Quality of supplied borescope cam

Yeah the more time I spend with the farmbot the more I wonders what those farmbot guys thought :laughing:
I guess a lot of Americans are good salesmen…

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The borescope cameras supplied with the kits have relatively low resolution and image quality compared to a smartphone or the Raspberry Pi Camera. That’s the tradeoff we made in order to include a camera that was cost effective, readily available with a long enough cable, sufficiently small in size, and didn’t require additional waterproofing components.

If you look back at v1.1, you’ll see that we experimented with using the Raspberry Pi Camera with a plastic mounting bracket, plastic cover, and somewhat cumbersome ribbon cable to HDMI adapters in order to achieve the cable length we needed:



(Sorry that there aren’t photos of the actual prototypes we built)

While the Raspberry Pi Camera solution produced better quality images, it required a complicated installation process, was significantly more expensive, and was bulkier on the z-axis. That’s why with v1.2 (the first kits we shipped to people), we went back to using borescopes. Because we ordered 500 of them, we were able to have the manufacturer customize the focus to 1m, rather than the 5-10cm that borescopes are usually adjusted to. While the borescopes do not produce as great of image quality, it is sufficient for running the weed detection software which was our primary need.

Should you want higher resolution/quality images, you can still use the Raspberry Pi Camera or a better USB-based webcam. If your bot is outdoors you’ll need to provide adequate rain-proofing for it.

In regards to the image used in the docs - that image was either taken with the Raspberry Pi Camera or maybe just my smartphone, I can’t remember. We used it for illustrative purposes and I can see now how it is misleading. We will update the v1.4 docs to include an image taken with a production borescope.

All the images shown in this GIF are from the production borescope camera:

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Rory first of all thanks for the explanations provided!

Could you tell me how you got to the specification of 1m? My z axis would never support this, I am currently at 60 cm and I guess that is why I see kind of a blurry image…

We wanted the cameras to work for both medium-distance imaging from the z-axis/gantry looking down (20cm to 100cm distances or so) as well as long-distance imaging (1m+ distances) for potential whole-FarmBot/whole-garden views.

Because the aperture on the camera is so small (like a smartphone camera), a focus distance of 1m will actually result in a focal range sufficient for both medium-distance and long-distance imaging.

To get the best photo results, ensure your z-axis is not moving or vibrating while taking a photo. You may try adding a 1-second wait command in-between the last movement and the take-photo command to allow the system to stabilize. Also, take photos in good lighting (no direct sun/harsh shadows). I’ve found early mornings and late afternoons to be the best because that is when my FarmBot is not in direct sun. Cloudy days also work nicely.

So I had bought one of those improved boroscopes and the quality is far worse as it is very much out of focus.
I guess I will turn to the Raspi cam then.
Thanks for the link to the extension cable. That would have been my next question otherwise :wink:

Please post a picture when you own one :wink:

I own one and I got the parts to print out from onshape (which worked great), also I could change the farmbot from USB cam to Raspi cam, but I was not able to make a picture that way. It first told me it made successfully a picture but then there was an error with the camera farmware and no picture has been uploaded.

Edit: Somehow the extension is not working properly. With the camera plugged in the Raspi directly it is working just fine. And here might be the explanation why:

Edit 2: It is working now :slight_smile: And the Quality is so much better than the boroscope. Pictures will follow

Some pics would finish this thread nicely…

Gents, I still don’t have a satisfactory solution for the borescope cam. I bought the amazon crazyfire cam a year ago and now it wouldn’t work anylonger. I can’t see what the problem is, the problem with the farmbot supplied one was water into the housing after some years… I am struggling to find a good alternative as the crazy fire thing isn’t sold anylonger on amazon although it says so. They are delivering another product but sell it as crazy fire. The other solution is importing it from the US where it is sold under the Teslong brand.

Anyhow two problems I see with the china cams on the market. First the not long lasting non outdoor proofness. The problem is cable to main body and lens protection to main body. Second the problem of the auto focus. The crazy fire had an autofocus capability and it is definitely needed I’d say. Unless you have the super duper specs and know exactly at which height your cam will be operated.

Has anyone found a suitable, water proof outdoor solution? I am a bit lost and annoyed about the current “market” situation… :unamused:

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After getting my FB back to life I also found out that the camera is not in the state as is should. That’s the picture I get:
9x08uz8svagi82n3l0dfcrwvual9

You can clearly see the spot in the center where it looks washed out. I also saw that the front glass was slanted about the thickness of the front glass. I pushed it back in (now far from water tight) and cleaned the glass on the outside. But the results remain the same.

About a year ago I bought one of those Crazy Fire cams from Amazon (https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07L9XD23K/) but didn’t install it. Now I’m questioning if its worth the effort…

The question is what you need / want. If you like to get crisp pictures (useful pictures at the end) then definitely install it! If it works, it works great. As said I couldn’t find out in the end why mine was broken, returned it to amazon today, lets see if they will refund the full price…

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Thanks @Klimbim for sharing the picture! That looks really neat :smiley:

Btw if you don’t install your crazy fire cam, reach out to me and sell it to me if you want :wink:

I’m quite sure that I will install it. Aren’t you able to order the one I linked to above? :thinking:

OT

OT: The cam supplied is not the crazy fire cam anylonger, it is another cam that is sold under the wrong name…

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Just saw it in the reviews:

DE

Hier wird KEINE CrazyFire Cam verkauft. Allem Anschein nach wurde hier eine ehemals gute CrazyFire verkauft und diese dann durch eine “gunstigere” ersetzt. Wie schon in anderen Bildern von Käufern zu sehen erhalt man keine CrazyFire sondern eine “one2” Cam. Diese wird in einer schlichten Papp-Box geliefert und hat keinerlei “CrazyFire” Beschriftung.
Ging sofort zurück! Diese kam solltet ihr nicht kaufen!

EN

There is NO CrazyFire Cam being sold here. It seems that a good CrazyFire was sold here and then replaced by a “cheaper” one. As can be seen in other pictures of buyers, you do not get a CrazyFire but a “one2” cam. This comes in a plain cardboard box and has no “CrazyFire” labelling. Returned immediately! You should not buy this one!

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Any other suggestion for a cam replacement? I’ll try the raspi cam with a water tight housing next, I‘d say… :pensive:

Hey I also have a low quality camera… I bought a pi camera ,hdmi kabel and a pi to hdmi converter and mold everything in epoxy. Now I have verry high quality pictures!

I can send you de STL files from the mold (printed in pva)

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This looks great! :+1:t2:
Can you make a close up of the camera lens? This is the most tricky part I guess because the lens itself is not protected against moisture… how did you finally mount this thing on the farmbot? Did you try with PETG housings or such before? This would be my current idea to tackle this problem but I think I won’t be able to fully seal the camera and the HDMI Adapter…