I celebrate the 75th anniversary of the transistor.
I converted my 3D printer into a macro focusing rail. Each macro photo is a composite of up to 120 #focusstacking images at 0.1mm intervals. I had to automate my DSLR using its IR remote.
I replaced the remote's button with a PN2222 transistor. The base lead of the transistor goes to a pin on a RPi. A Python program pulses that pin, the transistor bridges the former switch, the IR LED lights, the camera takes a picture.
@twobraids That's clever. I like how you avoided almost all mechanical engineering and how it's a reversible mod.
If I did similar, I'd use an Arduino and stepper on a custom macro rail. It's cheap, easy and Tinkercad can prototype/simulate Arduino.
@ZDP189 @twobraids This project had major constraints: spend no money; use only components that I had at hand, take up no more space in my workshop.
It's certainly not a perfect system, but within my constraints, I think it is remarkable. Conversion back and forth between 3D printer and focusing rail takes only two minutes.
K Lars Lohn
Dan K
twobraids