As promised, here is a step by step
instructable to build a great
Grassroots mapping camera mount *** for a
helium balloon or a
kite. This particular model is made from one big bottle of soda, all plastic, provides better protection against hard landing, moderate rain, better image stabilization with longer wings for drag, less plastic lost in the fabrication, easier and safer adjust with the screw tap :)
A quick reminder for the newcomers : a group of DIY warriors, called
Grassrootsmapping.org put together techniques of aerial photography to study the effect of the
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico seen from 500ft above. The aerial survey are often conducted by the folks of
LA Bucket Brigade, the independent NGO that created the crowd-sourced
oil spill map (report!) and since 10 years defends Louisiana victims of air pollution, BIG UP
LABB! So, the idea is to fly helium balloons or kites 500ft high with camera mounted on them, taking pictures every 5 or 10 seconds. We stitch the pictures to make high definition maps (below) for scientific study or against BP at the court of Justice. Yes, not only beautiful, very useful.
To make this big cool map on your computer (
see detailled post about image stitching) you will need a
helium balloon or a kite capable of lifting your camera in its mount. To fabricate the mount you will need the following tools :
Start by drilling the bottom of the bottle with a large drill bit, here ø 1 cm. Carefully.
Cut the bottle above the casting line :
Insert the bottom of the bottle you just cut in the bottle itself until the head :
Cut a large stripe of the bottle, leaving enough on the bottle head side to host a camera :
Cut the large stripe :
Cut the large stripe in the length :
Now you have 2 narrow stripes :
Fold them in 2 in the length :
Both of them :
Cut the end of each of the narrow stripes in a "pig feet" :
If you have a welder, you can make the "pig feet" more durable by "welding" the end of the cut
Put "feet to feet" the folded stripes :
Duct tape one side of the "feet nails" :
Mark where you want to insert the feets :
With a blade - ideally with the soldering iron, make a cut the width of the stripe :
Insert the "wings" :)
tape the wings in :
Almost there, nice! Taking shape!
Pass the long thin rope through the nozzle :
Make 2 loops (4 threads) with the thread :
Adjust the tension of the 2 loops :
A simple knot with the 4 threads in :
FIx the threads with string tape to camera (real strong, if you use bad tape your camera may fall from 500ft in the water / in the sand / on the rocks :_(
Pull the rope back in the body :
Pull stronger till the camera doesn't move much anymore:
Screw the cap in, with the threads forced (and probably twisted while you screw in):
The screw cap with hold the 4 threads securely, it easier to adjust, and also be easy to remove :
Test the balance of your devicem ideally with a fan, your camera mount should swing gently in the wind and follow the wind like a
weather vane :)
To avoid having of the mount with the pictures you take, you can crop the extra plastic :
If you want to avoid turbulence and aggravate wind drag you can make fringes at the end of each wings :
you are ready to fly !
Get out of here, inflate a balloon:
or a kite :
Attach your camera mount to the kite, and walk on the beach / or sail !
Happy mapping !
