CAD + ESP32 firmware + FastAPI server + Vite/R3F UI + Docker stack + optional COLMAP container. v2 mechanics in cad/v2.
The hardware is CERN-OHL-S-2.0. If you build one of the modules into something of your own, we'd love to see it.