Masthead GoPro project

[markxengineerin]

The idea with the revolving camera is that it's not "endless rotation". It just goes X degrees one way, and X the other, less than 720 total, so the HDMI cable should be able to spin. The idea is to support it in such a way that allows for movement. It might fail... but it's cheaper than any other option, for now. I heard back about the Nimbus. It's $15-20K.

[Montanan]

Going back to a very basic question: Why bother?

Simpler to just stick your head up from the salon and take a look around the boat.

You are obligated to keep a watch at all times.

There are much better things to do than watch a small video screen.

Turn off the electronics and engage directly with life.

Go ProLESS.

Just saying.

[Quadrille in JB]

I think that you have an idea with a lot of promise, although with a lot of potential problems to work out as others have pointed out.
I have considered installing a fixed masthead mounted video camera which would feed directly to my Garmin MFD which has a video input.
One of my previous boats had a flybridge which gave a great view of coral heads when the light angle was right. Now, on my sailboat, sitting a few feet about the water it is very difficult to spot coral heads and avoid them.
So...a masthead camera would be of great benefit around shallow reefs.
Good luck on your project and hang in there.
Problems are usually solved one at a time.

Bill in JB

[markxengineerin]

Update, prototype is mostly working



1080P is streaming in 1st test with a direct HDMI connection to TV.
My "gimbal control extension" made from 2 CAT6 cables, 12 total wires, only a few feet long for now, is working. The GoPro appears not to be charging, probably wires are too small and causing too much voltage drop. I will figure out which ones are providing power and run heavier gauge for those, along with testing the rest of the extensions at 75 feet rather than the short distance for the initial test.

I'm going with a HDMI to SDI converter for the video, mounted on the mast, 75 feet of SDI cable back to the cabin, then a SDI back to HDMI converter. That stuff was $150 on ebay. HDMI then goes to the TV and to a HDMI capture card for laptop. I will probably broadcast wirelessly to Ipad/phone, haven't looked into the best way to do that yet.

Any suggestions for a software to start playing with video analytics? I want to take a still photo every 30 seconds, rotate 90 degrees, identify dangers, sound an alarm, repeat, etc. It seems very do-able but I don't know what software to look at first. Something that will run on Raspberry Pi seems ideal.

I also need to make a dome to protect everything. The camera and gimbal will mount on top of the mast light. It needs some kind of fan cooling, the gopro unfortunately runs hot when streaming 1080P even when it's not in the sun. The top of dome will be painted white, but even so I think heat is going to be an issue.


And then there's the task of waterproofing a bunch of things that were never meant to be waterproof. Likely that will mean filling up plugs and seams with silicon / epoxies.

I have an idea for a rotating polarizing filter, adjusted (or entirely disabled) with a tiny servo motor. Going to leave space for that, but probably won't be in version one.

[Jim Jones]

Following.

I am also very interested in mast mounted cameras - not so much for navigation but for security.

That PTZ from Marshall in your original post is quite interesting - its small at 3".

There are IR illuminators that run via POE using ethernet cable - that could be good to throw IR light out to 300 feet / 90 m.

https://www.iluminarinc.com/products-page/infrared/

This one goes out to 900ft/280m of illumination range. Thats very useful for a day/night IP camera. draws 48w and is IP67 rated - so will take a good soaking in rain. The page giving details on this unit lists something interesting... "Telemetry input for remote switching"

some useful accessories , https://www.iluminarinc.com/products-page/accessories/

As for a housing, there are guys who make custom housings for taking cameras underwater. They have the knowledge and experience when it comes to optics. Could they possibly make a small housing for your needs? Maybe a little more in terms of $ then you would like but an order of magnitude cheaper then a "bought one" like the nimbus.

Finally, how difficult might it be to hack one of these into a housing like you are doing with the gopro ? https://www.optics-trade.eu/en/pulsar-axion-2-xg35.html

If this could be done, it would be thermal imaging from a top end imager at a much much lower price then all the usual names try to price gauge us on. Thermal has come way down in price - why the marine thermal cameras are still stupidly priced is simple greed on the part of the manufacturers. I could understand when thermal was relatively new but in 2022 prices for imagers are way way down - just not from FLIR et al.

[Jim Jones]

Also another link for some interesting gopro stuff.

https://diveandsee.com/blog/hero-10-...-dive-and-see/

As well there are some VERY interesting cables here. How about an HDMI cable 45ft long and uses fibre optics to transmit a 4K/25p signal ? Pricey yes but I dont know of any other custom cable shop who makes these cables.

https://diveandsee.com/products/cabl...for-Live-video.......

* Using Fiber Optical to replace copper wire as the high-speed signal transmission medium, DNC-1034 is Full HDMI 2.0 can perfectly transmit 4K@60 and 1080p60 video over distances up to 328 feet.

* Compared with any copper wire cables, DNC-1034 is not only longer, softer, but also offers better signal quality without the need for external power.

* The cable easier to use and is perfectly compatible, with no need for external adapters or converters.

The last point is important..... "with no need for external adapters or converters" - you could do away with the SDI conversion - less to fail up on the mast.

nice thing about fibre optic cable is that a lightning strike is NOT going through that cable down into your cockpt/saloon/nav station area. Something to think about.

