The New Hotness

It turned out the previous version of the USB camera mount lacked sufficient griptivity to hold the ball’s position against even moderate bumps, so the upper “half” is now tall enough to hold a lock screw directly over the ball:

MPCNC - USB Camera mount - lock screw - Slic3r — MPCNC – USB Camera mount – lock screw – Slic3r

It doesn’t look much different:

MPCNC - USB Camera Mount - lock screw — MPCNC – USB Camera Mount – lock screw

A view from the other side:

USB Camera - lock screw mount — USB Camera – lock screw mount

The previous iterations used Genuine 3M foam tape, which seemed too flexy for comfort. This one sits on a bed of hot melt glue and is absolutely rigid. We’ll see how long it survives.

Tightening the cap screw requires needle-nose pliers, because the whole affair has no room for a hex key.

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// MPCNC USB Camera Mount
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU – 2018-02-22

	Layout = "Build"; // Build, Show

	/* [Extrusion] */

	ThreadThick = 0.25; // [0.20, 0.25]
	ThreadWidth = 0.40; // [0.40]

	/* [Hidden] */

	Protrusion = 0.1; // [0.01, 0.1]

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	inch = 25.4;

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	ID = 0;
	OD = 1;
	LENGTH = 2;

	//- Adjust hole diameter to make the size come out right

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes
	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);
	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);
	cylinder(r=(FixDia + HoleWindage)/2,h=Height,$fn=Sides);
	}

	//- Dimensions

	WallThick = 3.0; // minimum thickness / width

	CameraStalk = [6.0 + 1.0,10.0 + HoleWindage,4.0]; // stalk OD, ball OD, stalk length
	CameraAngle = -5; // stalk tilt, negative = downward

	Screw = [3.0,7.0,25.0]; // holding it all together, OD = washer

	Insert = [3.0,4.4,4.5]; // brass insert
	Pusher = Insert[LENGTH] / 2; // plastic locking snippet

	UpperThick = IntegerMultiple(CameraStalk[OD]/2 + Insert[LENGTH] + Pusher + WallThick,ThreadThick);
	LowerThick = Screw[LENGTH] – UpperThick;

	MountBlock = [24.0,20.0,LowerThick + UpperThick];

	echo(str("Block: ",MountBlock));

	NumSides = 6*4;

	//—–
	// Define shapes

	// Camera mount, enlongated for E-Z differencing
	// Origin at center of ball, stalk along +X

	module Camera() {

	union() {
	sphere(d=CameraStalk[OD],$fn=NumSides);
	rotate([0,90 – CameraAngle,0])
	PolyCyl(CameraStalk[ID],3*CameraStalk[LENGTH],NumSides);
	}
	}

	// Mount block with all the cutouts
	// Ball centerline on XY plane = block split line

	module Mount(Half="All") {

	Rounding = 2.0; // corner radius

	ZShift = // block shift to remove unwanted half
	(Half == "Upper") ? -MountBlock.z/2 – 0*UpperThick :
	(Half == "Lower") ? MountBlock.z/2 + 0*LowerThick :
	2*MountBlock.z; // … want both halves, remove none

	difference() {
	hull()
	for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1]) {
	translate([i(MountBlock.x/2 – Rounding),j(MountBlock.y/2 – Rounding),(UpperThick – Rounding)])
	sphere(r=Rounding,$fn=3*4);
	translate([i(MountBlock.x/2 – Rounding),j(MountBlock.y/2 – Rounding),-(LowerThick – Rounding)])
	sphere(r=Rounding,$fn=3*4);
	}

	for (j=[-1,1])
	translate([-MountBlock.x/4,j*MountBlock.y/4,-(LowerThick + Protrusion)]) {
	PolyCyl(Insert[OD],Insert[LENGTH] + Protrusion,6);
	PolyCyl(Insert[ID],2*MountBlock.z,6);
	}

	translate([MountBlock.x/2 – (CameraStalk[OD]/2 + CameraStalk[LENGTH]),0,0]) {
	Camera();
	translate([0,0,UpperThick – (Insert[LENGTH] + WallThick)])
	PolyCyl(Insert[OD],Insert[LENGTH] + WallThick,6);
	PolyCyl(Insert[ID],2*UpperThick,6);
	}

	translate([0,0,ZShift])
	cube([2MountBlock.x,2MountBlock.y,MountBlock.z],center=true);
	}

	}

	//—–
	// Build it

	if (Layout == "Show")
	Mount("All");

	if (Layout == "Build") {
	translate([0,0.75*MountBlock.y,UpperThick])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	Mount("Upper");
	translate([0,-0.75*MountBlock.y,LowerThick])
	rotate([0,0,0])
	Mount("Lower");}

view raw USB Camera Mount.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

The New Hotness

MPCNC: USB Camera Mount With Lock Screw