<div dir="ltr">Ted, a couple comments on your first post.<div><br></div><div>Have you tried using the RPi camera? I tried a couple of webcams and was unhappy with them on the RPi - either the resolution was not good enough, or the data stream was too high for the PI's USB bus. The RPi camera really works great and you should definitely give that a try.</div>
<div><br></div><div>As for the power being too much for a solar cell, I have an RPi now that is solar powered and it is working fine for me. You just need to have the solar cell first charge a batter and then run the RPi from the battery. This allows you to work through periods of no/low sun and changes the requirement to having a solar cell whose average power exceeds that of the RPi (plus the loss to battery and charger).</div>
<div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 5:22 AM, Tom Billman <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tbillman@gmail.com" target="_blank">tbillman@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Hi Ted,<div><br></div><div>Thanks for the post. What problem domain are you really attempting to solve ? The photo, cute bird by the way and thanks for naming it, indicates your feeder is well within reach of a power cord. A Pi plus a UPS solves your power issues, costs next to nothing, and takes no time to implement.</div>
<div><br></div><div>The imp looks pretty interesting, Thx for the link.</div><div><br></div><div>Now a remote setup does have all of the power issues you mention. That situation begs the question of "how remote" ? Too far for WiFi, etc...</div>
<div><br></div><div>IMHO, these are all great questions. There's nothing wrong spending time and money on these real-world puzzles. Much better than watching TV (again IMHO). Enjoy the journey!</div><div><br></div>
<div>
I am interested in low-power sensor networks. Also, I would consider reflowing some Electric Imp modules on a custom PCB board if people are interested. </div><div><br></div><div>Best regards,</div><div><br></div><div>Tom</div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><div class=""><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Apr 28, 2014 at 1:32 AM, Ted Pudlik <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tpudlik@gmail.com" target="_blank">tpudlik@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Hello,<div><br></div><div>I'm working on a system for my bird feeder that would detect birds, take photos of them and put these photos up online. I assembled a working prototype using a Raspberry Pi (with a WiFi dongle), a passive IR sensor and a Logitech webcam, but it suffers from two drawbacks:</div>
<div><ol><li>The power consumption of the Pi is too large to permit long-term operation on battery or solar power, restricting installation options.</li><li>The image quality leaves a lot to be desired. (Here's an <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/bdqquj6um0vluyg/Carolina_Chickadee.jpg" target="_blank">example picture</a>.)</li>
</ol><div>To solve issue 1 while keeping WiFi connectivity easy, I'm looking into replacing the Pi with an <a href="https://electricimp.com/" target="_blank">electric imp</a>. I'm not sure what to do about the camera, though. Adafruit sells <a href="https://www.adafruit.com/products/397" target="_blank">a camera accessible via serial port</a> that <a href="http://forums.electricimp.com/discussion/comment/5824#Comment_5824" target="_blank">can be made to work with the imp</a>, but capturing quality stills is not its strength. The excellent built-in iPhone cameras <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Replacement-Rear-Facing-Camera-for-iphone5s-/281316823054?pt=US_Other_Cell_Phone_Accessories&hash=item417fca100e" target="_blank">can be bought surprisingly cheaply on eBay</a>, but I'm not sure how to get them to talk to anything other than an iPhone. Another possibility might be buying and cannibalizing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Easyshare-Digital-Camera-Silver/dp/B003VTZE1M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398662318&sr=8-2&keywords=digital+camera" target="_blank">a cheap digital camera</a>, but again I don't know if the modules inside could be interfaced with a standard microcontroller.</div>
</div><div><br></div><div>What would you recommend? What's the best way to get a reasonably priced camera that takes high quality stills and can be easily controlled through a standard bus?</div><div><br></div><div>
Thank you for your help!</div><span><font color="#888888">
<div>Ted</div></font></span></div>
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