[thelist] Chicken cam, UK
Luther, Ron
ron.luther at hp.com
Fri May 20 14:27:53 CDT 2005
John inquired further about safekeeping his chickens:
>>I hope I don't become a naysayer, but I've no laptop, and there is no remote
>>point to point it to. It needs to be cheaper than me buying a laptop :-)
Hi John,
In this case 'the particulars' matter. If the coop were on the roof of your
flat you could put an inexpensive web-cam on the roof and run some wire down
to a window in your flat - until the superintendent catches you anyway. A
secure site served up by your home box and accessed from any public library
or internet café would do the trick.
The 'general case' problem is a good deal tougher nut to crack. If
you want to locate and video a single chicken on a heavily forested
five square kilometer tract using a self contained and self powered
wireless environment ... Guess what? ... It's gonna be costly!
('Course ... You might be able to offset that cost through research
grants for military applications!)
Breaking down the sub-issues:
* Power - Probably the smallest problem of the lot. If there is no grid
accessible, then any of the suggestions already given for solar, a used car
battery, R/C batteries ... and some knowledge of wiring power conversion
electronics ... would do the trick.
* Security - Neuro brought this up and it's an important consideration.
How 'public/private' is this area where the chickens are? How likely
is your kit to disappear with the chickens? (If it has free and complete
public access, then how 'bout giving us an address? ... I can have the
grill fired up in a few moments!) If there is a building nearby, making
friends there could greatly simplify the problem.
* Bandwidth - You need to get the signal from the camera out to where you
can work with it. Some of the available options include wire, radio,
infrared, microwave, satellite ... all at somewhat different price points
mind you.
* Signaling - Do you need to turn the camera on and off? Pan? Zoom?
Focus? Do you need more than one camera? Any of those could lead to
extra kit and extra expense in adding that level of 'intelligence' ...
and thereby increasing the need for security.
Then again, (never being one unable to also offer useless suggestions),
you could always:
(1) Equip each individual chicken with a radio tracking array, GPS,
a digital camcorder and a satellite phone ... and then just train
them to 'phone home'.
Of course, that could become expensive once they learn the number
to the local granary ... or embarrassing once they start posting
video on the 'HENS!_HOT-OR-NOT' usegroup.
(2) Take the easy way out! Simply stuff them in your pants and
take them with you on holiday. Surely a treat for all concerned!
(And ... if anyone asks ... just tell them you're on your way to
a futball game!)
RonL.
(Outstanding "Friday" question BTW!) ;-)
More information about the thelist
mailing list