The Devil lurks …

… in the details, as you will have learnt after implementing a few machine vision systems. One of the areas in which I’ve fallen down is the supposedly simple matter of mounting cameras. It’s wonderful if you can engineer your hardware to be all orthogonal and put the camera on a rigid 90o bracket, but sometimes you need to be at an awkward angle. When that happens I know of only one system, the Bogen/Manfrotto “Magic Arm”.

Now the Magic Arm is OK, but to be honest, I’ve had problems with them working loose. In fairness, they’re intended more as a temporary mount rather than anything permanent. But one of the joys of our free market society is that problems create opportunities for entrepreneurs, and in this case a little company out in Indiana has come out with a solution.

With what’s billed as “Vision and Sensor Support Systems,” Automated Drive & Design LLC have launched what appears to be a very simply way to get a camera, or light, fixed securely in whatever position you need. Pricing is reasonable too. Visit their web site- http://www.adandd.com - for a neat little movie that shows what it does.