Kontinuum Glide. The 3D-printable glidecam by KontinuumLAB

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

This is the prototype design of the Kontinuum Glide.
"A glidecam is a hand held camera stabilizer, which, through a 3 axis gimbal and a counter weight system, separates the movements of the camera operator from those of the camera, providing smoother motion for the viewer."
The Kontinuum Glide is all that, AND you can make it on your 3D printer.
I made one for my Canon 60D, but it's suitable for all dslr's and other small cameras, thanks to its adjustable camera carriage.
This first version is most of all a testing ground for several ideas, and while it is still not perfect, it is fully functional and ready to glide.
The main innovations are:
A 3D-printed, fully adjustable camera carriage (front/back, left/right), which fits a standard Manfrotto quick release plate.
A 3D-printed 3 axis gimbal (the "Sfere") which uses felt bearings on 2 of its axes, and 6 small standard issue 688 bearings for the panning axis.
A very strong and sturdy solution for attaching the end pieces, as well as a simple 2 piece handle assembly which is virtually unbreakable..
The whole setup is really remarkably effective. The felt bearings are 100 % perfect for this, but the central gimbal assembly still has a few kinks to work out, so sometimes the panning is unstable.
UPDATE: I MADE AN UPGRADE WHICH FIXES THIS: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:81486 is a new central gimbal assembly, which consists of 4 small printed pieces and a single bearing and which pans perfectly.
The Kontinuum Glide is an all original design, although the use of felt bearings is inspired by Josef Prusa's work on the Prusa Mendel.
Development on this model stops here, and work on the Kontinuum Glide Mark II has begun.
You can watch some sample video from the first field test here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO7XK5C-RTc&list=UL

DISCLAIMER<
I offer no guarantees as to the safety of your camera or other equipment during use. So be careful, and tighten your screws twice...