23.12.2014 - Questions and assembled camera module



Lots of traffic lately, looks like it got on Hackaday. :)

I guess i'll answer the questions asked here and there, since there is little progress at the moment - i'm still thinking on the enclosure and testing the firmware.



-Will the firmware be available?

Certainly, once i make sure it's reliable. Right now it tends to make an empty file every few thousand shots on average.

I'm using FatFS module for the card - https://elm-chan.org/fsw/ff/00index_e.html, and the rest is trivial.



-Geez, put a solar cell on it already.

Ignoring locations where the sun only shines for half a year at any usable power, there is a question of cost.

For a solar setup to be practical, it have to have enough battery capacity to survive a night and several rainy days.

That means you will have to pay for the panel, pay for the batteries and pay for charge circuit, ending up with a lot of complexity, several times the cost and little real gain.

So running on batteries is neater and more practical.

Of course, you're free to add one in your version - it might be practical in different climates and scenarios like faster frame rates.



-There`s already a measure of power usage called "Ampere hours" perhaps you can convert all the joules references to it?

Assuming 4 D cells in series, the consumption would be 0.2 mAh per frame.

AH is a specific unit that makes many assumptions, like how many batteries are there and their average voltage.

Joules on the other hand measure actual energy, so it's more practical and less confusing in this case.



-What is the music in the Moscow video?

"Ether" from Youtube audio library.





The camera module assembled with the batteries is below.

All that's left is to make a box for it, and get them into the field.



I'm planning on two for the moment - one will observe an apple orchard growing, and the other observing a park under construction.

Later next year i hope to have a couple more locations - perhaps a construction project on beach resort area.



The camera module, assembled with the batteries



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