GoPro line mounts

[SaulOhio]

I am working on a CNC cut line mount for my GoPro Max. I've been using the Ugo line mount, and its not that great for the Max.



I have to put the MAX in the Ugo mount at a bit of an angle, so its not pointed at me quite right, and there is too much risk of a steering line getting wrapped around the camera.

I've finished my first design and made a test cut in expanded PVC. The finished mount will be HDPE. This test cut just shows I got the exact shape and dimensions of the frame right. The PVC is only 3/4 inches thick, and the HDPE is going to be 1 full inch.

I am planning on shortening those oval arms a bit, and I may make the holes for the lines a bit smaller. They will be plugged with foam to keep it from sliding down the lines.

[norcom]

Great work! Going with the oval shape? Maybe I'll try that again. I was also thinking of making the line holes angled: \ / instead of | | That may put less wear on the lines and keep the camera angle straight.

[Leon van Bergen]

You couldn't just continue here;?
viewtopic.php?t=2404279&p=1091276

[SaulOhio]

Great work! Going with the oval shape? Maybe I'll try that again. I was also thinking of making the line holes angled: \ / instead of | | That may put less wear on the lines and keep the camera angle straight.

The oval shape lets me put the lines farther apart, so I can move the camera farther from me without so much bending of the lines.

I also just had the idea of putting foam in those large spaces so it would float. I have HDPE coming in Wednesday.

[norcom]

The oval shape lets me put the lines farther apart, so I can move the camera farther from me without so much bending of the lines.

I also just had the idea of putting foam in those large spaces so it would float. I have HDPE coming in Wednesday.

Not sure I would benefit from floaters unless I tie them to the camera. I feel the weakest link with 3d printing is the camera mount area because it’s the thinnest. The metal flip mount on the camera has a gap between the body and mount where you can feed a line through. I tethered it the first couple of sessions but then got lazy. I could perhaps print the whole mount hollow at the cost of strength/rigidity or just add some hollow bodies. But as long as it's a feed through design that has one of the center lines attached, it should be ok.

Here’s the latest dumb idea I sent to the printer but luckily canceled 30min in. The last print didn’t allow any of the pigtails to fit through. For ease of testing, I figured to just print rubber plugs and cover the gaps. I’m still set on feeding the lines first but this would make things so simple to test! So I’m designing the plugs and it hits me. When the center lines get tensioned, they’ll just slide around the plugs and pop right out! and this is why I don't want to post the files until I actually test it.

So I redid the holes to 15mm, tightened up the spacing between the camera body, beefed up the frame size to cover all of the GoPro and I'm trying beveled edges around the areas that will touch the lines. Nylon is hard to work by hand to get a nice smooth round edge. Sanding it down seemed to just make it worse.

[omg]

How would you attach the one front line as safety line as it seems both front lines will be fixed to the mount? Then with the current mount, and if you allow the safety line to move in the mount, my guess is that the mount won't stay put ie. it can turn and the camera angle will change? There is a reason why all the camera mounts have longer attachment points along the lines. Just my thought, good luck.

[norcom]

How would you attach the one front line as safety line as it seems both front lines will be fixed to the mount? Then with the current mount, and if you allow the safety line to move in the mount, my guess is that the mount won't stay put ie. it can turn and the camera angle will change? There is a reason why all the camera mounts have longer attachment points along the lines. Just my thought, good luck.

Yes, the lack of arms will change the angle drastically when the lines go slack. With the test pictures I posted in the other thread, the camera seemed to work fine with just holes and short arms but it was tested on extremely short lines. There were some angle issues though; you're right.

The arms add a lot more stability but the old GoPros were nowhere near as good as the 360 at stabalizing the video. This mount will only be perfectly centered when front lines have tension. From my experience/observation with other GoPro's and mounts, when the lines lose tension the arms don't keep the camera very stable/centered. I'm kind of set on trying to get a perfect spherical shot with no mount visible and the rider not in the stitch position. Not sure this will work but adding the arms back isn't that hard.

This just gives me something to do while the beaches are closed.

[SaulOhio]

I decided to ditch the Sketchup model and do it all on my X-Carve's Easel software. This online utility lets me simply design my toolpath directly, and it does curved shapes much better.

This is another practice cut out of expanded PVC. I think I'm going to do the HDPE today.

[norcom]

I decided to ditch the Sketchup model and do it all on my X-Carve's Easel software. This online utility lets me simply design my toolpath directly, and it does curved shapes much better.

GoProMaxLineMount.png

This is another practice cut out of expanded PVC. I think I'm going to do the HDPE today.

20200331_162557.jpg

Nice!
To save rigging time you may want to consider making the cutout for the instant record button finger accessible. I found it a bit of a hassle mounting the screw and nut between the small spaces. Having to press record and then mounting it would require you to bring a scrwedriver and waste battery. Though that really depends where you launch. Hope you get to try it soon! I'm sending another prototype to the printer as I type this. Using cheap PLA this time around as I'm getting tired of wasting the good stuff.

[SaulOhio]

Nice!
To save rigging time you may want to consider making the cutout for the instant record button finger accessible. I found it a bit of a hassle mounting the screw and nut between the small spaces. Having to press record and then mounting it would require you to bring a scrwedriver and waste battery. Though that really depends where you launch. Hope you get to try it soon! I'm sending another prototype to the printer as I type this. Using cheap PLA this time around as I'm getting tired of wasting the good stuff.

I use the Smart Remote. But I do have to make cutouts for the power button and a hole for a screwdriver.

All that's needed now is to make foam rubber inserts and a good day with wind.