CameraTrigger

The hardware for the laser setup is relatively simple. A basic PCB (printed circuit board) was developed for the various components plug in to. Prior to the PCB there were several prototyping stages, going from a breadboard to a slightly more permanent soldered strip board but these were too frustrating to work with. In the past I've created PCBs using both etching and milling but for this project the time seemed right to try some of the cheap PCB manufacturers based in China. A bare PCB and a fully populated one.

Today was the first attempt at setting up the laser and camera combination outside and leaving it to run by itself for a few hours. The setup is very simple and can be seen below: The three tripods at the top of the image are, from left to right, the laser, an elevated seed holder and the sensor. The tripod in the bottom left corner is a Canon 7D with a carrier bag covering it in case of unexpected showers. The lens is a Canon EFS 17-55mm, so not a typical bird photography lens, but a suitable lens to use for the test.