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On Demo, a $25 1080p Camera Module For Raspberry Pi

Posted by timothy on from the for-your-car-black-box dept.

hypnosec writes "The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced a new add-on – a camera module that will enable the credit card sized computer to snap pictures as well as record 1080p videos. Showcased by RS Components at the Elecontrica 2012 in Germany [watch video here] the £16 (apprx) module will be equipped with a 5MP sensor and will plug into the otherwise unused CSI pins of the Pi. The camera module's board is still in prototype stage and is expected to reach production sometime soon. Liz Upton, Executive Director of the Foundation said in a blog post, 'We've a (very) little way to go before we're able to send it out to manufacture.' According to Upton, testing slots have been booked in December to check on electromagnetic radiations from the ribbon cable."

3 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. You get 1080p video... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    ... compressed into an H264 stream and then you're stuck with a CPU that makes first generation Atom netbooks look fast. The Raspberry Pi is yesteryear's phone hardware without the shiny case, folks. It's SLOW.

  2. Some tantalizing use cases ... by timothy · · Score: 1, Interesting

    - Part of a car-puter system; dash cam / dome cam.
    - Home security system cam
    - video conf system
    - video input for rPi-controlled robots

    There are some great cases now sized for the Raspberry Pi; would be cool to see the physical equivalent of Linux distros, with rPi cases sized for / sold with various accessories, and a working OS included, including apps appropriate for some particular use. (Things like Zoneminder, say.)

    - Lego-based plans (diagrams, lego)
    - a case that includes this camera module (or equivalent -- hopefully this won't be the only one) with the camera either fixed, or in a swivel mount.
    - Rugged case designed for all-kinds-of-attachment, along the lines of the GoPro camera accessories (magnetic mount, suction cup, strong attachment points for cord/velcro, future gecko-foot-sticky technology ....) basically something you could mount on any window of your car, or the hood, or the undercarriage.

    --
    jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
    1. Re:Some tantalizing use cases ... by gmarsh · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actual use cases I've seen for the Raspberry Pi that I've done myself and seen others do:

      - Plug the Rpi into a LAN, and connect it to the serial console of a piece of equipment with a USB to serial cable - old router, telephone equipment, radio broadcast transmitter, fill in the blank. SSH into the thing if you need to get at the console instead of doing a site trip.
      - Plug a few sensors into it, run it off a 12V car battery and a +5V automotive USB adapter, and leave it somewhere to log data onto the SD card or a USB stick.
      - Plug a USB hard drive into it, and use it as a low power torrent downloader, instead of keeping your desktop PC powered up when you're not home.

      It's a tiny, $25 linux machine. Possibilities are endless.