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MRMC Handwheels for Bolt Pan/Tilt Cartesian Mimic

Summary

MRMC manufactures dedicated Mimic hardware — handwheels, pan bars, and focus controllers — that connect to Flair and allow a camera operator to physically control pan, tilt, and focus during a programmed move. The standard use case is pan/tilt mimic on a Bolt where a director of photography or camera operator rides the pan and tilt axes as the robot runs a programmed dolly move. The handwheels operate in Cartesian mimic mode. A note from the community: the handwheels do not observe Carts limits, and this feature is primarily confirmed on Flair Classic.

Community Guidance

[RESOLVED] MRMC Handwheels — Setup and Use

Community — Peter Constan-Tatos, Nitin — June/July 2022

Peter Constan-Tatos: "Hi Nitin. We normally use handwheels for pan/tilt or mimic focus. What rig?"

Gordon Eschke: "Please check these videos by Fabrizio at the MRMC forum for the full setup process."

The MRMC Mimic hardware (handwheels, pan bars) connects to the Flair PC and enables live physical control over selected axes while the rest of the move runs programmed. This is often used for:

  • Pan/tilt — operator rides pan and tilt while Bolt follows a programmed track/dolly path.
  • Focus — operator controls focus motor while arm move runs automatically.

Key considerations:

  • The pan bars scale ratio can be tuned in the Mimic menu — reduce sensitivity to start, increase if the operator wants more responsiveness.
  • Add extra hold keyframes at the beginning (25–50 frames) and end (100+ frames) of the move, as a hand controller still moving when the move ends can corrupt the file.
  • Use top mount camera orientation if possible, to avoid the camera hitting the rig during wild pans.
  • The handwheels do not observe Cartesian limits in this mode.

confidence_score: 0.85

[INFORMATIONAL] Cartesian Mimic Pan/Tilt with Pan Bars in Flair 7

Community — Dig, Gordon Eschke — September 2024

Dig: "Yes, but it's tricky and it doesn't obey any carts limits. Also only used it on Flair Classic."

Gordon Eschke posted a link to the Flair 7 forum topic on this specifically: Cartesian Mimic Pan/Tilt in Flair 7 with Pan Bars

For Flair 7 users, this forum thread documents the current state of support and any differences from Classic behaviour.

confidence_score: 0.83

[INFORMATIONAL] Hardware Options

Community — Dan Gottesman — December 2021

Dan Gottesman: "MRMC also makes dedicated Mimic hardware controls, like hand wheels, pan bars, and focus controllers. They can all be used in this same way."

MRMC Mimic hardware includes: - Handwheels — rotary wheel controls for pan and tilt. - Pan bars — ergonomic pan bar handle set for camera operators familiar with fluid head operation. - Focus controller — rotary focus knob connected to Flair to control focus motor axis.

Contact MRMC (support@mrmoco.com) for availability and pricing.

confidence_score: 0.83

Carts Mimic With Handwheels / Pan Bars — Full Field Sequence

The following step-by-step procedure is from Dig's field guide ("HOW TO USE CARTS MIMIC (ON BOLTS).docx", posted April 2025). It covers the exact menu sequence for setting up Carts Mimic using pan bars or handwheels on a Bolt.

Prerequisites

  • MRMC pan bars or handwheels connected to the Mimic hardware port on the Flair PC.
  • A programmed Bolt move ready to run.
  • Flair Classic (confirmed). Flair 7 support — see forum link in Official Documentation.

Setup Steps

  1. Cart Control Limits → Off In Flair, go to Carts → Cart Control Limits and turn them Off. Carts Mimic does not observe Carts limits while driving axes — limits only apply in standard velocity mode.

  2. Carts Setup → Pan / Tilt → Mimic port Go to Carts → Carts Setup. Assign Pan and Tilt to the Mimic port inputs. Note the Encoder Pos value and any scaling number — adjust scaling to control sensitivity (lower = less responsive, higher = more responsive).

  3. Mimic → Carts Mimic → Pan Add / Tilt Add In the Mimic window, select Carts Mimic, then add Pan and Tilt as Carts Mimic axes.

  4. Mimic Learn Run Mimic Learn with the pan bars / handwheels centred (neutral position). This sets the zero reference.

  5. Robot Fast + Fwd Run Set the move to Robot Fast and run it forward. The handwheels/pan bars now control pan and tilt live while the programmed move runs.

Confirmation

  • In the Mimic window, the "Overwrite Mimic" box with a gap in the middle indicates that Carts Mimic is selected (as opposed to direct axis mimic).

Warnings

  • Controller moving at start or end can cause weird pre/post rolls. Hold the pan bars steady before the robot move begins and after it ends — do not drift the controller during the pre-roll or post-roll.
  • Carts Mimic does not watch axis limits when driving axes (only when driving carts). Be aware of physical axis limits, especially on large pan moves.
  • Add extra hold keyframes at the beginning (25–50 frames) and end (100+ frames) of the programmed move to give the operator time to stabilise the controller before and after the active portion.

"Cart Control Limits → Off. Carts Mimic does not watch axis limits when you're driving axes, only when you're driving carts." — Dig (field guide, 2025-04-11)

"Overwrite Mimic box with a gap in the middle — that tells you Carts Mimic is selected." — Dig (field guide, 2025-04-11)

Official Documentation