DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

This DIY AI machine learning camera knows what it’s looking and tells you… audibly

Nov 12, 2020 by John Aldred Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

The things people can do with Raspberry Pis, especially when it comes to photography and video related projects, always fascinates me. And Adafruit has recently posted a very interesting project. It’s a camera that actually knows what it’s looking at. It’s based around Adafruit’s own BrainCraft HAT system, which is an AI Machine Learning addon for the Raspberry Pi 4. This project shows it in practical use in an actual project.

The camera uses TensorFlow Lite object recognition software to be able to understand what it’s seeing. And it’s compatible with both the 8-megapixel Pi Camera Module and the newer 12.3-megapixel interchangeable lens module. A 3D printed enclosure wraps everything up into a nice compact package to be able to take it out with you on the go.

While just being able to see and recognise an object in front of the camera might not be all that useful on its own, it opens up a lot of options for connecting the Pi to a “real camera” for shooting photos or video. You could connect a DSLR or mirrorless camera from its trigger port into the Pi’s GPIO pins, or even use a USB connection with something like gPhoto, to have it shoot a photo or start recording video when it detects a specific thing enter the frame.

Maybe you could use it as a remote wildlife monitoring camera that only fires when it sees a specific species of animal. Or maybe you can have it fire the camera and automatically inject keyword metadata into the image files as it transfers them off the camera and onto the Pi’s own internal storage.

As you can see from the video, though, it doesn’t always quite get things perfect. But, it’s a learning computer. So, it’ll figure it out eventually.

Whatever you ultimately choose to do with it, it’s a very cool little project. I’d be curious to see if many photographers have a go at making one of these and how they incorporate it into some real shoots.

[via Adafruit]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Automating scanning film with the help of Lego, a Raspberry Pi and a little machine learning It’s the ladies turn as pixelcrush_ca’s new series targets the “Typical Female Photographers” everybody knows Creating Realistic Looking Clouds With A Fog Machine And Water Sound may have the biggest impact on how well your film tells its story

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: Adafruit, AI, machine learning, Raspberry Pi

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Google Photos to kill its unlimited free storage in June 2021
Full version of Canon’s webcam software is now available for Windows and macOS »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • This is why you should stop shooting music videos
  • First look at the Laowa Proteus Flex interchangeable flare optics
  • The Fotodiox RhinoCam Vertex shoots medium format images on L mount cameras
  • San Francisco filmmaker tracks stolen camera gear, police do nothing
  • Nanlite announces powerful AC-powered FC500B and FC300B LED lights

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy