I wrote and entered my tutorial on how to make this project in the Raspberry Pi Contest 2016 on Instructables.com.
I won the first prize (top 4) out of 198 entries.
You can view my Instructable here: DIY Time Lapse Dolly
Time-Lapse Dolly in action
I have been making time-lapse videos for some time now. I wanted to create a time-lapse video in which the camera also moves while shooting the time-lapse. The camera should cover a distance of 5 feet over 1-2 hours. When you now join the shots and create the time-lapse video, you get an additional dimension of time-lapse + motion
I viewed the time lapse dollies available on the net and purchasing a time-lapse dolly is expensive so I thought of making one. Turned out I could make one in less than 2000 Rs (~ USD 30) and it does a fantastic job of taking moving time-lapse videos. All this with material which was lying around the house. The whole project works like a dream
This homemade slider is by far the simplest one on the internet. The secret to this simple mechanism lies in the ridiculously simple sliding mechanism. No wheels & rails or any or any other complex parts just two PVC pipes which fit snugly inside each other
Along with my dad, I designed the entire hardware and the electronic circuitry. I used an Arduino and made the circuit on a perfboard for controlling the motion of the dolly and camera shutter.
See a Time-Lapse that I took using this dolly