Professional paper
3-axis camera gimbal controlled by Arduino microcontroller
Matija Mavrinac
; Veleučilište u Rijeci
Vesna Krajčí
; Veleučilište u Rijeci
Ivan Grakalić
; Veleučilište u Rijeci
Abstract
The paper presents a project of building and application of a 3-axis camera
gimbal that uses an Arduino microcontroller to control stepper motors in order to perform
predefined movements. The created gimbal allows the camera to rotate around two axes
and move along the third, i.e. pan, tilt and slide. The gimbal consists of 20 pieces of 3D6
Zbornik Međimurskog veleučilišta u Čakovcu, godina 16, broj 1, 2025.
printed plastic parts, an Arduino Nano microcontroller board, an Arduino CNC shield V4
expansion board, three Nema17 17HS6002-N27B stepper motors, three TMC2208 stepper
motor driver chips, three A3144 Hall effect sensors, a HC-06 Bluetooth wireless module,
a LM2596S DC-DC step-down converter, and can be expanded with an ESP8266 Wi-Fi
module. All listed gimbal parts are described in detail in the paper. In addition, the gimbal
system requires six neodymium magnets, a 80 cm long aluminium profile V-slot 2040, a
2GT timing belt and a 36-tooth gear. The process of system assembling, programming and
controlling is described. The system is controlled by computer, wired or wirelessly, by
Arduino interface or applications. The gimbal has been tested and has shown high
accuracy in camera movement. The presented camera gimbal is significantly cheaper than
similar professional solutions. The system can be further improved to enable wireless
control by smartphone.
Keywords
gimbal, camera rotations, Arduino microcontroller, stepper motor
Hrčak ID:
333818
URI
Publication date:
18.7.2025.
Visits: 489 *