Video work with the ZA6

Robots
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Hello All,

This is my first time posting on the forum, so I thought I’d introduce myself. My name is Ari and I come from a commercial video/cinema robotics background. I’ve used many different robots from various manufacturers such as Kuka and Staubli, and am in the process of testing the ZA6 for this application.

I thought I would share my findings in regards to mounting a camera very easily to the robot. To my excitement, I found an off the shelf camera mounting plate that lines up with the flange of the ZA6:

NICEYRIG Camera Cheese Mounting Plate

I’ve also included a photo of the alignment on the plate and the flange mount.

PXL_20220206_202951646
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All you would need to add is some bolts and washers, and you’re good to go!

If anyone has any questions in regards to cinema robotics, please feel free to reach out to me. I’ll be sure to include my future findings on this forum as well.

-Ari

4 Likes
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Ari,

Welcome to the Tormach user forums! I’m glad to see you here and I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with the ZA6.

If you want to add your camera rig to the collision scene (to prevent moves where the camera could collide with the arm) you might have a look at this example: https://github.com/tormach/example_robot_programs/tree/main/ROS_collision_models

Please feel free to ask any questions here and I’ll be happy to help out.

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I wanted to include a list of parts necessary to attach a camera to the cheeseplate mentioned in the post:

Dovetail and Bridgeplate

You attach the dovetail directly to the cheeseplate with 1/4-20 and 3/8-16 screws.

The Proaim system is very robust and allows for many different mounting points to either the top or bottom of the camera. It also has 2 15mm mounts to allow for adding 15mm rods that you can mount a follow focus system to. This is great for any camera from a small DSLR/mirrorless to a large and heavy cinema camera.

Camera cage

If your camera doesn’t have a cage or the ability to mount the bridgeplate to the top of it, this is a great solution. It uses your existing 1/4-20 threaded hole on the bottom or your camera, as well as your hot shoe on top of your camera to act as a second point for maximum stability

15mm Rods

These are necesary if you are going to be mounting a follow focus to your camera. I would advise against using carbon fiber rods as they tend to flex too much, and would recommend using these aluminum options.

Camera baseplate with 15mm rod mounts

Sometimes it is necessary to mount your 15mm rods to the bottom of your camera (if for instance you are doing a move that the top rods would colide with the robot arm. This attaches to the bottom of the camera cage.

I will post pictures with examples when I get over to my studio!