Raspberry Pi time lapse camera

  1. 1 Case
    1. 1.1 STL files
  2. 2 Capture code
  3. 3 Lens
  4. 4 Gallery

Using the Raspberry Pi’s High Quality Camera module I made a time lapse camera in my living room.

full pi camera
FIGURE 1 Assembled camera sitting in my living room window

1 Case

I designed a case with a large lens hood and a recessed lens so that it can block the light from the room. This would allow the camera to take photos at night.

FIGURE 2 CAD screenshots of the case design
pi camera
FIGURE 3 Assembled camera
pi chassis front
FIGURE 4 Camera chassis with HQ module on one side and the Raspberry Pi on the other
pi chassis back
FIGURE 5 Camera chassis reverse side showing the Raspberry Pi

1.1 STL files

The files are also available on Thingiverse.

pichassis.stl

pihood.stl

piback.stl

2 Capture code

I decided to strive for maximum image quality even at night, by capturing a stack of images and summing them up.

GitHub Gist

3 Lens

I found a Basler C125-0618-5M-P on eBay which seems to have good image quality and fits the Raspberry Pi HQ Camera.

lens
FIGURE 6 Picture of lens
distortion
FIGURE 7 The lens has significant barrel distortion but that is compensated for by my code above.
resolution
FIGURE 8 The lens is quite sharp and can resolve even 200 lp/mm. This chart is at f/1.8, polychromatic, 0.5 m working distance.

4 Gallery

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FIGURE 9 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 10 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 11 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 12 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 13 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 14 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 15 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 16 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 17 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 18 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 19 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera
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FIGURE 20 Picture taken by Raspberry Pi camera