The Brain™: A Multi-Axis, Location/Studio Camera/Subject, Robotic Motion-Control System

Michael S. Azerad, John Pley, Joseph Dabby, Ed Zwaneveld

The Brain, a robotic motion-control system, was designed to meet cinematographers' requirements for a system with memory for motion-picture filming. It provides repeatability of camera movement through computerized control, at reasonable cost, and is transportable and simple to operate under various location conditions. It can accept a path (motion) from another system and also supply motion data to another computer. The Brain controls eight independent, assignable axes: camera head pan and tilt, subject pan and tilt, film drive, focus, zoom, and dolly motion. The system can be powered by a 110-V/60-Hz, 230-V/50-Hz AC, or 24-V DC source, and can drive a 16mm, 35mm, or IMAX film format or video camera. It records or plays back 38 min of path motion and the 3.5-in. floppy disk can store approximately 90 min of recorded motion paths.

Print ISSN
Published
1989-08
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J02691