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Building a scooter-like dolly


Patrick Cooper

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I'm planning to do a DIY project sometime soon. What I want to build is something with wheels that would allow me to attach a camera to it for tracking shots. This thing will be kind of like a variation of a scooter but more simplified in some ways. It won't turn - it will travel in a straight line only. It will still have a vertical pole to hold on to and I will also mount a camera to this pole with a clamp.

I'm going to use some of the ideas in this video to make it. Particularly the attachment of the wheels with a bolt and nuts and washes. Mine will have four wheels (two pairs) and a rather short base (just enough for the placement of one foot.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqFUSe_wLWo

Though I would want wheels with rubber tires specifically as these would likely absorb vibrations from travelling over rough ground. Would anyone have any idea where I could source wheels that are kind of similar to the ones shown in the video but also have rubber tires? And ideally, the inner holes would have to be the right size diameter for bolts to run through them.

Also, I would like to use a metal pole rather than wood. I don't suppose anyone could suggest a way that I could attach a metal pole to a wooden base in such a way that the bond is strong and secure? I would probably use a light weight metal like aluminium.

Edited by Patrick Cooper
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For that you want pneumatic wheels, and be careful about the cheap ones described as "pneumatic" which emphatically aren't.

I find a YouTube search for "pneumatic wheel 150mm" turns up the sort of wheels used on scooters. Another option is the front wheels for wheelchairs, since the grey tyres are intended to avoid marking polished floors. They're available as spart parts.

Often they have central bearings designed to accomodate 8mm shafts so it's easy enough to try different things.

Various clamps and brackets are available for various types of tube. The commonest is around 50mm (two inch, give or take), which is more or less scaffolding tube, which is very common worldwide. Huge amounts of accessories are available. It might be a bit big and heavy, though. Aluminium is more expensive (though not ruinously if you just need a short length). You can also get a fair number of accessories for 32mm (inch and a quarter) or 38mm (inch and a half) tube. The way to do this is figure out what brackets you need, and buy tube to suit.

If you're going to ride this thing holding a gimbal, great. If you actually want to mount a camera directly to it, be prepared for a lot of vibration with the sort of system you've outlined on most surfaces. If you want something you can drive along and get decent results, look at something like Motion Impossible's Agito, which has more in common with a very large, beefed-up RC car than a scooter. I haven't looked at it in detail, but similar things are discussed here.

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Phil, thank you for those details. I'll have a search for pneumatic wheels. And a good suggestion about using the front wheels of wheelchairs. I notice that most of the wheels that I see on modern scooters are really tiny. I reckon that larger wheels would probably give a smoother ride when the surface is slightly rough or uneven. Ah yes - brackets - a good solution for attaching the tube. I was hoping for a metal tube that is light weight and relatively inexpensive. Perhaps I could get a second hand aluminium tube that was originally designed for a different application. 

And yes, the plan is to mount the camera directly to the tube. I was hoping that the rubber tires would help to reduce the vibrations. I wouldn't be riding on surfaces that are too rough or uneven. 

The ARRMA RC truck looks really cool. Though evidently, it would be mainly used for low angle shots. Whereas I would like to shoot some medium height shots as well

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I would be riding this thing on surfaces like concrete, bitumen, asphalt etc. Occasionally, one of these surfaces might be slightly rough but nothing too extreme. I'll also have some rubber sandwiched between the camera clamp and the tube. Every little bit helps of course. The cameras that I'll be using do have a bit of size and weight to them so buying suitable gimbals for them is going to be too expensive. Those cameras being the Panasonic G7 M4/3 mirrorless and a Canon 1014E super 8 camera. I would also likely be using wide angle shots most of the time to lessen the effects of vibration. 

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This poor man's ersatz skater is slightly larger than P+S Technik's genuine article. There are also three holes for spiked tripod feet. The wheels are replacement rollerblade wheels. You need to be careful mounting them or your skater will go around bends. This thing is only suitable for prepared surfaces like tabletops, indoor floors or timber basketball courts.

If you are a larger rideable skater which is free and not on rails, you will be best served by making a deck with eight wheels in two rows of four so that like a military vehicle, if one wheel goes over a hole, the remaining wheels will keep the deck relatively steady with none of the thump-thump of four wheel arrangements. 

POORMAN SKATER.jpg

POORMAN SKATER 2.jpg

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Robert, I could certainly see that plywood dolly being good on super smooth surfaces as you say. I'm betting that larger wheels with rubber tires would likely be better at handling less smooth surfaces. The 8 wheel design sounds like a beast!

Another attribute that I would like is a small, compact size but would still allow me to ride on it with my full body weight. My design is kind of like a scooter but some may be wondering why I don't simply buy a scooter that has large wheels with rubber tires. I actually did buy one of those kinds of scooters from a flea market years ago at a really low price. Though when I got on the bus with it to go home, the driver wouldn't allow me to have it onboard. Apparently, it was too large. So I was forced to walk home with it.  It had a flat tire if I recall so I couldn't ride it. Kind of ridiculous because it's not much bigger than the kind of scooters that kids ride on these days. 

So I'd like my proposed dolly to be much smaller in size to reduce the chance of those kinds of situations. The vertical tube would probably be similar in height to a regular scooter. But the base that you stand will be a much smaller footprint. Just big enough for one foot. And I'd push off with the other foot. And with four wheels instead of two, it will be easier and quicker to set up and compose shots before moving. It will certainly be more stable than a two wheeled scooter in a stationary position (before tracking.) Yea I could consider eight wheels but that would be pretty ambitious. I would scan the terrain beforehand to make sure there aren't any holes. 

 

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I suppose I could use a wooden pole as opposed to a metal tube. It's just that my Small Rig camera clamp has an incredibly strong grip. Too much pressure and it would cause damage to wood. I would need to be careful when tightening the clamp. 

Ive come across another youtube video of a home made wooden scooter. And the wooden handles of this one seem to be sturdy enough for the rider.

Edited by Patrick Cooper
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Actually, I wonder if I should have two tubes instead of one. The original idea was to have a single tube that I could attach the camera to via a clamp and also hold on to as well when I'm riding. Though thinking about this more, I guess there's a chance that when I'm in motion, I could grip the tube more tightly or maybe even lose a tiny bit of balance and compensate by putting more pressure on the tube. And those kind of things could pass on more vibrations on to the camera. I suppose I could have two tubes - one in front of the other. I admit that would look really strange on a scooter but I guess it would be functional (from a filmmaking perspective.) Unfortunately, it would make it more bulky. Or maybe have two tubes side by side. Hold on to one tube and mount the camera on to the other.

Edited by Patrick Cooper
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Actually, going to back to the original idea of using a metal pole extending from a timber base, I wonder if a bracket would be strong enough. I admit I am not an expert on these kind of things (building stuff like this.) It would have my body weight leaning against the pole at times so it would need to be extremely strong. Would a bracket like this be sufficient?

Ive got a feeling that it may not be enough. I'm happy to be corrected.

Perhaps I could have an elevated wooden block above the base and the pole attached to that block with the bracket.

Or alternatively an L shaped bracket across the timber base and up against the pole. Maybe two L shaped brackets - one on each side of the pole?

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Edit: Yea I admit using a right hand / L shaped bracket on a round tube is probably not the wisest thing to do. I could use a square shaped piece of metal or wood to attach these kind of brackets to. My camera clamp should probably be able to be used on a square shape as well as a tube.

Again, I'm not an expert on building things but Ive got a feeling that two L shaped brackets on either side of the 'mast' would probably be stronger than the alternative I proposed above. 

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