SenseCam vs Game Cameras
Sharp in the dark?
Appiko was selected as one of the top 20 finalists for the ConservationX Tech Prize-2 for developing a preliminary prototype of SenseCam. With this funding we created the two revisions of a prototype of SenseCam and compared it with five existing commercial camera traps. We successfully showed a proof-of-concept of the following.
- Flash + image sensor integration for no motion blur
- Minimal delay to detect motion and capture image
- Simultaneous capture on a pair of devices on either side of a trail to capture both the flanks of an animal.
We compared them on how well they can capture images in low light conditions without motion blur and how quickly they can detect and capture an animal.
Low Light test
In this jig, we have a rotating arm made of wood, fixed to a 100RPM motor, and reduced the speed to around 32RPM so that we can capture the ARM and consider its extreme end (0.9 m/s) as a walking speed of an animal. The arm was also fitted with a color palette so that we can also have a view of color accuracy of the sensors with flash in low light conditions. In this test, we set the exposure time to the lowest for all the camera traps that allowed us to do so.
Response Time Test
In this test we heat a block of Aluminum at 40 degree Celsius, and move it from one end of the jig to the other, with constant speed of 0.16m/s for all the tests. The jig also has a scale with some markings on it for the first few centimeters for differentiating the edge cases. The technology used in this jig was inspired by that of a 3D printer. In this test, some camera traps which gave an option to set the PIR sensitivity, we set it to high.
Here are the test results for both of them
Finally, in this video below you can find more details of the process that we followed for creating this version of SenseCam.
