Fanotec Mecha c2 User manual

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.10

C2 USER’S GUIDE

March 3, 2021

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

Contents

WARNINGS...............................................................................6

Introduction.......................................................... 7

C2 – C1 Differences and Similarities ....................................8

Table of Equivalences: Numbers ‒ Buttons....................................9

About the User Interface .....................................................10

Set MECHA in AP, STA, or AP+STA Mode at - + ≡ on Display .....11

About the Firmware (FW) Update.......................................12

Before First Use...................................................13

Power on and Test ...........................................................................15

Check the Battery Level...................................................................16

Simple Rotations..............................................................................16

Parked, Level and Raised Positions ...............................................18

Quick Panoramas Using MECHA’s Buttons..................................19

Firmware Update Using a Hot-spot....................................19

Test Using MECHA’s Buttons.............................21

Set the Rotator Using MECHA’s Buttons ......................................21

Test without Camera – 1312 Parked Position....................22

Test without Camera – 1313 Level Position .......................22

Test without Camera – 1321 Raised Position.....................22

Panorama with Camera Mounted ......................................23

Panorama with Automatic Shooting Pattern Using only

the MECHA’s Buttons ...........................................................24

C2’s Menu Mode .................................................26

How to Access the UI..........................................28

iii

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

Access the User Interface (UI) with a Smartphone ..........28

Access the User Interface (UI) on Your Computer

Connected to a Wireless Network ......................................28

Test Using the UI.................................................30

Set the Rotator on Conguration Page.........................................30

UI Test ‒ 1312, 1313, 1321 Codes ...................................................31

User Interface (UI)..............................................33

UI Controls.............................................................................33

Conguration Page.............................................43

Default Mode....................................................................................43

STA Mode ..........................................................................................44

Fixed Settings ...................................................................................45

Rotator Settings ...............................................................................46

Buzzer PWM and Start Page...........................................................46

IR Settings and more.......................................................................47

Reverse Direction of Rotations.......................................................48

Camera Settings...............................................................................48

Arrow Buttons ..................................................................................49

Favorite Codes..................................................................................50

Battery Voltage.................................................................................50

More from Server, zLM, Firmware .................................................51

Technical Details ‒ IP Addresses, FW ............................................52

Backup and Restore Data ...............................................................52

Other Updating Methods...................................53

Firmware Update Using a Smartphone: Method 2 .........53

Working with Presets .........................................54

Programming a Preset Using Parameters.........................54

How to Create Your Own Presets Using the UI.................56

Default Presets.................................................................................56

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

Loading a Preset ..............................................................................57

Modifying a Preset...........................................................................60

Saving a Preset.................................................................................60

Preset Power Code .........................................................................61

MECHA’s Simple Scripting (MSS) ........................................62

Panorama of 3 Rows + Nadir + Zenith (MSS)................................62

Shooting Panorama Made Easy for Dual Axis..............................64

MSS Script Explained .......................................................................65

What Needs to be Changed, sometimes, in Real Situations ......67

Using Pause in MSS Script ..............................................................68

Let's Take a more Dense Approach with more Photos toward

Gigapixel Imagery............................................................................69

Rewind after each ROW ..................................................................70

Shooting in Horizontal Zigzag Pattern..........................................70

Download more Presets from Server.................................71

How to Set Both MECHA and Smartphone to

Have Internet Access..........................................72

MECHA’s Current Codes ....................................74

Current Codes List ................................................................74

Appendix

MECHA’s S (Shots) Language............................83

Panorama of 3 Rows + Nadir + Zenith ‒ EXAMPLE 1 (SL)............85

Panorama of 3 Rows + Nadir + Zenith ‒ EXAMPLE 2 (SL)............85

Panorama Using Loop in Script ‒ EXAMPLE 3 (SL) ......................88

Panorama with Extra Shoots and Pause ‒ EXAMPLE 4 (SL)........88

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

MECHA C2 User’s Guide

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How to use this User’s Guide

Welcome to the MECHA C2 User’s Guide!

C2 is our second generation of controllers, with OLED display, external bat-

tery, and support for two MECHA rotators.

