"circuit bent" hacked digital camera project - wearable interval camera

this hacked digital keychain camera takes photographs intermittently


Gadgets, Sensors and Activity Recognition in HCI
Spring 2010, Carnegie Mellon University
Prof. Scott Hudson

Friday, April 29th, 2010

The goal:
There are so many moments in life that are not considered "photo-worthy," but in looking back we find ourselves wishing we had pictures to commemorate them. Specifically, I think of the countless bike rides I've taken around New York City, commuting to work, or visiting friends, crossing bridges and zipping through traffic and riding along the West Side Highway bike path at sunset. Only rarely did I dismount, dig through my bag and pause to frame and take a picture. Those occasions I did produced "set up" shots. The spontaneity and reality of those moments are lost.

My project goals centered around image capture, or more poetically, memory capture. I sought to create a wearable device to intermittently record still images. This device was not intended to replace an individual's camera, but to supplement it.

Research:
Finding appropriate hardware proved challenging. Thankfully, I found a great resource in someone else's existing project on instructables.com (credited in my source code and video). With the hardware purchased and instructions for circuit bending, I was able to proceed.

Implementation:
Wiring: The Arduino microcontroller is connected to an LDR (light sensor), a PCB (connecting it to the camera), and an LED. Schematics are available.

Power: The unit does not need to be plugged into anything during use. The arduino is powered by a 9v battery. A triple-A battery powers the camera itself. There is an on/off switch on the side of the enclosure, allowing you to turn the entire unit off if you don't want it to take pictures.

Timing: When powered on, the arduino will read available light from the light meter. In "adequate light" such as provided by indoor overhead lighting or greater, the unit will take a picture and then power down for 10 minutes before checking light levels again. If it is too dark, it will wait 5 minutes before taking another light reading.
LED: the LED light flashes 6 times when powered on. It also flashes 3 times after taking a photo. I decided against flashing before or during a photo as I wanted the photographs captured to be random and not set up by the wearer.

Wearable: The back of the enclosure consists of two layers, a plastic backing and a metal plate on top of that. One can place a belt loop or backpack strap between these two layers to make the entire unit wearable.

Connectivity: currently, a USB cable hangs down from the bottom of the enclosure. Future iterations would allow for plugging a USB cable into the enclosure.


credit for hardware advice and foundation code goes to sol bisker and his extremely helpful instructable (available here http://www.instructables.com/id/Hacking-A-Keychain-Digital-Camera-for-Arduino... ). thanks to him for his assistance and and suggestions as well.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• wearable
• arduino
• microcontroller
• digital camera
• circuit bent
• circuit bending
• human-computer interaction
• gadgets
• sensors

[Bindlz]

This is exactly what im trying to do. I would like to hook the camera up to take a picture every 60 minutes though.  I know that its difficult but a tutorial on how you connected the camera to the arduino as well as connecting the camera itself to both memory . Thanks-- Great Video

[textualarmor]

@Bindlz

Check out instructables dotcom and search "keychain digital camera" for a tutorial. That's where I got my project from basically - following in his footsteps.

[chiachhu]

can you make a video explaining how to make a wearable videocamera. like one that you can put around ur neck and ill film all the time

[m8rox]

Sounds like a great plan 2 me

[benquid]

Good one! I love the goal/idea.