Gareth's blog

Birdy Cam is getting ready for the Winter...

This is an ESP32 Cam being fed into MRL's OpenCV service, streaming Mpeg with URL (plus Motion Detect Filter).

If you have an ESP32 Cam then it is HIGHLY recommended to install a good antenna (see below).

For point of cost reference ESP32Cam is circa $6 (one bag of sunflower seeds also circa $6).

Experimentation's with a TelegramBot polling an ESP32.

These Bots can be found or created via the Telegram App Messaging service...

(in our case I have called it "MRLbot" )

MRLbot & ESP32 Marriage possibilities :-

I just bought one of these, thought I would bring to your attention :-

Best part ..... its circa 120$ delivered including two x1/x10 probes ..

(-: bonus for me was that the customs elves were on coffee break :-)

In a nut shell its a Dual channel 100Mhz with 7" colour touch screen.

The performance drops off the more you lean over 80Mhz. (100Mhz is bit tongue in cheek, however how often do we need to measure so high)

Its been bugging me for a while now on finding a way to detect the position of a Stepper motor, because it good to find its position before powering up !!! ...Yes....

So in a Nutshell :-

Hidden inside the ESP32 package tin foil hat is a "Hall Effect" sensor ....go figure!!!.

A simple analogue read Hal=halRead() , reveals values from -255 to +255 (however 12 bit is possible accessing the Hall-effect chip via i2c)

Usage list :-

The easiest/quickest way to control Stepper Motors is by using generic 3D printer boards/shields.

These circa £6.00p boards can control up to 5 Stepper motors + 3 FET power outputs.

This Shield simply piggybacks onto an Arduino Mega.

ESP32-BirdCAM has been deployed, using MRL OpenCV/service and base Yolo settings.

One of the test subject's could not resist the bait. Not bad for first live data.

Just for the records I hate cats !!!!

The ESP32-Cam (WiFi) is a generic low cost module, I made a support board for it so it can take 2xAA lithium 4.2v batteries (with extra 5v regulator) or in this can below they can be replaced by a switch and a 500ma fuse (3D printed). The Module anyhow accepts either 3.3V or 5V via the correct pins.

Rounding things off, good news is the PS4 left handed controller is finished and in transit ... with Merlin in tow.

My game controller skills were good enough to shoot a "Striker Mech" in the rear-end (not the best place apparently).

It is quite a comfortable grip and I was able to play for a couple of hours.....per day...for a week...just to test...