Camera project - is this too complicated for a starter project?

Thread Starter

FOgiamien

Joined Dec 9, 2021
2
I use a litter picking tool that has a phone and bluetooth clicker to snap a pic of each piece of litter that gets picked up. Is there something like a raspberry pi with a camera sensor (and BT and micro USB storage) that I could assemble to do the same thing? Ideally I'd like something smaller and lighter than a phone and less expensive.
I'm new to this so any suggestions on where to start would be appreciated. Is it too complicated for a starter project? Or too expensive, say more than $50USD?
Thanks!

LitterPickerSmall.JPG
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
Welcome to AAC.

There are several low cost options but the issue will be resolution. Cheaper cameras mean poorer photos. One option might be to mount the camera closer to the claw.

One example is the ~$15.00 ESP32-CAM:

1639076241332.png
Another is the somewhat more expensive Arducam for the Raspberry Pi Zero (you will also need an RPi Zero):

1639076555596.png

To really get some help you need to provide a real specification, including some drawings and a narrative about how it will operate and why as well so we can understand things like camera resolution and the like.

Good luck.
 

ericgibbs

Joined Jan 29, 2010
18,766
hi FO,
There are freeware ESP32 CAM programs that can stitch single camera shots into a time-lapse video.

Also, different angle width lenses.

E
 

Thread Starter

FOgiamien

Joined Dec 9, 2021
2
Welcome to AAC.

There are several low cost options but the issue will be resolution. Cheaper cameras mean poorer photos. One option might be to mount the camera closer to the claw.

One example is the ~$15.00 ESP32-CAM:

View attachment 254671
Another is the somewhat more expensive Arducam for the Raspberry Pi Zero (you will also need an RPi Zero):

View attachment 254672

To really get some help you need to provide a real specification, including some drawings and a narrative about how it will operate and why as well so we can understand things like camera resolution and the like.

Good luck.
Thank you, I am going to research this arducam you mention. As for a narrative or background on this project, as litter is picked up a photo for each item is taken. At the end of the day all the photos are uploaded to a global litter database where the objects can be identified and analyzed for trends. I was looking for an alternative that is lighter and less expensive than a phone. My camera resolution is currently 12mp but slightly lower is fine.
Thanks again.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
Thank you, I am going to research this arducam you mention. As for a narrative or background on this project, as litter is picked up a photo for each item is taken. At the end of the day all the photos are uploaded to a global litter database where the objects can be identified and analyzed for trends. I was looking for an alternative that is lighter and less expensive than a phone. My camera resolution is currently 12mp but slightly lower is fine.
Thanks again.
Either of the options I mentioned have WiFi connectivity and could be made to upload automatically. The RPi solution would allow you to program in an Linux environment at a relatively higher cost, the ESP32-CAM is very low cost but is most easily programmed in the Arudino IDE environment. However, there is a lot of readily available code for it, so it isn't too hard to work out.
 
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