[Jim Jones]

This might be useful ?

https://www.backscatter.com/GoPro-The-Remote

Gopro voice control - but limited to 10m

https://www.backscatter.com/GoPro-Re...ted-Remote-Mic

[Jim Jones]

Underwater housings for Gopro.....not sure if these are of any use for your project though given the pan/tilt requirement (which I agree is needed)

A custom housing will definitely be $$$ but could be worth it for thermal ??

https://thesextonco.com/projects/

GoPro Deep Sea Housing - Anglerfish Creative Lighting

- "The housing is designed to accompany the GoPro MediaMod which allows for use of the HDMI signal and external power supply."


This cable is VERY interesting http://www.anglerfishlighting.ca/dua...rol-cable.html

allows for wi-fi or Bluetooth RF signals to be transmitted up to 60m AND has DC power cables as well - all in one cable. Branded as LMR - so high quality cable.

Perhaps this could be paired with the Gopro voice command remote ? Very handy I would think if doable.

- "The housing is designed with large real estate inside to house a high voltage power supply regulator. this allows the camera to by deployed with 2km cable without cable power loss that is associated with low voltage supply."

So definitely companies out there doing this sort of thing. How to combine this with the PTZ is the thing.

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by markxengineerin

Update, prototype is mostly working



1080P is streaming in 1st test with a direct HDMI connection to TV.
My "gimbal control extension" made from 2 CAT6 cables, 12 total wires, only a few feet long for now, is working. The GoPro appears not to be charging, probably wires are too small and causing too much voltage drop. I will figure out which ones are providing power and run heavier gauge for those, along with testing the rest of the extensions at 75 feet rather than the short distance for the initial test.

I'm going with a HDMI to SDI converter for the video, mounted on the mast, 75 feet of SDI cable back to the cabin, then a SDI back to HDMI converter. That stuff was $150 on ebay. HDMI then goes to the TV and to a HDMI capture card for laptop. I will probably broadcast wirelessly to Ipad/phone, haven't looked into the best way to do that yet.

Any suggestions for a software to start playing with video analytics? I want to take a still photo every 30 seconds, rotate 90 degrees, identify dangers, sound an alarm, repeat, etc. It seems very do-able but I don't know what software to look at first. Something that will run on Raspberry Pi seems ideal.

I also need to make a dome to protect everything. The camera and gimbal will mount on top of the mast light. It needs some kind of fan cooling, the gopro unfortunately runs hot when streaming 1080P even when it's not in the sun. The top of dome will be painted white, but even so I think heat is going to be an issue.


And then there's the task of waterproofing a bunch of things that were never meant to be waterproof. Likely that will mean filling up plugs and seams with silicon / epoxies.

I have an idea for a rotating polarizing filter, adjusted (or entirely disabled) with a tiny servo motor. Going to leave space for that, but probably won't be in version one.

Maybe you can run small charging cables up to the gopro and add a buffer battery on top instead of running heavier power cables all the way up?

[Jim Jones]

A small UPS with 18650 LiFePO4 cells is definitely doable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQW-hUJ49eM

[thesaltytar]

This is a fascinating thread. I've been wanting to do something similar on my own boat for navigation and security. Prototype looks great! Impressive image quality.

I'm trying to limit power consumption so I have been looking at waterproof 360 degree cameras - while many are advertised as 120 volt this is before the adapter, so really you can just supply DC at the required voltage.

This eliminates the gimbal and places the burden of camera movement into the software rendering, i.e., no moving parts. Livestream images can be sent over wifi to the phone or tablet so everyone onboard can access the image. For this to work you need a wifi hub but this also allows gps/ais integration for open cpn or similar.

I haven't made it to a working prototype yet, just still Google shopping until I knock out some higher priority projects. Was just wondering if you had considered this or what considerations steered you elsewhere.

[AKA-None]

I still wonder if you couldn’t just use Apple HomeKit if you are going to stream anyway

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by thesaltytar

This is a fascinating thread. I've been wanting to do something similar on my own boat for navigation and security. Prototype looks great! Impressive image quality.

I'm trying to limit power consumption so I have been looking at waterproof 360 degree cameras - while many are advertised as 120 volt this is before the adapter, so really you can just supply DC at the required voltage.

This eliminates the gimbal and places the burden of camera movement into the software rendering, i.e., no moving parts. Livestream images can be sent over wifi to the phone or tablet so everyone onboard can access the image. For this to work you need a wifi hub but this also allows gps/ais integration for open cpn or similar.

I haven't made it to a working prototype yet, just still Google shopping until I knock out some higher priority projects. Was just wondering if you had considered this or what considerations steered you elsewhere.

The current crop of 360 degree cameras tend to have to low image quality on a more narrow view angle which you may want to look into.

A 5k 360 degree needs to disperse that 5k resolution over a 360 degree sphere, so you have a lowish resolution on a smaller area on which you want to focus. HD at most, when you zoom less.

8k cameras might be your best bet but they are still expensive.

The other issue is how do you keep the lense clean up aloft. An option might be a spray bottle of some sorts.

But all this adds weight aloft...

[thesaltytar]

Good insight on the 360 image quality.

As for cleaning, a coat of Rain-X may be helpful in delaying the inevitable need to run the rag over the dome.

Or maybe a little spray bottle mounted on a drone .... [emoji6]

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by thesaltytar

Good insight on the 360 image quality.

As for cleaning, a coat of Rain-X may be helpful in delaying the inevitable need to run the rag over the dome.

Or maybe a little spray bottle mounted on a drone .... [emoji6]

Somewhere around here I have a tiny helicopter that came with a squirt gun