US Patent 7955006 Ball turret camera assembly

A lightweight camera mount allowing tilt and pan of a camera turret through a significant portion of a spherical range is disclosed. The camera turret comprised of two hemispheres has a full 360 degree freedom of pan rotation and up to 140 degree of tilt rotation. The mount includes a tilt assembly embedded within the turret and a pan assembly external to the turret. The tilt assembly in communication with a tilt feedback device provides a tilt movement to the turret. The pan portion in communication with a pan feedback device provides a pan movement to the turret. The mount is configured to be mounted on a land based vehicle, a water based vehicle, or an aerial vehicle.