Scenic: Smartphone Time-lapse Slider

My freshman year, I wanted an automated time-lapse slider, but they were shockingly expensive (>$2k+). My roommate Andy Zhao and I created Scenic instead: an inexpensive, motorized slider that travels along a cable stretched between two anchor points.

Features:

• Small, 3D-printed rig travels along a taut cable
• Continuous servo drives at up to a 10% grade
• Built-in accelerometer compensates for tilt changes
• Dual Arduino system: one receiver, one controller
• Bluetooth communication for long-distance control

Early trials occurred in campus locations, including above a dormitory lunchroom and the central walkway. The combination of software stabilization and hardware slider technology produced smooth time-lapse sequences.

The final project was awarded top ESE 111 project at Penn, an introductory Electrical Engineering & Systems Engineering class that 80+ freshmen take. We were required to make a sales video, shown below. Pls excuse the cheesiness of it.