Does anyone have any experience with the different Pan, Tilt, Zoom (PTZ) protocols, (e.g. Pelco)? Has anyone ever successfully interfaced a homemade controller to their PC?

I would like to build my own motor controller which would accept PTZ commands from my PC serial port. Using a Pic to accept the PTZ commands, I would like to control the pan and tilt of a homemade camera carriage, rigged up with a couple of low wattage DC motors. In researching PTZ controllers, it turns out that they are quite expensive, and I have had little luck in finding any technical information. Ideas?

 

It looks as if the standards are Pelco D and Pelco P. Here is a link - http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/PelcoPDinC.asp.

Aside from the zoom part, running what is in essence an X - Y system shouldn't be too difficult. What resources do you have for fabricating a mount for the camera? For home-built, it's first the hardware, and then the software.

 

Thanks Been There, that was what I was looking for. I have a mini machine shop in the garage. The mechanics of the system will be the easy part. Interfacing with the Pic, well we'll see how that goes.

I've recently purchased a used Canon camcorder from EBay. The guts of the camera will be scrapped, with the optical system making it's way into a custom housing. The camera was cheap, and I figure the learning experience will be well worth it. Wish me luck! And If I get it going, I'll come back and share the experience