new ALCS compact crystal motor for Eclair NPR

[Aapo Lettinen]

finessing the vibration reduction mount design now. all the other inner mechanics are ready and the prototype is using the final electric motor type now. just fine tuning the design of that grey rubber-like polyurethane ring which reduces motor noise to get the shape optimal. This assembly can already turn the camera and now when I have the outer shape and dimensions of that grey shockmount ring it is possible to continue designing the outer covers of the motor and the final circuit boards which go underneath the shockmount assembly.

[Aapo Lettinen]

9 hours ago, Aapo Lettinen said:

finessing the vibration reduction mount design now. all the other inner mechanics are ready and the prototype is using the final electric motor type now. just fine tuning the design of that grey rubber-like polyurethane ring which reduces motor noise to get the shape optimal. This assembly can already turn the camera and now when I have the outer shape and dimensions of that grey shockmount ring it is possible to continue designing the outer covers of the motor and the final circuit boards which go underneath the shockmount assembly.

and of course I have a video too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxn50cdSLLU&list=PLXvIUtmF3OxsCOCdTi64M6i0LcuOxIrdj&index=3

[Aapo Lettinen]

reflow soldering the 6-pin IO modules for my Eclair NPR and CP16R motor systems. this batch will mainly go to CP16R kits but there will be one or two spared for NPR motors 🙂

 

[Aapo Lettinen]

Aluminium tripod thread plates for NPR motors! these plates have one 3/8" thread and three 1/4" threads for mounting the camera securely to tripod. the threads on both ends allow longer screw and the middle ones are a bit shallower. Tested the design with this small batch and now ordered 14 more of these because they worked fine. The rectangular holes are for saving weight, the plate is otherwise solid metal and very sturdy

[Aapo Lettinen]

The rest of the NPR motor drive holders arrived!

Working on the bldc commutation software at the moment making more tests. The motor runs at mid speeds already but 1fps needs more work. Overall the project is a little late because there was all the stupid Trump tariff madness, very bad Winter and Spring on other projects, pricing changes on parts etc. I had to collect almost 10 other projects to make up for the about 10k of extra funds needed to finish this project especially because there is substantial amount of partial payment plans on the NPR project which I had to make up for too.

So working on other projects to collect the rest of the money needed for the NPR caused the NPR to be late. unfortunate tradeoff of trying to make the motors affordable enough to buy when still using very expensive parts. the project was underbudgeted to begin with because the software and electronics development cost too much compared to the final price of the motors. The rest was supposed to be funded with the ACL2025 project but there was only one order of those so have been struggling the whole year with all kinds of other projects to get 1k from here and 2k from there... and if some of those other projects created losses then had to develop a third project which would cover those too and hopefully creates some funds needed for the NPR.

 

At the moment it looks like the 3-speed NPR motors will be finished around 15th to 20th August, all at once and shipping after 20th August.

The Advanced model will take some weeks after the 3-speed is finished. Hopefully would ship in very late August but can be delayed to early September. The remaining funds will arrive during August little at a time and I will thus have to assemble the Advanced motors in two or three separate batches. I also have to be absolutely sure that the software is finished version because it is very difficult to change afterwards, the construction of the motors is such that one needs to disassemble and desolder a lot of stuff to get to the circuit boards and some of the boards are easier to replace with new one than to get out intact enough and put back in after reprogramming. Disadvantage of making the motors small and sturdy, there can't be connectors between the boards because they take too much space and are potential failure points.

 

The Advanced user interface/display software is tested on the Aaton Footage Counter device at the moment, it is almost 95% same software and I am only making small changes to adapt it to the NPR. so user interface software will be reliable and I already have it. I just want the brushless motor commutation waveforms to be absolutely perfect before assembling the Advanced models as it is really painful to try to change those afterwards and can thus not ship any unfinished versions earlier because they might be too difficult to update to final version later.

 

I will first ship the motors which were fully paid for early on and then the rest.

[Aapo Lettinen]

I can confirm now that I will only make this one batch of NPR motors and no new batches of this 1st generation motor model will be made. The project has been so horrible to finance because of the amount of expensive cnc machining that it does not make sense to make another batch, will lose too much money trying to arrange the funding. Looks like there will be no extra ones available from the current batch either so not possible to get the NPR Advanced motor anymore but I can make some other style of NPR motor next year if there is still interest in getting newer motors for these cameras.

 

I have plans for a simpler NPR motor which uses less cnc machining, otherwise relatively similar style features than the current NPR Advanced motor but the mechanics and ergonomics will be simplified, possibly little less ergonomic but about the same form factor still. Price is about the same approx 1900usd but would hopefully get more revenue out of it to cover the losses of the 1st generation motors when reducing the cnc parts amount. A batch of between 6 and 10 motors could be made next year if there is enough interest. Preorder-only and all orders need to follow the same payment schedule.

 

Will wait for the NPR Advanced 1st gen motors to start shipping and we can then evaluate if making the 2nd gen motor batch sometime later.

[Aapo Lettinen]

NPR motor vibration reduction mounts! First time I got anything cnc machined out of rubber.

