ComputeCam and PicoPorch - Early Muddling

22 Apr 2024

Intro

This is the second installment of Experimenting With Extreme Environments.

I have been struggling to navigate through a maze of long and twisty rabbit holes in the early stages of this project. Although some progress is being made, it still feels like there are a lot of unknowns to resolve.

This blog includes scattered tidbits of interest about what I have been up to, just to show some progress, but most of the hard slogging and dead end efforts aren't exciting enough to make it into the blog.

Computers and Cameras

Here are some early descriptions of the computers and cameras that will be used in the project:

Camera Action

Here is a demo of 3 cameras in action:

The PicoPorch Panning System

Here is some preliminary work on the Pi Pico camera panning controller and Midas display:

Of course this needs to work with a Pico W, but the one I ordered has not arrived yet.

Discussion

There is still a lot of work to do to explain what was done to get these results, but there are a lot of aspects that are not finalized yet, so this blog has been more of a series of teasers about what is happening on the project and what is to come.

So far I have ordered a lot of parts, but there are still many that have not arrived. It is tough to design with parts that are not here and have no datasheets. I have designed and 3D printed at least 10 parts, but there are quite a few still not started.

One custom PCB has been received, the other one had to wait until a breadboard circuit was proven, so it is going to be late - hopefully it arrives before the project deadline.

Two Hammond boxes have been modified to house Raspberry Pi Zero 2W computers with Pi cameras. These boxes are handy since these modules get warm and 3D printed housings might sag with the heat. I have made some mods to one of the 3 clear lid Hammond enclosures, and started designing the insert structure, but there is a long way to go on that front.

The next immediate step is to design and build the motorized panning mechanism, even though the Pico W has not arrived.