Before you start reading page-by-page, go section-by-section, looking at ti-

tles, tables, highlighted paragraphs, images, etc. Although there is a lot of

information you have not read yet, this will clue you into what you are about

to read.

After that, go back to the beginning and read the Introduction and Before

First Use chapters. Please move on only after you become familiar with the

basic operations we present here, and leave aside the more complex chap-

ters and deepen the part that interests you more.

Even if you are an experienced user, please pay attention to the warnings.

If you find the firmware update and other operations difficult, you can

receive support and guidance at [email protected]

Let’s get started!

WARNINGS

WARNINGS to Dual Axis MECHA Users

●Test MECHA WITHOUT a camera mounted first!

●Please test for camera clearance before running any program.

●Test any preset supplied or adjusted WITHOUT a camera mounted FIRST,

especially when the clearance is not enough.

●CHECK for clearance with shutter cable attached!

●Use short cable with extreme caution.

●The power button, P, can always be used as an emergency stop, except

for the speed calibration procedure (123123<).

●If the movement is not as expected, or there is any danger for the

moving parts to hit something, please press

, the power button of

MECHA, to stop the movement immediately.

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

Introduction

You may already know, from the doc-

umentation available at this time,

that MECHA consists of a rotator (E1,

E2, or P1) and a controller (C1), and is

generally used to automate the

movement of various devices, such

as a panoramic head mounted on a

tripod, or a turn table holding an ob-

ject for filming or photography.

Two such paired MECHA units –

MECHA Dual Axis Combo (DAC) – can

be used for dual axis applications, for

example, in panoramic photography.

The controller is the part of MECHA where

the buttons are located and that allows you

to send various commands to the rotators,

or to update the firmware, for example,

when you do not want to use the User

Interface (UI) for these purposes.

The new controller – C2 – which we present

in this user guide, is specially designed for

dual axis applications.

It is similar to C1 and can control the same

rotators – E1, E2, and P1 – so now you can

choose from the two controllers the one that

best suits your needs and preferences.

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

C2 – C1 Differences and Similarities

●C2 can be connected to two rotators, so it can control two rotators

simultaneously.

○C1 can control only one rotator at a time.

For dual axis applications, you need either one C2 controller and two

rotators or two C1 controllers and two rotators.

●The C2 controller connects to the rotators with its built-in cable.

○The C1 controller connects wirelessly to another C1, thus two C1 can

be assembled in DAC and control two axes.

●The C2’s battery is external and you can quickly replace it when needed.

○C1 has a built-in battery which lasts for one day after a full charge and

can be charged from a power bank or outlet adapter even while it is

in use.

Both systems allow MECHA to operate non-stop.

●C2 has a 0.96 inch OLED display on which various data are

shown, including the codes that you enter using the controler buttons.

The Codes are special, predefined numerical combinations that you can

use to get information from MECHA or to ask MECHA to perform various

operations

○C1 has no display, but it has five LEDs with a similar function.

●C2 has nine buttons, C1 has six.

○-The minus button of C2 is the equivalent of 1button of C1. It

comes pre-programmed with 4 shots around. It can also be used to

enter the number 1, or to execute the favorite code 1 by long

pressing this button.

○+The plus button of C2 is the equivalent of 2button of C1. It

comes pre-programmed with 6 shots around. It can also be used to

enter the number 2, and to execute the favorite code 2 by long

pressing this button.

○=The menu button of C2 is the equivalent of 3button of C1. It

comes pre-programmed with 8 shots around. It can also be used to

enter the number 3, or to execute the favorite code 3 by long

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

pressing this button. In case the favorite code 3 (FavCode 3) is not set,

the menu with all codes will be shown instead.

NOTE. When we say the MECHA’s buttons, or the buttons, we are

actually referring to the controller buttons.

Table of Equivalences: Numbers ‒ Buttons

○<> On both C1 and C2, the left and right buttons are used to

rotate the system manually to the left and to the right, respectively,

and also to specify the direction when launching a preset using the

controller buttons, as terminator for codes (similar to the Enter key).

○/\ The up and down buttons of C2 control the up and down

movement of the upper rotator, when two rotators are used.

→On Dual Axis Combo, the left and right buttons of the upper C1,

<>, act as up and down buttons and control the upper

rotator.

