terraPin Obot Bluetooth Pinhole Camera by schlem

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

NOTE: The documentation for this camera is not quite ready for Prime Time, but, rather than hope for perfection, I am making it public. I fully intend to finish the documentation, and any questions you have will help me focus on that task. Thanks!
This remotely-controlled pinhole camera has been lurking in the back of my mind since I started making pinhole cameras. Well, not this exact camera, but something that functioned like this camera - wirelessly triggered for surreptitious or distant pinhole photography.
Essentially, the Obot is a terraPin OSKAR 6x9 that shoots a 6X6 frame with room inside for the batteries and necessary electronics. I've been keeping my eye on the Arduino ecosystem for years, and was recently delighted to see that Adafruit developed a Feather microcontroller with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The Feather form factor is wonderfully compact (51.2mm x 22.8mm x 8mm), and has a host of nice design features. Initially, I wanted to use a 3.7 volt Lithium Ion Polymer battery, but a servo really needs more voltage. Two CR2 Lithium cells fit in the camera body and supply ample voltage/current (more on that later).
PARTS LIST
At a minimum, you will need to 3Dprint these parts:
terrapin_Obot_body.stl
terrapin_Obot_cap_plate.stl
terrapin_Obot_bits_plate.stl
terrapin_Obot_CR2_battery_case.stl
terrapin_Obot_switchplate.stl
terrapin_printable_indexing_window.stl (use a translucent PLA, traditionally, red)
terrapin_prime_film_clip.stl
terrapin_oskar_winders.stl
terrapin_oskar_knobs.stl
terrapin_Obot_cap_clip.stl
The other parts are either alternatives or individual parts that are otherwise grouped into plates.
Electronics:SPDT Slide Switch - alternate vendor1N914 or 1N4148 Signal Diode2 X CR2 Lithium Camera BatteryMicro servoServo Extension CableAdafruit Feather 32u4 Bluefruit LE - w/o headers!
Other parts:
Pinhole 0.23mm (f/135) or 0.20mm (f/165)
M3 flathead machine bolt (10mm length)
M3 washer
M3 locknut
2 X M3 machine bolt (8mm length)
1/4-20 flanged nut (tripod thread)
14mm disc of transparent red plastic (If not printing "PRINTABLE_INDEXING_WINDOW)"
(red "report covers" work well, obtain from office supply store)
Software:
There are several smartphone apps with which you can control the Obot shutter, but the best one I have found is Adafruit's own "Adafruit Bluefruit LE Connect"iOSAndroid
You will use the "Controller" configuration. The code for the Feather Bluefruit has been written for button "1" to open the shutter, and button "2" to close the shutter. There are more buttons on the interface that are not used. It is easiest to use in a landscape orientation - make sure "Auto Rotate" is turned on.
Additionally, there is the Arduino code for the Bluefruit:
Obot_controller.ino (a routine that receives the BLE packet and controls the shutter)
BluefruitConfig.h (a library file for Obot-controller.ino)
packetParser.cpp (a library file for Obot-controller.ino)
ServoSetup.ino (a utility to dial in your shutter positions after assembly)
See the text of the .ino files for more documentation.
ATTENTION
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial license. This license applies only to the files and documents available for download from the Thing Files section of this Thing.All other related content (photographs, videos, and verbiage such as contained in "Description" or "Instructions" ) are excluded from this license, with all rights reserved, unless specifically available for download This notice constitutes a clarification, not a change, to licensing for this design.