Two miniature pan-tilt devices

Abstract

The authors investigate two small robotic pan-tilt devices that differ from the conventional motor-on-motor design. The Platform Pantilt is based on a parallel linkage actuated by two small DC linear stepper motors. The spherical pointing motor (SPM) is a two-axis actuator built using three orthogonal motor windings. The SPM is controlled open-loop and is capable of panning and tilting a load of 15 grams, for example a CCD image sensor, at rotational velocities up to 600 degrees /sec. It is 4*5*6 cm and weight 160 grams. A subminiature camera consisting of a single CCD sensor chip and a lens assembly that fits on the rotor of this motor have also been built.<>