diy pico Archives | CheesyCam

Disclaimer:: The Pico Flex Dolly was not designed to work in this manner. Use in this manner at your own risk.

The Pico Flex Dolly has already been motorized with lasers, so what else can we expect? Here's something quite odd. This is just something I happened upon and although it's not perfect, maybe it will spark some creative ideas for you DIY'ers out there. After removing the sets of wheels, and keeping the two bearings on the axles, there's enough gap to ride on a set of rails. If you need to track a straight line on some 'unforgiving surface', a set of rails will give smooth performance. For a quieter experience, cheap plastic rods would work better. I'm not sure what rail width would be optimal use for something like this and again, this is not what the Pico Flex Dolly was designed for.

Oh and for a solution while keeping the standard skate wheels on the little table dolly, there will be a specially designed roll out mat available soon. Still in the works...

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I was testing this about a week ago, but finally published it to the public. Taking all the same little electronics from the JuicedLink DIY slider project (continuous servo, servo driver, and battery case) the little Pico Flex dolly is moving on it's own. The speed is variable and with the size of the pulley. It can go really slow, but what you see is the fastest setting it will go. A piece of scrap acrylic plastic and double sided tape was all that was used to mount it temporarily while I try to figure out the cheapest and best way to drive this thing.

A rubber band pulley system didn't do so well. The band would stretch and when there was enough tension built up, it would snap back causing a jerking motion. The direct drive was the simplest way to turn the Pico wheels and was much more consistent. Using this technique could apply to all existing Pico Flex Dollies without replacing any existing parts. The servo is extremely strong and since the Pico moves with little effort, it can move quite a bit of weight.

Another Clever Pico Flex Dolly Modification - Motorized + Lasers

YouTube Member dim3m has motorized the Pico Flex, and has also added lasers for an easy way to identify the rotating axis. This is a common practice used in those high end three wheel skater type dollies. By aligning the axles with the lasers, the cross path will be the center of rotation. This is where you need to focus your camera. Right now the lasers are just temporarily being held on with Friction arms as a proof of concept. [Thanks dim3m] You can find pen lasers fairly cheap these days in just about any store, but if you're lazy they can be found online for about $1.49 (click here)

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