Action camera #3 - Basic software

In this section I'll introduce you to the software that will drive the camera.
I will not go into details, just show you it's layout and some basic functionality of the camera.
The software is writen in python and is structured in modules that represent the submenus of the device.
As you start up the camera, you'll have the following options and submenus (indented).
You can navigate through this with the Left & Right buttons, confirm selection with the Enter button and start recording with the capture button.

1. Image capture
2. Video recording
3. Image settings
• Scene
• Resolution
• Shutter speed
• Aperture
• ISO
• White balance
• Saturation & sharpness
• Back
4. Video settings
• Resolution
• FPS
• White balance
5. Device settings
• Time & Date
• Exif
• Units
• Wifi
• GPS
• Sensors
6. Power off

First thing to do is create a new python file: sudo nano main.py, you can run this later with the: sudo python main.py command.

Action camera #2 - Hardware layout

The layout of the camera I intend to be as compact as possible, without exceeding a creditcard size (the size of the Raspberry Pi) and all in one enclosure.

However it is possible that during the project I will chose a two module design, having the "brain" + controls, batery and display in one module and the camera + sensors in a different module, conected by a cord.

In this post I'll describe the initial one enclosure layout, that I target to have.

In the front (bottom of the Raspberry Pi) we will have the camera module, the GPS module, the temperature and pressure sensor and a battery pack.

     

        

 

In the back (top of the Raspberry Pi) we will  have a 16x2 monochrome LCD display and three buttons:

1. Go left buttom: will make the "Selection Left" current
2. Enter button: will confirm or execute "Current Selection"
3. Go right button: will make the "Select Right" current
 

 

On the sides we'll have the SD card acces slot, the Capture / Record button and the Wi-Fi module.

Action camera #1 - Concept & Intro

In the following post series I'll write about my  new project, that is an action camera, powered by the Raspberry Pi mini computer. The final product should have similar features to the famous GoPro Hero action camera.

The brain of the gadget is a Raspberry Pi A, powered by a 700 Mhz processor with 256 MB of RAM. Should be powerful enough for 720p video and 5 MP image capture.

The "eye" will be the RaspiCam, a dedicated camera for the Raspberry Pi.

The controls will be from micro switches and it will use an 16x2 LCD for status display and configuration.

The software for the camera will be written in Python and will run on a simplified version of the Raspbian OS.

I don't have the full list of components required for this project at the moment, so in every stage I'll write the stuff that you'll need extra from the previous stage.

But for start:

- Raspberry Pi A or B

- 4GB or larger SD card

- RaspiCam

- Display with digital input (HDMI ori DVI-D)

- USB keyboard

- ~1A USB power supply.

Bicycle flashlight #4 - Flashlight casing

Ok... we have all the electric part, the flashlight works, but we need a way to fix it on the bicycle.
Initially I wanted to make a lether paunch but later I changed my mind to a lasercut plexi housing.
The design was made in a 3D CAD software.
At first, I modeled the board with the leds on it and built around it the housing.

Flashlight front

Flashlight back

Bicycle flashlight #3 - From prototype to final product

In this article I'll show you the moving from prototype to final product.
I started by removing the leds from the breadboard and assembling them to the prototyping board.
Be carefull about the layout of the leds, not to mix the colors.

LED layout

After every additional led was assembled to the board, it's (-) legs were soldered together, so that at the end we would have a GND rail.

LEDs soldered toogether

Bicycle flashlight #2 - Software

In the second phase of the bicycle flashlight project I'll describe the software loaded on the micro controller.
The program is writen and compiled in microPascal, and the machine code is loaded on the controller with AVRDude.
All the text small font size and dotted, is part of the code and part of one single program file in the sequence they appear in this article.

1) The first part of the program is a description, containing title, revision, author, date, etc.

• // Project Bike_lamp, revision 01, Gaal Alexandru, 09.01.2014
• // Bike flashlight project with 7 ligthing modes
• // Mode 1: Police light
• // Mode 2: Blinking red light
• // Mode 3: Constant red light
• // Mode 4: Blinking white light
• // Mode 5: Constant white light
• // Mode 6: Blinking blue light
• // Mode 7: Constant blue light

All the text that is after the "//" characters are considered comments.

Bicycle flashlight #1 - Intro & prototype on breadboard

A buddy of mine, who is a big bycicle enthusiast, has his birthday coming up... so I decided to build a custom flashlight for his fixed gear bike.
I'll divide the project into four phases.
In the first part I'm going to introduce you to the project, and describe the prototype circuit on a breadboard.

For the electric part you need the following components:
- ATmega 168 or similar micro controller in DIP package
- Three red, three white and three blue ultra bright leds
- At least 10x10 cm prototyping board with standard 2.54 mm hole distance
- Nine 470 ohm resistors
- 5V regulator 7805
- Two 100 micro farad capacitors
- Two 100 nano farad capacitors
- Small toggle switch
- Small normal open switch
- Battery holder for four AAA batteries
- Some thin wires
- Atmel programming interface (or similar)

- Silicon glue

It also helps if you have a breadboard and some jumper wires.

I recommend before trying to understand the circuit that I will describe, to take a look how a breadboard works, how to connections are made in it. You can take a look at the Wikipedia article: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadboard".

Tool you need for the first part:

- cutting pliers

- bent nose pliers

- multimeter

- soldering iron & solder