Welcome to my Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) Equipment Page


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My equipment:

You will find below the description of my KAP rigs.



August 2017 - KAP Rig #6

This time I took a different approach by using 3D printing to make this last KAP rig. Also, the electronic circuit is now a printed circuit. This has greatly reduced the wiring and consequently reduced the weight of the rig. All fasteners are made of plastic as well as almost all mechanical components to minimize possible interference with the video transmitter and remote control as well as reduce weight.

Main differences compared to my rig #5:
Similarities to my previous KAP rig:
See also details during the design discussed on the Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) French and English forums:
  • 6e nacelle sur la table à dessin (French forum)
  • Yvon's KAP Rig #6 (English forum)


  • Weight with camera (Canon A590IS): 726g (1.60lbs)
    Weight with camera (Canon T4i): 1179g (2.59lbs)
    Weight without camera: 476g (1.05lbs)

    Photos:







    April 2015 - KAP Rig #5

    I still use my kap rig #3, especially since I accidentally destroyed my rig #4. Since, I bought another Canon T4i and I designed a 5th kap rig to replace the one I lost. This time I took a different approach by using sheets of FR4 fiberglass used for manufacturing electronic circuit and replacing as much as possible any metal parts by plastic parts to minimize possible interferences with the video transmitter and the remote control.

    Differences from my kap rig #4: Videos Similarities compared to my previous kap rig:
    Weight with camera (Canon A590IS): 928g (2.04lbs)
    Weight with camera (Canon T4i): 1381g (3.04lbs)
    Weight without camera: 682g (1.5lbs)

    Photos:








    August 2013 - KAP Rig#4

    After 5 years since my last kap rig, I finally built a 4th one. I used the same stepper motors as my previous rig but the electronic control is different and the rig is much larger to fly a bigger camera: Canon T4i. I can still use my Canon A590IS.

    Differences from my previous kap rig:
    Similarities compared to my previous kap rig:
    Weight with camera (Canon A590IS): 929g (2.04lbs)
    Weight with camera (Canon T4i): 1406g (3.09lbs)
    Weight without camera: 698g (1.54lbs)

    Photos:




    For the winter, I cover the camera with a little homemade pouch made of felt fabric to isolate it from the cold. When I tested it at -12C, the camera only took 6 photos without the pouch and 1204 photos when covered with the pouch.



    In September 2013, I accidently cut my line as I was bringing my kite down. The kite and the camera crossed a marsh and the Petitcodiac river (mud and salt water) to land in the marsh on the other side. The aerial photo below shows the kite trajectory from left to right. The kite and the equipment were found by a friend with his drone about 3 weeks later. The kite is fine but the camera and the kap rig are not working anymore but at least i was able to get the aerial photos.





    December 2008 - KAP Rig#3

    I built a third KAP rig. This time I designed and built it myself. The goal was to make a rig lighter than my previous ones and smaller to make it easier to carry. I used aluminium of a smaller gauge and the parts are smaller than before. I also changed my camera for a Canon A590 which is 8megapixels. With this camera, I can take a picture every 5.5 seconds. This new rig can easily be adapted for different cameras.

    The pan and tilt motors are 5Volt geared stepper motors. I prefer stepper motors because they consume less power than servo motors. They are a little more complicated to drive electronically. I designed the electronic circuit based on the Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller. The rig uses four AA NiMH batteries compared to eight batteries in my previous rig. With four batteries, the rig can run for more than 8 hours non-stop at 5.5 seconds between pictures.

    This new rig has two home position sensors, one for each motor. On power up, both motors are brought to their respective home position and then move to the programmed angles and start taking pictures. The KAP rig is programmed to take pictures by itself without a remote control. This is called AutoKAP. I usually program the rig to take 16 pictures per turn continuously. It changes the tilt angle every turn between two pre-programmed angles.

    The microcontroller can be programmed with various parameters through a RS-232 serial port on a computer as shown in the example below:
    (*) When the difference between the two pan angles is less than 360 degrees, the pan motor will rotate back and forth between the two programmed angles. If the difference is 360 degrees, the pan motor will turn continously one direction. The angles are always related to the home position.

    (**) After each pan cycle, the tilt angle changes between the two programmed angles.

    There are more settings that will be possible to programmed soon and the programming will be done by a wireless connection from a handheld device with a display. This way, the KAP rig can be reprogrammed on the fly if the wind has changed direction or the kite height has changed for examples.

    Weight with camera: 710g (25oz)
    Weight without camera: 457g (16oz)
    Photos:

    Videos:




    February 2005 - KAP Rig#2

    I built a second KAP rig using aluminium and the help of a friend (thanks to Jean Charles Hébert). I'm still using a Kodak CX7300 3,2megapixel digital camera.

    The orientation of the camera is controlled by an electronic circuit with a microcontroller programmed to turn the camera and take a picture every 22,5degrees (16 photos per rotation). After each complete turn, the tilt angle alternate between -30 degrees and -15 degrees from the horizontal. The sequence and movement length can be easily reprogrammed in the software.

    The KAP rig uses 8 AA NiMH batteries. The system can take more than 450 photos with the same battery charge and a memory card of 512megabytes.

    Weight with camera: 1,48kg (52oz)
    Weight without camera: 1,31kg (46oz)

    New Functionalities:



    June 2004 - KAP Rig#1

    I built my first KAP rig using wood. The material and the tools available at the time drove me to use wood for my first prototype. I'm using a Kodak CX7300 3,2megapixel digital camera.

    The orientation of the camera is controlled by an electronic circuit with a microcontroller programmed to turn the camera and take a picture every 22,5degrees (16 photos per rotation). The sequence and movement length can be easily reprogrammed in the software.

    The tilt angle is adjusted manually before launching the camera. To change the tilt angle, the KAP rig has to be brought down.

    The KAP rig uses 8 AA NiMH batteries. The system can take more than 750 photos with the same battery charge and a memory card of 512megabytes.

    Weight with camera: 2,36kg (83oz)
    Weight without camera: 2,19kg (77oz)






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