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  • Author Author: dougw
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Garden Secrets System

dougw

Intro

I am excited to apply for this Experimenting with Extreme Environments design challenge. It will allow me to explore interesting technology that I have had on my list of things to do for some time. There is a lot to learn about our environment right in our own backyards. I want to employ some technology to help learn more about my local environment.

Unboxing Video - The Challenge Kit 

The Application

This project is about electronic enclosures that need to handle extreme environments. Ottawa, where I live has fairly extreme climate variations. The temperature can vary between -38C and +38C. It can have every kind of precipitation, including rain, snow and hail. The snowfall can be as high as 4.6m in one winter and the rainfall can be as deep as 1.2m in one summer. And it occasionally can have tornadoes. It can even have minor earthquakes. So I don’t have to go any further than my back yard to find extreme weather.

Despite the urban locale and the extreme weather, there are quite a variety of wild animals running around my neighborhood, including raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, mice, birds and cats and of course insects. My brother who also lives in Ottawa has pictures of wolves and deer in his yard.

I want to figure out what all of the animals that hang out in my back yard are doing there and how they interact.

Of course this means cameras operating 24/7, but it will take multiple cameras to monitor the whole yard and some will need to be able to capture activity at night.

This will be a great application for the Hammond enclosure that is part of the challenge kit since it has a clear lid, allowing full protection of a camera and associated electronics while still permitting the camera to see the yard. Also, since it is a plastic enclosure, the camera can use a radio to transmit its output to the internet without needing a weatherproof antenna.

The Garden Secrets System Block Diagram

Here is a block diagram showing the main subsystems involved in this yard monitoring system:

image

Technology

Having 3 wireless cameras will push a lot of data through my wireless and wired Internet. I expect to be able to view any camera from phones, tablets and computers in my house and I hope to capture some interesting video for the blog. I need to keep the costs down, so I will likely limit the project to 3 camera platforms, which is still an extreme project, in keeping with the extreme environment theme of the challenge. Extreme will also apply to the Raspberry Pi technology I plan to use, 3 different Raspberry Pi computer models (Pi 4 Compute, Pi Zero W2, Pi Pico W) and 4 different Raspberry Pi camera models (PiCam 3, PiCam 2, PiCam 2 Noir and PiCan HQ). Extreme will also apply to the Hammond enclosure technology where I plan to use at least 3 and possibly up to 5 Hammond enclosures in the project, including several different models. The clear lids will make it possible to protect the cameras and computers while still allowing the cameras to see out.

One of the camera platforms would have motorized panning capability, remote controlled via phone, tablet or computer. The backyard activity video capture will be triggered by using motion detection analysis of the video from the cameras. The extreme environment will simply be winter and summer weather in Ottawa which swings between +33C and -33C in a typical year and also has every type of precipitation to contend with. The Pi Pico W will be used to remotely control camera panning and also provide weather station data about backyard conditions. It will display this data on remote devices as well as the LCD in the challenge kit.

Stretch Goal

I am interested in figuring out benign ways to keep skunks from coming close to the house and have some ideas for audio visual deterrents, but first I want to see what they are up to. My deterrent apparatus would involve more Hammond boxes.

Conclusion

This is a fairly aggressive amount of technology to implement in a design challenge, but I have been thinking about it for quite a while, and think it is manageable. All these cameras certainly should provide lots of opportunity for interesting video and I expect my family will also get a kick out of the backyard animal antics.

Next Steps

  • I have ordered a cooling system for the Pi 4 Compute Module - I expect it will help even though the module will be in a sealed Hammond box. 
  • I have some parts in stock and have ordered some other parts needed for the project, including:
    • a Pi Cam V3
    • a Pi Cam V2
    • a Pi Cam NoIR 2
    • a PI Cam HQ + lens
    • 2 Pi Zero W2 modules
    • a Pi Pico W
    • a DC gear motor
    • waterproof glands
    • power terminals
    • Power supplies
    • parts for a rotating mechanism
  • I have started experimenting with camera video-over-Wi-Fi software
  • I have started designing internal brackets for the Hammond cases
  • I have designed a motor controller PCB and ordered parts for it
  • lots more to come...

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