Designfax weekly eMagazine

Subscribe Today!

Archives

View Archives

Partners

Manufacturing Center
Product Spotlight

Modern Applications News
Metalworking Ideas For
Today's Job Shops

Tooling and Production
Strategies for large
metalworking plants

Self-filmer SOLOSHOT is latest Proto Labs Cool Idea! winner

Sports enthusiasts around the globe have long been accustomed to enlisting friends, family, and even strangers to serve as amateur videographers. But even if you're able to convince someone to invest the time and energy to help out, usable footage is never a guarantee. Now athletes ranging from professional surfers to little league soccer players can capture high-quality video of themselves on their own, from a distance, thanks to SOLOSHOT, the most recent recipient of the Proto Labs Cool Idea! Award.

SOLOSHOT joins a growing list of cutting-edge products that have received the Cool Idea! Award. Now in its second year, Cool Idea! is an award program offered by Proto Labs that gives product designers the opportunity to bring innovative products to life by granting them a hefty helping of free prototyping and production services. In 2012, Proto Labs expanded the program's reach to include the European Union, and is now offering up to $250,000 of prototyping and short-run production services total for the year. All you have to do is apply.

SOLOSHOT is a two-piece cooperative object tracking system that combines with virtually any camera to track and film a moving subject from up to 2,000 ft away. Simply mount a camera on the motorized base and slip the remote armband on. Once you've completed the easy pairing process, the SOLOSHOT remote and base units remain in radio communication, allowing the SOLOSHOT base to automatically rotate to keep your camera pointed at you.

"SOLOSHOT began as a surfer's dream," says Soloshot, Inc. founder and CEO, Chris Boyle. "Being able to set your camera up on the beach and head out into the break knowing that every wave and wipeout will be smoothly tracked and filmed is a great feeling."

Both the SOLOSHOT remote and base feature rechargeable batteries that last more than 5 hr on a single charge, and the waterproof remote is designed to handle demanding ocean environments. Boyle and co-founder Scott Taylor, both engineers, addressed security by designing an access point to lock the camera to the base. The included, professional-grade tripod can be locked to nearby fixed objects such as a tree or lifeguard stand. Additionally, the base features a bright feedback LED that lets you know the camera is pointing at you while you're on the water or racing around the track.

"SOLOSHOT is a product with a ton of potential," says Proto Labs founder and CTO Larry Lukis. "You can see its appeal to individual athletes, but I can imagine coaches using it as a training tool, parents putting it to work at their child's soccer games, and even documentary filmmakers getting creative with the technology."

Like many Cool Idea! Award winners, the SOLOSHOT team first encountered Proto Labs when searching for a manufacturer that could provide reasonably priced parts in a hurry. "When you're in the lab and excited about your progress, you don't want to wait months for an injection molded part to show up," says Alex Sammons, CTO of SOLOHSOT. "I don't know of another company in the world that you can call and say, 'I need injection molded or CNC-machined parts tomorrow.' Their responsive customer service staff and shipping times are unmatched."

For more information, visit www.protolabs.com/coolidea.

About Proto Labs
Proto Labs (PRLB) is a leading online and technology-enabled quick-turn manufacturer of low-volume CNC-machined and injection molded custom parts for prototyping and short-run production. The company provides "Real Parts, Really Fast" to product developers worldwide and has two quick-turn services in North America, Europe and Japan: Firstcut (www.firstcut.com) CNC machining and Protomold (www.protomold.com) injection molding. Both are capable of providing parts in as fast as one business day. Product developers who use Proto Labs for prototypes and short-run production can upload a 3D CAD file at any one of Proto Labs online sites, get an interactive quotation and place an order for Proto Labs services directly online.

Published August 2012

Rate this article