A Lego Minfig Portrait Studio, Raspberry Pi Camera Project

About the project

A wireless Raspberry Pi / Camera that uploads pictures to your cloud storage. A fun purpose built device that is safe and perfect for kids to take pictures of their Lego creations.

Project info

Difficulty: Moderate

Estimated time: 1 day

License: MIT license (MIT)

Items used in this project

Hardware components

Raspberry Pi Zero W Raspberry Pi Zero W x 1
Micro SD card Gadgeteer module Micro SD card Gadgeteer module https://amzn.to/3jsNCpl x 1
Arducam Lens Board for Raspberry Pi Camera Arducam Lens Board for Raspberry Pi Camera https://amzn.to/2QKtPoV x 1
Pi camera ribbon cable, full size down to Pi zero connector Pi camera ribbon cable, full size down to Pi zero connector https://amzn.to/2YO3WJg x 1
10cm cable pack 10cm cable pack https://amzn.to/34Nnd1z x 1
500mAh Lithium Ion battery 500mAh Lithium Ion battery https://www.adafruit.com/product/1578 x 1
Pimoroni LiPo SHIM Pimoroni LiPo SHIM https://www.adafruit.com/product/3196 x 1
Colorful Round Tactile Button Switch Assortment - 15 pack Colorful Round Tactile Button Switch Assortment - 15 pack https://www.adafruit.com/product/1009 x 1
100 ohm Resistor 1/4 Watt 100 ohm Resistor 1/4 Watt x 1
Super Bright White 5mm LED 25 pack Super Bright White 5mm LED 25 pack x 1

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Software apps and online services

Raspberry Pi OS Raspberry Pi OS
rclone rclone https://github.com/rclone/rclone
Any cloud storage provider such as Drive or OneDrive Any cloud storage provider such as Drive or OneDrive

Hand tools and fabrication machines

soldering iron soldering iron x 1
wire cutter/stripper wire cutter/stripper x 1

Story

It is easy enough to whip out your mobile phone and take a picture of anything you make with Legos, but I am not ready to give my child a phone and their own account.  This is a purpose built device that will keep him safe and let him save his many creations to the cloud.  The camera itself is completely self contained with battery power and wirelessly uploads pictures to the cloud immediately after taking them.  I even built a studio for posing minfigs at a good focal distance and a studded wall for decorating.

Schematics, diagrams and documents

Schematic

Code

The camera code!

Credits

Photo of VincesTechShop

VincesTechShop

Maker of all things 3D designed/printed, electronic, wood crafted, and more.

   

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