Andrew Zonenberg4d ago

Quick test of recording from the mill on the $40 amazon USB microscope/endoscope/whatever camera.

Endmill is 250 μm diameter for scale, overall camera FOV a couple of mm. The QFN lands around the perimeter are 500 μm pitch.

Vibration degrades the image quite a bit when the motor is running due to the rather unstable mount I have right now. You can see in the last few seconds when I turn the spindle off, the image quality improves a lot.

Audio is not great, but with a mill spindle and a vacuum cleaner plus the usual lab background noise, I'm surprised I was able to clean it up in post to sound this good. If I move the mic a bit closer to my mouth and speak loudly, I should be able to get intelligible narration out of this for livestreaming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfezVXuQ0QI

Mill test 1

YouTube
Show threadAndrew Zonenberg4d ago

so I guess the next question is, what's the best option for a poseable arm that can hold a pencil sized/shaped camera at a precise position above a flat surface without shaking around too much when the table vibrates?

I don't even know where to begin looking for such a thing. Drop indicator holder plus some shims maybe?

Show threadmiek

@azonenberg yeah, I'd say either an indicator stand or similar arms for camera gear

"noga arm", "magic arm", or "friction arm" are good keywords to find some options in that style

Mar 19 at 9:06amWeb
Show threadmiek4d ago
@azonenberg oh, just noticed the precise positioning requirement. Depending on exactly what you need, maybe adding on a cheap Aliexpress XYZ stage may work.