Design of a stabilization method for cable suspended camera systems

Abstract

Scootah Hockey is a small sport with a yearly championship held in Simmons Hall at MIT. To help grow the sport, a cable suspended camera system called the SHKYCAM was designed to enable online streaming of matches. Due to unique features of the sport, the SHKYCAM encounters large disturbances during the normal course of play, resulting in shaky video footage and a poor streaming experience. In this thesis, a literature study of cable mounted camera systems was performed to understand current solutions used in camera stabilization during sporting events. Additionally, a controller was designed to be used with a flywheel to steady the system in response to a disturbance. In simulation, the controller reduced the settling time by four orders of magnitude, but was ultimately deemed infeasible to implement.