Timelapse++ application 2 : controlling the camera and motorised sliding kit

Abstract

There is an increase of Android-powered cameras in the market such as the Samsung Galaxy Camera 2, Nikon Coolpix S800c, and the Polaroid Socialmatic Instant Digital Camera. One thing that differentiates Android-powered cameras and the regular point-and-shoot cameras would be its ability to connect to social media, and share images with the regular Android interface that we are familiar with. This project is a continuation from Timelapse++ Application (SCE13-0060). The previous project had focused on the possibility that with the increase of cameras that are running on the Android platform, we will be able to use the Android APIs to connect with hardware and remove additional hardware controllers that were previously required to control them. An Android-based time-lapse application, named MobileLapse is developed to work with a camera slider and a pan-tilt head. MobileLapse will also be able to take photographs in intervals, which is the main concept behind the time-lapse photography. Arduino is an open-source electronic board that enables software to control hardware easily. In this project, an Arduino program is written to allow the interfacing from MobileLapse to control the direction of a slider and a pan-tilt head. The implementation of MobileLapse had brought many challenges that could only be addressed if manufacturers of Android-based cameras add the important features like shooting photographs in RAW, allowing access to set custom white balance and allowing access to shoot in bulb mode. Nevertheless, this project explores the possibilities for Android-based camera users to take motion time-lapse and stunning time-lapse that features day to night and night to day transitions with the bulb ramping technique.