For the first time in my life I mounted a camera on my board. Instead of printing dedicated mount for it I ended up with something way cooler, and universal.
And it's available here.
Modular and Convenient
I like stuff that can be used with different things and for different purposes. This is the idea behind the pyramid.
There’s nothing wrong with dedicated mount/bracket for your camera or the lights.
But…
What happens when you decide to put something else instead?
Or you break the mount?
Do you really want to open the 4 bolts each time?
How can you make sure it’s aligned every single time?
Or handles vibrations well?
The Alternative
Have a low profile base unit which is always mounted to the board. It can have things mounted on it or can just hang there by itself.
Then add a variety of adapters which can be mounted on top the base unit, for your favorite camera, lights or whatever.
The top plate is secured to the base plate with a single bolt! And is perfectly centered and don’t really mind the vibrations.
So, one bolt?
Yes.
Together with the inclined surfaces on the perimeter it’s all that's needed.
While the bolt presses the top plate down, the surfaces center the unit with side forces.
The gaps are closed, the unit goes to center and gets prestressed.
What's going on inside?
A simple stress analysis reveals more interesting stuff, preloading with ~10 kg from the bolt (not hard to do).
Notice the sliding down of the top plate on the inclined surface, this is the preload in action.
And the almost uniform stress level in the top plate. You can neglect the high edge stresses at the bolt hole, these are not real.
Why is it good?
Why do we want stressed parts? Moderately stressed of course, up to ~50% of the failure stress.
Because this helps with rattling and vibrations damage, the best way really.
The parts are in contact (not loose) and require serious vibrations to go above the stress levels and make some damage. This technique is used for years in dynamically loaded joints.
Want to check it for yourself?
You can print the parts and use them with your board.
I would love to get some feedback on these?
What did you like? What should be improved?
Was it convenient? Easy to install?
Did your equipment suffer from vibrations? Any rattling?
What other top plates are needed?
Enjoy,
Dani
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