[TriEmbed] Camera Advice

Scott Hall scottghall1 at gmail.com
Thu May 1 13:19:44 CDT 2014


Two points:

1) You don't have to drill a hole to couple power through the window, using an
inductive power coupler (essentially a specially made transformer you wind
yourself).  I read an article a couple of months back in Elektor Magazine on how
to do it (though the author was making his own spinning object that he needed to
couple power to).  There were pointers to how to calculate the size of core,
wire size, number of turns, and the dielectric attributes of several materials.

    I also have done work for companies in the "smart energy" realm, and have
some circuits on how to parasitically capture up to 150mA of waste energy from
power lines (legally), again through inductive means and using a buck circuit.

2) You might consider proofing your project using a Pi, but use a different BOM
(board on module) for the same chip and specs that will run the same embedded OS
distro, but give you a hibernate and sleep modes that will save various levels
of power and solve the Pi's power consumption problems and some other design
idiosyncrasies.  You can still do it all for under $100.

On 04/30/2014 06:29 PM, Ted Pudlik wrote:
> Thank you all for your suggestions!  A lot of options to look into.
>
> I should clarify that although the camera is currently indoors, I would
> eventually like to move it outside the window, as Paul suggested.  This would
> both give me a better perspective on the feeder and remove the pane from
> between the camera and its subject.  But it is also why power consumption is a
> concern: short of drilling a hole in the wall or window, I can't get a cord
> out there.
>
> Rodney, what solar panel do you use?  My impression was that even a 45 W panel
> will not be enough
> <http://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=31859> most of the
> year.  (If I could keep the Pi, the RPi camera is a natural choice; the sensor
> seems to be of high quality, and I could always try to custom-mount a better
> lens one way
> <http://www.instructables.com/id/The-SnapPiCam-A-Raspberry-Pi-Camera/> or
> another
> <http://www.ebay.com/itm/Raspberry-Pi-Camera-Board-w-CS-mount-Lens-fully-compatible-with-official-module-/281212355128>.)
>
> Best wishes,
> Ted
>

-- 
Scott G. Hall
Raleigh, NC, USA
ScottGHall1 at GMail.Com

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