Ready-made cheap opto trip

[padu]

Hi,

I was searching through the messages here and I found enough material to build such a circuit, but I don't have the time to build it now, and I need the circuit as fast as possible, so I will describe the problem and I hope someone will give me an idea of how to accomplish:

I have to take a photograph of a golf ball at the exact time the driver hits and compresses it.

I tried by hand, but the thing is simply too fast.

So my idea is to have an optical circuit (a dark alarm) that triggers the shutter of my camera. There are two pins in my camera that if shorted will trigger the shutter, therefore that's what the circuit needs. I don't know if a relay is precise enough or fast enough for those speeds, but I guess you got the picture.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Krumlink]

Perhaps A laser Detector? Have the laser on one end and the detector on the other, and when the club interrupts the detector it trips the shutter.

 

[padu]

Perhaps A laser Detector? Have the laser on one end and the detector on the other, and when the club interrupts the detector it trips the shutter.

Yes, that's what I am looking for. Do you know a ready-made circuit or device that I could use?

 

[Torben]

Yes, that's what I am looking for. Do you know a ready-made circuit or device that I could use?

You haven't filled in your location information, so I'm going to have to guess about things you can get easily.

A quick google found this:

https://www.amazon.com/Ramsey-LTS1-Laser-Trip-Sensor/dp/B0002QG2YA

I don't know if it's fast enough. There may be others out there, or you could possibly hang something faster than a relay like maybe a simple FET circuit off the relay inputs to trigger the camera. My camera doesn't support this or I'd probably try it.

A more expensive but presumably more professional idea: https://www.woodselec.com/

Or are you just looking for a finished schematic you can build?

Good luck, sounds neat. Will you post a cool picture if you get one?


Torben

 

[Krumlink]

Are you proficent at electronics? I hope so...

Torben's link sounds good (the LTS1) and I would go with that. Just buy it to reduce the hassle on your part. Then once you get it, wire one of the alarm outputs to the camera and there you go!

 

[padu]

You haven't filled in your location information, so I'm going to have to guess about things you can get easily.

A quick google found this:

https://www.amazon.com/Ramsey-LTS1-Laser-Trip-Sensor/dp/B0002QG2YA

I don't know if it's fast enough. There may be others out there, or you could possibly hang something faster than a relay like maybe a simple FET circuit off the relay inputs to trigger the camera. My camera doesn't support this or I'd probably try it.

A more expensive but presumably more professional idea: https://www.woodselec.com/

Or are you just looking for a finished schematic you can build?

Good luck, sounds neat. Will you post a cool picture if you get one?


Torben

I'm in San Diego. So your suggestion is perfect! I'm reading its manual right now, and it seems like the only thing I have to do is to connect the two wires to the relay contacts (which I assume is normally open).

 

[mneary]

I would string two crossed wires almost in contact with each other and the golf ball, so that when the club strikes, the wires make contact. Or even one wire and the other terminal connected to the golf club. If the voltage on the camera is low enough, I wouldn't bother with a relay.

The wires would be destroyed on every swing, so you just build it to be easily re-strung.

 

[Torben]

I would string two crossed wires almost in contact with each other and the golf ball, so that when the club strikes, the wires make contact. Or even one wire and the other terminal connected to the golf club. If the voltage on the camera is low enough, I wouldn't bother with a relay.

The wires would be destroyed on every swing, so you just build it to be easily re-strung.

Yep, that'd probably do the trick too, but then you could have wires in the shot. If that's not a problem, then this is probably the cheapest and easiest way to do it.


Torben

 

[Tomble]

Yep, that'd probably do the trick too, but then you could have wires in the shot.

I know sweet-FA about golf, so maybe this is a dumb idea (eg, perhaps the tee usually gets torn out of the ground?), but:

What about having a similar switch type approach (but NC rather than NO), but with the two contacts in the cup of the tee, bridged by a tiny bit of tinfoil stuck to the underside of the ball itself? That shouldn't be visible, but I'd think it ought to be tripped almost instantly, no? Possibly the contact might be flaky I guess.

Of course, there's still the issue of where to run the wires from the tee to the camera setup, you'd also need an inverter of some sort, and perhaps some other circuitry. You'd also presumably have to modify the tee a bit. Anyhow, just a little idea.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Perhaps people are ignoring the obvious method?, that there used to be loads of in the electronics magazines - a sound triggered flash - these have been used for similar purposes for decades.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Another problem might be shutter lag. Many cheap digital cameras have plenty of lag.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Another problem might be shutter lag. Many cheap digital cameras have plenty of lag.

That's why you trigger a flash - have the shutter already open in the dark, and trigger the flash when you hit the ball - might take a few goes to get it right though!

The advantage of sound triggering is that you can move the microphone further away to delay the flash.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

The OP said shutter, but flash strobe photography looks neat. My guess is the OP wants something that works on the course.

 

[Krumlink]

If you have access to a high frame rate camera you could just reccord it then use software to go through the frames and pick the best one you like!