If I read the project correctly, all the esp32 is doing is sending a signal to the camera to move left and right plus blinking the led. If that's the case then

If I read the project correctly, all the esp32 is doing is sending a signal to the camera to move left and right plus blinking the led. If that's the case then all you need is a circuit sending "left" and "right" signals[1] on alternate, semi-random intervals. I'm positive you could already do that with the technology available in 1970. So rather than "waste" a fully-working computer I'd be interested in knowing what a 1970s circuit would look like in the 2020s. [1] If it's a stepper motor then you need slightly more complex signals that just on and off, but the point is still the same.