I have 10 of these and no possibility to get more made (too expensive and takes too long), the rest of the motors will get 3d-printed TPU vibration reduction rings which are almost as good.

Expecting the 3-speed motors shipping at about 28th September and should have my test piece of the Advanced model by then too. The rest of the motors will be made during October, there has been so much funding issues with the project that it was impossible to assemble all the motors at the same time as I need to use backup funding sources to get the rest of the parts for them and the backup money will arrive between 20th and 25th this month after which I can start ordering parts for the 2nd and 3rd batch of motors. the parts take from 2 to 3 weeks to arrive then.

Motors will be shipped in the order they were paid for. Some of the last motors may ship in early November by this new schedule. Been a living hell try to scrape together the missing about 5k of the budget but happy it finally worked out after all.

Will concentrate on the rest of the parts designing the whole next week and likely not updating much until they are all finished, need to get the outer covers modeling finished by Thursday to get the first 6 back by the end of this month.

[Aapo Lettinen]

Working on the operator side cover. Decided it will be machined out of aluminium to save time on durability estimations and have higher quality feeling and look and to make EMI protection a bit easier. Costs about the same to make out of aluminium than of plastic so chose aluminium because it is more predictable material than plastics. The right side cover will likely be plastic, possibly 3d printed because the shape may not allow cnc machining but will see in the following days.

work in progress. may or may not have a text or logo engraved, will decide later this week 

 

[Aapo Lettinen]

refining the design. someone wanted to mount labels on the side of the motor and a smaller ALCS logo looked nicer anyway so I moved the logo to the side of the display. the large flat surface on top of the display can be used to mount labels etc. (maybe attaching a piece of velcro there to make it easier and reduce wear to the surface coating). 

simple "S" marking for start button and "I" marking for inching button.

Will 3d print this test version to see if needing to change some details. Will start working on the right side cover today.

 

[Aapo Lettinen]

 

[Aapo Lettinen]

finished the right side cover design. 3d printing a test piece at the moment, if it is fine will send the first 6 to production today.

The left side (operator side) cover is aluminium on all the motors. The right side cover will likely be 3d printed plastic on 3-speed motors and aluminium on the Advanced motors but will need to get the first finished ones back from factory to see. It is also possible that some 3rd batch Advanced motors would have plastic right side cover even when most of the Advanced models would have aluminium covers.

on the right side cover opening there will be aluminium panel with connectors etc.

Btw.  I had to order a tiny bit more parts than originally intended so it IS possible to make one extra Advanced motor in the 3rd batch in November if anyone is interested. Need to know before October 10th 2025 and 30% paid then.  Price 2400usd including shipping or if EU sale then then 2400 euros including VAT. The extra motor might have tiny surface scratches as using the remaining parts for it but otherwise completely new. 

 

[Aapo Lettinen]

Got the final outer covers for first 6 motors!

these are cnc machined aluminium all the way, with black anodizing. I tested professional 3d printing but these were not durable enough when made out of plastic so decided to use metal all the way.

About half of the motors will be made with no 3d printed parts at all. On the rest there is only one 3d printed part, the vibration reduction mount of the electric motor drive inside the system. 

Using metal for all the outer parts made the motor a tiny bit heavier but it is totally worth it because the durability is tons better than with any kind of plastic casing. 

(notice the fabulous PINK 4-speed motor casings on the background!)

[Aapo Lettinen]

Also showing why I don't use 3d printed plastic for the outer covers 😄 

[Aapo Lettinen]

got the rest of the funding so late though that the second assembly batch may take up to mid November to assemble and the 3rd batch may go even to early December. That is half a year delay compared to the original schedule. Most of it is caused by me not getting the money in time to order the parts early on. these are the brushless electric motor drives for the NPR motor system and cannot be replaced by any other type of part so now just have to wait. and wait 😕  the manufacturer changed this from in-stock item to special order item while I waited for the funding so would had not happened if I had had the possibility to order them in June or July, even August would had still been fine.

I will now concentrate on getting the first 6 motors finished and will worry about the rest of the motors then. 

 

[Aapo Lettinen]

Final axle adapters for Eclair NPR motors!

[Aapo Lettinen]

Testing single frame feature with the prototype. The single frame working reliably is essential for shutter parking feature. 

Working still on mid and high speeds. Estimating it would take about 2 or 3 weeks before the 3-speed models starting assembling.

We have working single frame and shutter parking and the display software also works. Just need some time with the motor controller to get the mid and high speeds working reliably. 

 

[Aapo Lettinen]

Ordering deadline for the rest of the orders this Spring is 15th March. So orders for products which will be delivered between April and June.

On 16th I will finally start building the large NPR motor batch, assembling A-minima magazines and other stuff so will likely stop reading messages for about 2 weeks to concentrate fully on assembling work, between 16th March and 1st April.

In early April I will continue normally, taking further orders for Summer2026 batches and the 2nd batch of A-minima magazines and some NPR and Bolex motor models.

Price increaces on most products will apply from 16th March onwards. Typically something like 20% increase is expected on most products. Looks like I will still keep USD pricing in April but will calculate new higher prices to counter inflation and the Trump wars which affect parts prices.