Mini Video Camera

Other race electronics and general electronics discussions.
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Stan Pope
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by Stan Pope »

PhantomVirus wrote:Those radio shack clips are cheap and work well. I am in the process of building a police car with my son with blinking red/blue LED's all driven off of a 9V battery.

Will post pics as this thing evolves.......it is a bummer that the auto blinking LEDs are only 9 volt and I have to use that huge honkin battery.

Incorporating a 9v battery into a car that might actually place is going to be a huge challenge.......

R
You should be able to stack a few button cells in series. My keychain Laser pointer uses three little batteries. The print on 'em is pretty small but they appear to be AG3 (AKA LR41, V3GA, or 192) 1.5V with dimensions 0.309" Dia X 0.143" thick each and three together weigh approx 0.07 oz. Voltage appears to be 1.5 volts, so you would need a stack of 6. Don't know their internal resistance, but the stack is probably not different enough from a 9v alkaline cell to matter.

The service life of smaller batteries will be a lot shorter that the "big honkin" 9v battery, but how many seconds does it need to flash to finish the runs in a typical derby? Wikipedia gives 25–32 mA*Hrs for the Alkaline version, and longer for the more expensive silver oxide version.

Fabricate your own "holder" by drilling a hole about 0.345" in diameter in your car and set of contact wire at each end plus a "plug" to hold the batteries and contact wires together. Note that the interior of the hole should be lined with an insulating paper if the batteries are to be left in the car. Otherwise, the resistance of the wood, as high as it might be, will drain the batteries over time.

The AG0 size is about 15% smaller, but has a much shorter life span, 10 mA*Hr.

I found some specs on alkaline and silver oxide button cells at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ba ... lkaline.29.

By comparison, the "big honkin" 9v batteries, described at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ba ... angular.29, have a capacity of "honkin" 565 mA*Hr.
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ah8tk
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by ah8tk »

We used a 12V garage door opener battery to light the LEDs on KITT it was much lighter than a 9V battery.
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by *5 J's* »

dna - first thanks for your contribution. You have inspired me to build two additional cars this year. First - the cam-van. I like the price of the unit Jeff Piazza is using - but it looks like yours has an adjustable mounting bracket for the camera. Did this come with your camera? Does the BoosterVision have the overly sized power cable that the unit Jeff is using has? As Jeff notes, there are MANY offered online at various prices. My use is just for PWD -so range is relatively short - space/weight is a premium. Adjustable bracket is nice.
dna1990 wrote:And finally, here was an exhibition car I used to entertain the crowd during breaks, etc. It has a wireless camera like those used in RC or rocket applications. Runs from a 9V battery. We had a projector already setup with a finish line cam, so we would switch to the "Pack 1179 News Truck" to do interviews and of course to give a "driver's eye view" of running down the track. Kids loved it. Made them feel closer to the race I think. I was involved in the race alot and did not get to use as much as I wanted. I need to find a 'reporter' volunteer to carry it around next time. The link to the pretty inexpensive cam is http://www.boostervision.com/cart/scrip ... product=71

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Next - the car below is just a work of art - so I gotta try making one.
dna1990 wrote:Here is my concept car, it took third. Looks complex, but was simply made by first drilling thru hole from back to front and then cut the profile like normal. Paint is white primer, followed by a thin coat of Rustoleum silver metallic. Then airbrushed with with yellow transparent and some fluorescent purple.

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dna1990
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by dna1990 »

Yes, the camera was installed as you see in the pics, right from the box. No custom mount. If I remember, I think it came with two different mounting options, I used the flange base. Needs some small #4 screws though.

That was purchased from boostervision about 3 years ago, so things may have changed.

Lots of people getting the fall/winter itch for building new cars. Glad to see one ours sparked you along.


If you use a camera and goto to the trouble of setting up a projector screen, etc. Try 'walking around' the audience with you car and putting kids on video. This is a double edge sword, as kids (of all ages) still get a kick out of seeing themselves on TV - but in that enthusiasm, they get a little out of hand if you do not control the crowd as you execute the plan.

