At TI, we celebrate the makers and hobbyists who enjoy creating and innovating on their own time. In our ongoing DIY with TI series, we share their incredible Do It Yourself inventions using TI technology.
Thorsten Lorenzen is making magic with his DIY know-how.
And he is doing it in his spare time in a workshop attached to his house in Munich, Germany.
The wheels started turning last year when his longtime friend and professional photographer, Maik, asked Thorsten if he could build a contraption that could help him enter the time-lapse photography market. Thorsten agreed to build a time-lapse photography system for fun.
“I have always loved building small embedded systems. It was exciting to build this system from ground up, including the specifications, concept layout, mechanics, PCB design, soldering, programming and testing,” he said. “Working on fascinating systems such as this one enhances my life.”
Wheels in motion
Thorsten started the project by constructing a mechanical slider. He incorporated our DRV8412-C2 motor driver, mounted a camera on the slider and programmed it to run several moving sequences. The motor driver allows the camera to stop in precise positions as it moves along the slider.
He also incorporated a C2000 processor and built a controller that triggers the camera to take photos at certain positions along the way.
“There is no way for time lapse to record without a mechanical system,” he said. “It’s much more constant than someone taking the photos, and it is fully automated.” 
Thorsten said his photographer friend was amazed at what could be done using modern technologies compared with low-cost systems found on the market.
“In particular, he loves the programmability of the system, which allows many different scenarios to be set. He sees the opportunities the system enables for entering new markets,” Thorsten said. “In today’s markets, photos and video clips for commercial reasons such as product placements need to be more exiting to make them attractive for customers and consumers. More motion creates more emotions."
About Thorsten
Thorsten has worked at TI for five years and is a senior field application engineer (FAE) for the Automotive Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) business in Europe. He works with vision-based DSP systems and consults with customers. Because he routinely travels for his job, he has very limited time for DIYing in his workshop at home.
“This turned out to be a great opportunity to feel like a customer to TI. I haven’t worked with motor control at TI at all,” he said. “I got to experience how customers feel starting a brand-new project with TI products. The experience was great.”
