I'm currently getting interested in kite aerial photography (KAP) and having some fun building rigs for controlling the camera whilst dangling precariously from the kite string (I mean the camera, not me). The KAP community is very open and shares a lot of useful information via the web - in the same spirit, I'll be using these pages to post building plans, software and demonstration movies.
SunSPOT-controlled automatic panning camera rig
This rig was built as a demonstration of embedded systems programming for my first year Computer Architecture students at the University of Sheffield. The controller is a SunSPOT, programmed in Java, which drives a servo motor at time intervals to rotate the camera. It also triggers the camera by putting a low voltage (about 4.8V) onto its USB port. The camera runs CHDK firmware which allows scripting; a short script turns off the camera display to save battery power, and then monitors the USB port and trips the shutter when a voltage is detected. The servo was modified for 360 degree rotation by removing the potentiometer and physical stops inside it (see here for a full account of how to do this).
The SunSPOT has a built-in accelerometer. The next project is to use this to measure the tilt of the rig, and trigger the camera only when it is level.
Java program (runs on SunSPOT; install using NetBeans or command-line tools)
CHDK script (runs on camera; should be stored as "remote.bas" in the SCRIPTS folder of your CHDK installation)
Radio-controlled pan and tilt rig
This rig is build from a standard Brooxes frame. I opted for radio control in the 2.4 GHz band which I find to be very reliable and has a compact receiver with a tiny aerial (it's a Planet T5 controller). More information about this rig coming soon.
See the links page for other KAP resources on the web.