When filming your projects—or day-to-day life—static shots can be fun, but having a moving perspective often looks even better. The challenge is keeping the camera pointed at your subject, which maker Saral Tayal addresses with his automated slider.

This Arduino Uno-controlled slider is powered by a pair of brushed DC motors with encoders attached for feedback. One pulls the camera along a pair of rails on a set of linear bearings, while the other adjusts the camera’s horizontal angle using trigonometry to keep a particular object in-frame. 

Code and print files are available in Tayal’s write-up, and some beautiful resulting shots with an explanation of the project can be seen in the video below. 

Using a stepper motor, an Arduino Micro, and various mechanical bits, “Max Maker” shows us how to motorize a camera slider.

According to his video below, “There are many cheap sliders available, but none that are motorized.” On the other hand, in this project he demonstrates that with a little bit of work, and an excellent attention to detail, you can make the conversion yourself.

Even if you’re not interested in this kind of application, the video reveals some interesting tricks, such as transferring a hole pattern using tape at 0:30, and using nail polish/recessed lettering to label switches at 3:55. The slider can be set to slide down the rail between 10 seconds and 8 hours depending on your video or photography needs. Video results, seen around 5:00 in, are really amazing!

You can find more details on how to create a slider like this on the project’s Instructables page.