"Z-Rider" Articulated Z-Axis Camera Arm for the Ender 3 (Thanks Codemonkey1973!)

thingiverse

Based on a design shared online by Codemonkey1973. I appreciate his design because it tracks the Z-axis as a print advances, but his arm is too short for the field of view of some cameras I use, and the camera angle adjustment in his design is very restrictive. My design isn't a remix, exactly; instead, it was created specifically for my C-Mount Lens Camera Case after I adapted Codemonkey1973's mounting scheme minus the flange on the Z-axis mounting end. This design was completely reworked in Autodesk Inventor to have more than double the length when the extension arm is fully extended. I also added a set of universal pivots that can be duplicated and combined to create movement in any direction possible. These are assembled using M3 x 8mm and M3 x 16mm socket head screws, and I suggest acetone hardening of ABS prints if you have doubts about the strength of your layers. Mine turned out fine without it, but I do use it to bond one pivot to the back of a camera case. The screw hole in the extension arm is extra deep, so enjoy digging out support material if you use it, but I've made several of these and can say that it's possible with some effort. Otherwise, just pull out what you can and let the screw compress the rest back into the hole. Because I eliminated the flange on Codemonkey1973's design, I was concerned about vibration causing blurred images during more violent printing activities like high-energy gyroid infills or wall-stitching, but this hasn't been a problem. Since my time-lapse snapshots occur at Z-layer changes, the arm settles down enough to capture sharp images.