I wrote about this for the general topics forum, but I’m not sure where to even post my question/post.
Below is my original post. I’m wanting to know if there’s somewhere I can post a job either for the whole project or even to just mentor me through what I’m trying to achieve? Any advice would be incredibly helpful, as I’ve had some coding experience, but nothing along these lines. Thank you SO MUCH
Hi all!
I require your help regarding a project of mine. I don’t expect to have it done for me; While I’d entertain the idea, I’d also like to do this project “side by side” or with a mentor. I’ve been trying to get this solved for 3 or 4 years now, and it’s killing me. I DREAM about it.
Description:
I’m trying to figure out the best setup for building a robot to help me “scan” artwork using a DSLR. I’ve looked over tons of things, but for one reason or another, I just can’t find a solution. And no, a literal scanner won’t work, because the art can’t touch the glass. 
I need something that will allow me to adjust the overlap of images the camera takes, which would allow me to adjust how high a resolution the final stitched image would be. I’m pretty well at a loss. I need to check off:
Hardware
… I’m not sure, but I need it to be able to:
- have a 3-foot radius resulting in a 6 foot up/down/left/fright field
- mount the camera & plug into it for controlled operations
- maintain “Z” distance from the artwork being digitized
- be stable: in some images, I may be required to use a macro lens
Software
I’m again not sure , but I need:
- automatic picture taking with a pause for the camera to stabilize and complete its exposure
should be able to hold 5 lbs - Because each piece of artwork is a different size, I need to be able to input a top-left coordinate and a bottom-right coordinate for limiting the area to be photographed
*because size requirements change, I need to be able to adjust the % overlap of images both vertically and horizontally. The program would then need to be able to divide the space into an appropriate overlapping virtual grid, then have the arm/camera execute the operation
*I’m expecting to have to batch stitch the images together
Troubleshooting steps already taken:
I’ve considered everything I can think of, and I’ve built manual rigs of sliders on an X/Y axis … it’s too cumbersome and more importantly, lacks uniformity across multiple pictures and setups.
Thank you so much in advance for your help!
Blake