Pi Webcam

RE: Pi Webcam

Aniket_kumar_raj — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 07:49:06 GMT

looks complex

RE: Pi Webcam

mcb1 — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 23:20:47 GMT

Hadley has a pretty good blog about the size needed.

https://nicegear.co.nz/blog/what-size-solar-panel-and-battery-do-i-need/

In my case it was a comprimise between size, price and output.

I have a 10w unit ($49) and intend to feed back the voltage.

We have some 100A/H Gell cell battery available which may require changing once a week if my expectations are all wrong.

Nick Gammon did some great work on making controllers sleep.

http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11497

Applying one of these may also help in the 1600 til 0900 drain,.

Let me know if I can offer any advise on the Charge controller.

I was planning to simply open circuit the solar when the volts got above 13.6v (gell cell, or 13.2v lead acid)

Mark

RE: Pi Webcam

morgaine — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 17:14:30 GMT

Engineering systems to withstand the elements is really quite an awesome thing to do. A big +1 to you for the temerity. !! [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-725b7339-ff90-403e-bb45-558e477e555c/contentimage_5F00_1.png:16:16] I'm totally serious in this, it's a wonderful engineering task to undertake.

Mark Beckett wrote:

Because of this I have not set a 'death-march' timeframe, and don't anticipate

it being operational and feeding images onto the live camera feeds until next year.

Systems are ready when they're ready. Space probes typically take a decade or more to engineer for survival in remote and inhospitable conditions, and in a way, this is your current personal space probe. The metaphor has several areas of common ground, particularly in terms of hostile environment and managing the power budget.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this progresses, in particular how you tackle the myriad trade-offs that this kind of project entails.

A great project!

PS. Even in less environmentally-challenged places like our residential back yards, there's every reason for engineering-minded enthusiasts to follow along and replicate/adapt your design. With open projects, improving upon designs is part of the territory, so everybody wins. Your project is likely to be the catalyst for many others.