This is a great time-filler, between ranks or those um, technical difficulties that come up. Not with GPRM of course, just the GPRM operator...!
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by dna1990 »

RETRACT? I went to look at the BoosterVision kit online, see if they had new models, etc.

After looking again at that kit - Maybe I am wrong about the custom mount. I have a pile of little cameras for Halloween and security applications - it is possible I used a flange mount from one of them. I just can't rmemeber now.

Ask the guys at BV, they can answer for certain.
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by dna1990 »

5Js - here is a thread to another 'hole car'.

http://www.derbytalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3276" target="_blank
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by dna1990 »

Phantom - are you committed to the LEDs that run on 9V?

Seems it would be way easier to find different LEDs that trying to change battery or waste weight/space on a traditional 9V.

One coin batt would run a couple of LEDs for your app. Many will have the 'blinking' built in.

Here are some guesses:
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/p ... ?dept=1245" target="_blank
http://www.instructables.com/id/Blinkyb ... e-version/" target="_blank
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by *5 J's* »

dna1990 wrote:RETRACT? I went to look at the BoosterVision kit online, see if they had new models, etc.

After looking again at that kit - Maybe I am wrong about the custom mount. I have a pile of little cameras for Halloween and security applications - it is possible I used a flange mount from one of them. I just can't rmemeber now.

Ask the guys at BV, they can answer for certain.
dna - as noted above there are lots of mini cams on the market. You note that you have a pile of little cameras. Are they all from BoosterVision? If not how do others compare? The one Jeff bought is less then 1/2 the price - but I'm not sure how it compares.
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by dna1990 »

All my other cameras are wired, well except one very old bulky 2.4Ghz model. So I can't compare reception or pic quality.

My guess, is that pic quality is generally the same, it is the reception quality of the wireless link that will likely excel one model over another.

For a PWD environment, distance is your friend. It won't be like you need to xmit more than 100' in any direction. Being indoors is perhaps the enemy. Close quarters with parents and their cell phones, fluorescent lighting, old church/school PA system wiring - all can cause some sporadic interference.

Now none of these little quarter size cams, esp over wireless - are going to give you HD-ready-for-ESPN picture quality. So anything in the sub $100 realm is likley for the novelity of having a live cam, not for HD instant replay expectations.

Search on RC Camera, Helicoptor Camera, Tiny Wireless Camera, etc - there are indeed a new batch of $40ish models.

I have purchased alot of wired cams from SuperCircuits here in TX, and they have some newer (but $$) wireless setups.
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by PhantomVirus »

interestingly enough the red/blue blinking LED's that are 'designed' for 9v work just fine with a 3V coin cell lithium battery a SINGLE CR2032 seems to power them just fine.

The real Q is longevity - can I get away with several hours off a single battery....will test shortly.

EARLY prototype of the leds/car etc.

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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by sporty »

You could use a micro switch, on / off at the nose of the car, goes on when the switch releases, compress to turn off, which could be a holding box of some sorts at the staging area, unless you want it on all the time.

also, does anyone know how leds lights affect the timing sensor ?

I got a few flashin and other option leds lights out of a vending machine at a local bowling alley, that run on a few small batteries, and has on and off bottom,. wal-mart has them too, inside of rubber balls for $1.00

I got a few of these as we are going to do a led car, but have not figured what we want and how we want it yet.


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Re: Mini Video Camera

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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by PhantomVirus »

Great Q on the timing sensors - unsure how it will work out.

My son wanted to mimic the local PD cars and they all have integrated lights behind the grill - no party hats any longer - so in order to be 'true' to form we have the front LED's.

I do not have a timing sensor to test - if someone has one and wants a few of these LEDs for testing let me know. Would prefer to find out in October than January ;-)

I guess worst case would be to run them with the lights off but what fun would that be.
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by sporty »

i'll be able to answer that at some point with my track. but I do not know about making the oct deadline.

I also bought some kits from allelectroncics. So I just need to get my butt in gear.
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Re: Mini Video Camera

Post by PhantomVirus »

What did you buy from them (allelectronics)?

October vs November not a big deal - just the sooner the better in case we need to redesign (AGAIN!)

Thx

;-)
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