○SThe middle button of C2 has a camera trigger function and

confirms the execution of the code selected from the menu.

The codes can be entered using the buttons and can also be selected

from the C2’s menu.

→There is no C1 equivalent of the above button.

○POn both C1 and C2, the power button is used to power on/off

MECHA, to confirm or cancel some operations, and it is also the

equivalent of the number 0 (zero) when power codes are entered.

Power codes are codes that start with zero.

●Both C1 and C2 have support for IR or wired remote control.

numbers 1 2 3

C2 buttons - + =

C1 buttons 1 2 3

●Both C1 and C2 can be controlled using the User Interface and also using

their own buttons.

●C2 uses Wi-Fi for connection, as does C1, so both can be accessed

directly by phone or via a Wi-Fi network, or even via the Internet, with a

device connected to the Internet.

●On both C1 and C2, for complex tasks, or to assign complex tasks to a

single button, the User Interface can be used.

About the User Interface

To access the MECHA’s User Interface, a

device with an Internet browser needs to

be used. It can be a smartphone, or a

tablet, or even your own computer.

MECHA uses wireless connection, ab-

breviated Wi-Fi.

It can be set as AP (Access Point), or STA

(Station), or even both: AP+STA, as well as

no Wi-Fi, in which case the control is

possible only by buttons.

The desired mode can be set as default in

MECHA's configuration page, or by a short

press of a button when MECHA expects

this, and this is when - + ≡ is shown on

the display, during the starting sequence,

as in the image on the right.

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

Set MECHA in AP, STA, or AP+STA Mode at - + ≡ on

Display

When - + ≡ is shown on C2’s display:

pressing -will set MECHA in AP mode

pressing +will set MECHA in STA mode

pressing =will set MECHA in AP+STA mode

If you missed the setting time, power MECHA off and on again, and this

time make sure you act faster. Also, if the desired option is already

selected, then you don’t have to select it again.

When MECHA is in AP or AP+STA mode, it broadcasts a SSID with a specific

name – the default name contains the word "MECHA" in it – to which the

smartphone can be connected using a password, which is 12345678 by

default.

Once the smartphone is connected to the MECHA’s SSID, the MECHA’s User

Interface can be accessed in browser at 192.168.8.1

When MECHA is in STA or AP+STA, it can also connect to the SSID of a

particular network, other than MECHA’s own SSID, and as a result the User

Interface of MECHA can also be accessed at the address given in that

particular network, like this: 192.168.1.100

As a note, the particular network can be managed by the smartphone itself,

if on smartphone a hot-spot is enabled and MECHA can connect to it.

About the Firmware (FW) Update

To benefit from all the features implemented in MECHA, we recommend that

you update the firmware to the latest version available. There are a couple

of ways to update the firmware, and the easiest is via the Internet. To check

and perform the update, on the UI there is the [Update] button.

If MECHA is not connected to a Wi-Fi with Internet access, it will ask for a

SSID name and password, as a guest asks if Wi-Fi is available in your home,

to be able to check something on the Internet, a Wi-Fi the guest will connect

the phone to. The same way, MECHA will use that Wi-Fi in order to download

the new firmware and perform the update.

MECHA is in the idle status after it is powered on, as long as it doesn't

execute any preset.

Apreset is a set of instructions and configuration settings, that can be saved

and used when needed, to perform specific operations much faster. For

example, some presets contain all the information that MECHA needs to

execute a whole panorama. You can create your own presets or download

presets from server.

If MECHA is off, pressing the power button, P, for 3 seconds, will turn it on

and, depending on the configuration, it may take about 35 seconds for the

start sequence to complete, then MECHA reaches the idle status.

When MECHA is idle, you can use codes to perform specific tasks and tests

without using the User Interface. This is useful if you don't know how to use

the User Interface yet or don't want to use it. For example, 121< is a code

that tells MECHA to show its id.

We will give you more details about codes in this user guide. For now, you

should just know that there is also this possibility to communicate with

MECHA, in addition to the web interface.

