Imatest Motorized Gimbal

Description

The Imatest Motorized Gimbal consists of two Zaber X-RSW rotational stages and an Edmund Optics Goniometer. It can be mounted to the Imatest Modular Test Stand, Motorized Test Stand, standard tripods, or metric optical breadboards.

The Motorized Gimbal can be used for camera-to-target alignment and/or for general rotational positioning of a camera device. For example, the gimbal can be used for accurate camera-to-chart alignment and for positioning a test target at multiple locations in the image field, such as an SFRreg target from a target projector. 

The Motorized Gimbal comes in three configurations where the key difference is the style of the plate that the camera is mounted to (and the way the camera is meant to be mounted):

• Adjustable configuration (recommended): Comes with three axes of translational positioning, motorized control of pitch (or roll) and yaw, plus manual control of roll (or pitch) for leveling via the goniometric stage.
• Standard configuration: Comes with a standard, non-adjustable camera mounting plate. Meant for motorized control of pitch and yaw, plus manual control of roll for leveling via the goniometric stage. 
• Stray light configuration: Comes with a shortened, non-adjustable camera mounting plate. Meant for motorized control of roll and yaw, plus manual control of pitch for leveling via the goniometric stage. The plate is shortened such that it does not extend over the gimbal’s center of rotation to help with avoiding reflections from a light source or protrusions into the camera field of view. 

The adjustable configuration includes a three-axis rack-and-pinion gantry for adjusting the X, Y, and Z position of your camera within the gimbal. The adjustable gimbal allows you to quickly mount phones, dev boards, webcams, and more without the need for a dedicated device holder. The adjustable gimbal includes a centering jig to help with centering the front element or entrance pupil of your camera lens with the center-of-rotation of the gimbal. The adjustable gimbal also comes with a phone holder. The adjustable configuration can be used for both general testing or stray light testing. 

The standard configuration is useful for general camera testing with motorized control of pitch and yaw, while the stray light test configuration is meant for stray light (flare) testing with motorized control of roll and yaw (or the azimuth and field angle of a light source). The stray light test configuration has a shortened camera mounting plate which allows a user to place the front of the camera at the gimbal’s center-of-rotation without the risk of blocking any light from a light source pointed at the camera. Users can perform stray light testing with the standard configuration as well, but may encounter scenarios where parts of the gimbal or mounting plate block light from the light source, impacting the test. 

Features

• Easily connect using USB 2.0 or serial communication ports and send commands over RS-232
•  Zaber’s Console software makes it easy to control the speed and position of the target, change the device settings, and write custom scripts.
• The rotational stages include indexed knobs which provide manual control even without a computer.
• Rotational Travel (standard configuration): Pitch = 360º, Yaw = 360º, Roll = ±10º
• Rotational Travel (stray light test configuration): Pitch = ±10º, Yaw = 360º, Roll = 360º
• Maximum Speed: 450º/s
• Control Interface: USB Serial Interface, Zaber Console Control Software, Python 3 – Zaber Motion Library, C++ Zaber Motion Library

Adjustable Configuration:

• Three axes of translational positioning eliminates the need for a dedicated device holder
• Includes alignment jig for placing the frontmost lens element at the center point of rotation

Imatest Motorized Gimbal Specifications

Downloads

• Imatest Motorized Gimbal PDF drawings including dimensions for mounting patterns and center-of-rotation (note: camera and customer camera holder not included):
  • Adjustable configuration PDF drawing
  • Adjustable configuration Camera Plate PDF drawing
  • Standard configuration PDF drawing
  • Stray light test configuration PDF drawing
  • Adjustable configuration info sheet