The KAPtery

The Redstone Rig and Picavet with Canon PowerShot A2200.
The Redstone Rig and Picavet with Canon PowerShot A2200.

The menu bar above will guide you to the downloadable files and the products for sale.

This site has links to open source files for 3D printed aerial-photography rigs and also offers printed versions of the rigs for sale. The files to print these rigs (CERN open hardware) are freely available at Thingiverse, and instructions for printing and building the rigs are available free of charge.

The pile of rigs in the foreground is mostly early prototypes.  In front of the chair are the first Redstone Rigs printed in ABS.
The pile of rigs in the foreground is mostly early prototypes. In front of the chair are the first Redstone Rigs printed in ABS.

You can buy kits (see menu bar above) of the hardware with exactly what you need to make each rig work.  For those without access to a 3D printer, you can buy kits with all the printed parts. These all require configuration for particular cameras, so check the kit information to see if you are comfortable with the required procedures.

I sometimes offer complete rigs with cameras (see Rigs with cameras). These often include cameras converted to capture near infrared light and are completely configured and ready to fly with minimal assembly.

The MakerBot Replicator 3D printer I use was donated to Public Lab by MakerBot Industries. This aerial rig project seemed like a good exercise to see how 3D printing could advance the development of Public Lab tools. I hope these designs will improve with your help, and maybe more people will be able to get better aerial photos and make more useful maps of places important to them.

Material acknowledgement of Public Lab's contribution to this project.
Material acknowledgement of Public Lab’s contribution to this project.

Note about shopping: The first time you go to your shopping cart, I think it never shows the shipping cost. Just continue two steps into checkout (you will have to register at the site), and the shipping charges will appear. From then on shipping charges will be included in your shopping cart. Typically, an order with a rig kit and a suspension can be shipped for $10 to $12 and will arrive in two or three business days.

2 thoughts on “The KAPtery”

  1. Hi Peter,

    The Titan 2 Rig would work on a multicopter, but it would have to be a big one. The Titan 2 does not have any obvious way to attach to a multicopter, and it does not have any system to reduce vibration. So there is some work to do to adapt the Titan 2 to a UAV. But as you say, most issues can be resolved. The obvious changes would be to make the camera tray a little smaller (unless you have a really big UAV), and eliminate the leg brackets at the corners. The upper frame might have to be completely redesigned for attachment to the UAV with some vibration damping.

    Contact me (below) if you have any ideas about how to make it work for you.

    Chris

  2. Hello

    I am wanting use the double camera rig on farm
    Which in your opinion is best set up for this
    The likely carrier for this rig would be multicopter
    I am from Australia
    I know international shipping is issue
    However most issues can be resolved !!! I hope

    Any information or advice greatly appreciated

    Kind regards
    Peter Duggan

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