Source: https://mokxi.com/teachers/plans/build-camera-slider Updated: 2026-11-11 Lesson plan # Build a camera slider lesson plan A motorized camera slider on a Nano in three short lessons: homing a stepper, an eased video move, and a timelapse that settles before every shot. 2 chapters, 3 lessons, about 1 hours, on the Arduino Nano. Every lesson runs in the browser, with nothing to install. Start a class from this course The unit ## Objectives and materials ### By the end, students can - Home to a switch, then glide the whole rail with an even ease. - Move, settle and shoot, frame by frame. ### Materials for the whole unit - Arduino Nano - Full-size breadboard - LED - Limit switch, lever microswitch - Potentiometer x 2 - Pushbutton - Resistor - Slide switch - Stepper driver, A4988 - Stepper motor, NEMA 17 Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too. Chapter 1. About 40 min ## Motion Home to a switch, then glide the whole rail with an even ease. Lesson | Time | What students do A stepper that knows where it is STEP and DIR into an A4988, steps per millimeter from the belt and pulley, and homing to an end switch so every move starts from a known place. | 20 min - Run it - Hit the end switch - Two wires to move a motor - Steps per millimeter The eased move A trapezoid of speed: accelerate evenly, cruise, slow evenly, worked out from time in whole numbers, and why the top speed has a limit. | 20 min - Home, then GO - Why ease - Position from time - The top speed ### Materials - Arduino Nano - Full-size breadboard - LED - Limit switch, lever microswitch - Potentiometer x 2 - Pushbutton - Resistor - Slide switch - Stepper driver, A4988 - Stepper motor, NEMA 17 ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "The eased move" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 4 of its 4 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "The top speed". Chapter 2. About 20 min ## Timelapse Move, settle and shoot, frame by frame. Lesson | Time | What students do Timelapse: move, settle, shoot Divide the rail into equal moves, let the rig stop shaking before every frame, and fire the shutter through an optocoupler on a real camera. | 20 min - Switch to timelapse - Settle before each shot - The shutter - Make it your rig ### Materials - Arduino Nano - Full-size breadboard - LED - Limit switch, lever microswitch - Potentiometer x 2 - Pushbutton - Resistor - Slide switch - Stepper driver, A4988 - Stepper motor, NEMA 17 ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Timelapse: move, settle, shoot" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 4 of its 4 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Make it your rig". Your class ## Teach this unit as a class Start a class from this course and its 3 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you. The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way. Start a class from this course See the demo class More units ## Other lesson plans Electronics basics 20 lessons, about 10 h. Embedded on the Arduino Uno 16 lessons, about 12 h. Embedded on the ESP32-C3 13 lessons, about 11 h. Embedded on the Raspberry Pi Pico 7 lessons, about 6 h. Build your own fight stick 5 lessons, about 4 h. Embedded on the STM32F411 6 lessons, about 6 h. C++ on a board 13 lessons, about 10 h. Digital logic and memory 4 lessons, about 4 h. Interactive devices on the Uno 9 lessons, about 8 h. From gates to a computer 23 lessons, about 16 h. Build a claw machine 8 lessons, about 6 h. Every unit All the courses as ready-made units, on the teachers page.