HyperRail: Modular, 3D printed, 1–100 m, programmable, and low-cost linear motion control system for imaging and sensor suites

Reliable, accurate, and affordable linear motion control systems for precision agriculture applications are currently not easily accessible due to their elevated cost. Most systems available to the public have price tags in the thousands of dollars and their dimensions cannot be easily customized. Current systems have a maximum length of about ten meters, and for a typical greenhouse application that length may not be sufficient. The price of the system increases with an increase in length, and with a base price in the thousands of dollars it becomes impractical to buy a system for such application. Our HyperRail is a modular linear motion system with a repeatability of 2 mm and current top speed of 200 mm/s. This is possible through a stepper motor driver that allows for 1/16th microstepping giving an average of 6180 steps per revolution. An advantage that this system has is its ability to increase or decrease the length of system with minimum effort and only nominal increase in price. The HyperRail can be mounted on a set of tripods or directly on the structure of a building such as a greenhouse. The base price for a three-meter system, on tripods is US$278 and only US$45 for each additional 1.5 m of length.