DIY High Speed Video Camera - Muybridge Style - Smarter Every Day 5

In 1872, the governor of California commissioned photographer Eadweard Muybridge to answer whether all four of a horse's hooves leave the ground while running, challenging artistic depictions of the era.

Muybridge used a series of strings strung across a path, with each string connected to a camera. As the horse ran through the strings, the horse's arrival would trigger the camera, creating a time-of-arrival switch system.

This approach combined simpler technologies in a clever way to answer a complex question about motion.

Muybridge's sequential photography technique became a foundation for modern high-speed analysis and motion studies.

A pulse generator provided by Quantum Composers, a company in Montana, serves as the core technology.

• Programmable to 25 picosecond resolution • Triggered acoustically via a piezoelectric transducer • Can flash with precise timing after sound detection

The piezoelectric transducer detects acoustic triggers and signals the pulse generator to flash, enabling synchronized high-speed imaging.

This setup recreates Muybridge's sequential photography method, creating a series of high-speed images that can be compiled into video, just like the original work.

All experiments were conducted by educated, experienced personnel in a controlled environment, with emphasis on responsible handling of weapons.

Initial video footage captured the shots as they occurred, showing the raw results of the trigger-based photography method.

Footage was corrected for ballistic variance and reordered by distance to create a coherent sequence showing the bullet's progression.

The processed video demonstrates multiple sequential images of the bullet in flight, similar to Muybridge's horse photographs.

This DIY approach creates a high-speed camera at a fraction of the cost of commercial high-speed cameras.

The resulting images have 7 times the resolution of 1080p, exceeding many commercial high-speed camera options.

• Combines simpler, accessible technologies to achieve results that would normally require expensive specialized equipment • Works particularly well for repetitive events • Demonstrates resourceful engineering thinking

The creator plans future improvements to the system and encourages technical audiences to explore similar approaches.

• Art - creating visual sequences and motion analysis • Science - studying motion and physics • Math - calculating timing and resolution • History - understanding Muybridge's original work

The experiment combined practical gun handling, camera operation, and time-synchronization techniques in a real-world application.

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A bonus segment features a chicken demonstrating biological feedback control systems in its head stabilization during body movement.