Camera Snailcase
From charlesreid1
Old notes here: RaspberryPi/Weatherproof Camera Case/Old
Pelican Modification Stage 1
Stage 1 of the Pelican case modification was to drill a hole and insert a camera. No attention was paid to weatherproofing, the goal was simply to deploy a camera, Raspberry Pi, and power source in the Pelican case.
Modification Planz
Original pelican case
Here is the stock Pelican case (Pelican 1120 Case):
It's an absolutely perfect size for a Raspberry Pi and power supply.
Modification planz and schematics
Here is the plan: drill a 1/2" hole in the side of the Pelican case, and mount the camera to the case. Use rubber to ensure a tight fit between the camera and the body. The camera came with a plastic cover, so utilize that as the camera lens protector. (Secure it to the lens better, too.)
Principles:
- KISS
- Don't worry about making it totally weatherproof. Can make modifications later.
As you can see, I follow extremely rigorous engineering standards in my drawings.
Drilling the Hole
The camera diameter was 0.55 inches, and the largest drill bit i had access to was 0.5 inches.
My procedure was as follows:
- Drill a pilot hole starting with a small drill bit.
- Drill a progressively larger hole by using 4 increasing drill bit sizes (the Pelican case is tough to drill through).
- Drill a hole with the 0.5 inch drill bit.
- Clear excess plastic inside and around the hole with a Dremmel tool, to create a more even hole diameter.
- Test camera to see if camera fits into hole.
- Drill the hole to be progressively larger by "shaving" material off the sides using the 0.5 inch drill bit.
- Clear excess plastic with the Dremmel tool.
- Test camera to see if camera fits into hole.
- Repeat until camera fits.
- Use sandpaper to smooth edges of hole and clear excess plastic.
A couple of photos of the process. Note that I was using a hand drill, not the drill press. These photos show the smaller pilot hole, and a progressively larger hole.
Finished Case
(Photo of the finished product case: inside and out)
Packing the Case
Photos of packing up the case with foam, Raspberry Pi, power source, wifi settings, camera, go.