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

Before First Use

Note the numbers 1 and 2 printed on

the back of the controller, and then

connect the controller to the rotators

as follows:

●the end of the cable 1 to the

lower rotator

●the end of the cable 2 to the

upper rotator

⑤ ⑥ ①

1. Controller to lower

rotator built-in cable

2. Controller to upper

rotator built-in cable

3. Aux Port

4. Camera Trigger Port

5. DC Power Input port

6. USB Port

④ ③ ②

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

The lower rotator is the rotator mounted under the lower rail of the device,

and the upper rotator is the vertical rotator, mounted on the upper rail.

Although the controller can be mounted in several ways, we recommend

that you mount it on the upper rotator, using its attachment strap, as shown

in the image below.

Upper

Rotator

Controller to Upper

Rotator built-in

cable

C2 Controller

Upper Rail

Controller to Lower

Rotator built-in

cable

Attachment strap

External

Battery

Lower

Rotator

Nadir

Adapter

Lower Rail

Power on and Test

The long press of the power button is only necessary at power on/off. In all

other cases, use a normal press.

Notice that the dynamic ip address is also

shown on the display; you will need it to access

the User Interface on your computer.

Assuming that the controller and rotators are mounted as shown in the

image above, without the camera, let's perform two test rotations.

For a rotation of 90° to the left:

○Press <then quickly press +.

For a rotation in the opposite direction, to go back to the starting position:

○Press >then quickly press +.

Now you already know how to power MECHA on and off and perform two

simple rotations.

We recommend that you perform the above operations a few more times to

familiarize yourself with long and normal button presses, then move on to

the next section.

Power on MECHA by pressing the power button, P, for 3 to 5

seconds (long press). It may take about 35-45 seconds to start, then

the controller display will show 1 OK and 2 OK, which means that

both rotators are working properly and MECHA is ready to be used.

Power off MECHA by pressing the power button for 3 to 5 seconds.

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

Check the Battery Level

Power on MECHA as shown above.

After that, press the power button, P, and notice the battery voltage

shown in the lower right corner of the display. If necessary, replace the

battery. Always use a 9-19V battery, according to the technical

specifications.

If the display is not showing anything, the battery may be completely

discharged and needs to be replaced.

Simple Rotations

Power on MECHA as shown above.

For the lower rotator

●For 45° degree rotations:

○Press <then quickly press -.

○Press >then quickly press -, for the opposite direction.

●For 90° degree rotations:

○Press <then quickly press +.

○Press >then quickly press +, for the opposite direction.

●For 180° degree rotations:

○Press <then quickly press =.

○Press >then quickly press =, for the opposite direction.

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

For the upper rotator do the same, but use the up and down buttons

instead of the left and right buttons:

●For 45° degree rotations:

○Press \then quickly press -.

○Press /then quickly press -, for the opposite direction.

●For 90° degree rotations:

○Press \then quickly press +.

○Press /then quickly press +, for the opposite direction.

●For 180° degree rotations:

○Press \then quickly press =.

○Press /then quickly press =, for the opposite direction.

Note that the rotation angle for the above button combinations can be

set on the Configuration page.

For continuous rotation press and hold the arrow buttons, one at a time.

For example, for continuous left rotation, press and hold <.

If, for some reasons, you want to reverse the direction of horizontal and

vertical simple rotations, you can use the 2313< and 2323< codes. After

this change, for example, <will rotate the system to the right, and >, to

the left. Similar for the \and /buttons. Use the same codes to cancel

the change.

Note that the above code does not change the rotation of the motors.

There are special codes to do that.

MECHA C2 User’s Guide v.01.17

Parked, Level and Raised Positions

The simple rotations mentioned above are very helpful when the upper rail

needs to be in a certain position. The basic positions required for presets are

shown in the image below, and they are:

1. Parked — the most compact position, the upper rail is oriented vertically

down.

2. Level — the upper rail is in the horizontal position.

3. Raised — the opposite of parked, the upper rail is oriented vertically

upwards.

For example, if the current position is parked and the preset requires

raised, you can do this with one of the following:

●Press /then quickly press +, and do this twice (90°x2=180°).

●Press /then quickly press =.

●Press and hold /until the upper rail reaches the desired position.

Adjust

the position

using /\

buttons

to match

the preset

before starting

the preset.

The naming conventions

for starting and ending positions

for dual axis presets available via

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