Marine application (buoy) camera system

[Stephen273702]

Hi,
I have floating buoys. There is an 20cm diameter space and I was hoping to put a camera system.

I was thinking 3 x SKUB0401 (Ardu mega 5mp cameras) with a battery system underneath (or possibly sleeved in pvc through the float which is about 1.5m full of styrofoam), sealed within a polarised perspex casing.

I want it to take a photo every 15minutes and last about a month.

Does anyone have a link of work with this camera or another in the field so I can get a sense of the image quality (as opposed to ideal “at-a-desk” conditions)?

Has anyone made something similar and is willing to offer some pearls of wisdom?

Thanks,
Steve

[Liam120347]

Hi Steve,

I started on something similar here: New video by Michael; Developing Camera Drivers for MicroPython & Raspberry Pi Pico | The Factory

I’m not sure it would behave too well in super glary situations.

Are there any example shots you want? I might be able to grab some

[Stephen273702]

Hey Liam,
Thanks for the quick response. Are you the same Liam in the video who is writing the microPython?

Thanks for the pic. Is that behind a casing in that photo (seems hazy)?

Is there scope to get an image showing objects at varying distances (down a street or something)?

If you move it whilst taking a photo, does it blur easily (it would be moving constantly with wind and swell)?

There is the push for micro-Python? I personally like Python, but what is the reason to move away from Arduino?

Any advice on actual MCU board to run 3 or 4 and store images on SD card (never built such a thing, normally coding and maths)?

Many thanks,
Steve

[Aaron]

Hi @Stephen273702, Welcome to the forums!!!

@Stephen273702

Any advice on actual MCU board to run 3 or 4 and store images on SD card (never built such a thing, normally coding and maths)?

I’m sure Liam and Michael will try and encourage you to stick with Micropython for this project but if you wanted to stay with Arduino, the Documented examples have a program for writing to SD cards. It would require a bit of reworking to get it to work for your use case but it should be a good starting point.

[Liam]

Hi Stephen,

Super sweet project! Cant wait to see it done and working!

@Liam120347 has got this off to a great start

@Stephen273702

Are you the same Liam in the video who is writing the microPython?

Negative, that would be me. Core employees have the shield next to their name like Aaron and I.

ArduCam have some example shots here: https://www.arducam.com/camera-for-any-microcontroller/

@Stephen273702

If you move it whilst taking a photo, does it blur easily (it would be moving constantly with wind and swell)?

The cameras use a rolling shutter so there will be some blur, keeping them as stationary as possible would be desired.

@Stephen273702

There is the push for micro-Python? I personally like Python, but what is the reason to move away from Arduino?

Micropython is just so easy to get started and develop with! Dont get me wrong, Arduino is great and has its place for speed and memory intesive projects…but if youre working quickly micropython isnt worth turning away from.

@Stephen273702

Any advice on actual MCU board to run 3 or 4 and store images on SD card (never built such a thing, normally coding and maths)?

I’ve only tried to run a camera and microSD card from the same microcontroller (Pico).
I had to use 2 different SPI channels (unsure if this is because of my driver or something funny with the SD driver I was using). But was able to capture and save images reliably.

NB: The above is a naive way of using SPI, in your project it might be worth using Arduino and the same SPI channel for the cameras and a new one for saving the images.

Liam