Continuing on the catflap project, I purchased a rpi5 and raspberry cam 3 (both of which are the latest versions that they make - both from the same company obviously). Realized when I opened them up, that the camera uses a 20pin connector, and the rpi5 uses a 15pin connector. And of course the camera doesn’t come with such an adapter. Now waiting again, as it seems not many stock it in NZ (pbtech only have it in their head office and it’s like 3 times more expensive than purchasing from element 14).
I was keen on getting a bit done on the project over the long weekend, but that plan might’ve taken a big hit.
It’s a shame. Don’t know if it was a last minute decision to change the connectors on the rpi5, but the camera3 came out in early 2023, and the rpi5 came out later in 2023. You’d have thought they would’ve release the camera with some thought into compatibility, maybe have both types of cables in there? I don’t know.
Yeah at least there’s some progress lol. Got the Image Recognition up and running on my laptop to test it out (on their basic pre trained models) and it’s pretty cool how it all works with a live video feed. Got me pretty excited lol. All it took was 4 lines of Python!
I actually hadn’t thought about weather proofing at all, probably because the door we’d have it installed at is under quite a large canopy, and so rain doesn’t get in (there’s sort of a retaining wall right in front of the canopy as well so sideways rain isn’t really an issue either). But it’s actually an interesting thought. It seems that there are a couple of weather proof housings on the market for the rpi cams though, if I need to go down that route. Also the plan is to have it on the underside of the top of the cat flap body (if that makes sense lol) and I plan to 3d print a bit of a shroud for it, so hopefully that’ll help protect it Abit as well.
I’m away from home but seriously considering setting up a driveway camera with image recognition once I’m home and can get parts. Mostly becase it sounds cool
Yeah, I want to setup some POE wired Security cameras around the house, but it’s going to be too much work as the house is made of concrete blocks and bricks, and its a 2storey, so running the cabling through the ceiling space and out the soffit is not an option.
So it’s to stop the cat if they are holding a mouse, right? How does the “stopping” bit work?
Yeap exactly. I was initially thinking of triggering an electromagnet, but have since swung towards a “push/pull” linear solenoid actuator, which would physically block the door from opening. The reason I’m leaning towards the solenoid is that it would give me the flexibility to configure to either a “normally locked” or “normally unlocked” state (when no power is applied), plus I wouldn’t have to think about how strong of an electromagnet is needed (and the increasing power requirements for it).
Ahh yeah, Very true! Another benefit haha. Another solid reason to go with the solenoid then :)
I just realised I actually have a rpi4 that can connect to the camera unit - could’ve been testing things out the last few days while I wait. Might have something to play with over the long weekend after all.
I wonder if I’m doing something wrong/ theres a setting somewhere, but pin posts aren’t actually pin for me. I though this was just a thing on the Voyager app I use, but it’s also the same when I access in on a browser via lemmy.nz
Ahh ok that makes sense. I keep forgetting I’m not on the “NewZealand” Community, as I browse on the “Local” page(?) for all my NZ stuff, since I use Lemmy.nz
My storage started off pretty similar, then I added some storage containers, and then I couldn’t find stuff so I repurchased things I already had etc, so I put together a simple Google Sheet with all my inventory lol. Might add which container etc, each part is located to make it extra easier lol.
Though our second one is on the ground floor, and our kitchen is up on the floor above - so I find myself not really using the bottom one too much, and/or forgetting whats in the one downstairs.
Haha. Though seeing as their on their 8th YOLO adventure (different versions are actually built by different people it seems), maybe they have a method to their YOLOing madness😆
Oh man, don’t tell me that, now I’ll have to do it!
You definitely shouldn’t visit mouser.com then hahaha 😆
I didn’t even realize it was feijoa season until I went into the office earlier this week, and it seemed every other person had a bag full of em on their desk lol.
Went over to mum’s earlier today, and she gave us some as well 😆
During my research, I’ve been seeing a lot of talk around Docker. Is that sort of like in between a Venv & VM?
My understanding is that is you use a Coral TPU, it basically allows you to run things such as Image recognition on much lesser hardware than would otherwise be possible? In theory, does that mean you don’t need the top of the line everything else if you’re trying to run something like that?
I’ve only been looking at the Raspberry Cams for the moment, as my thinking was that I wanted to keep all the components as compatible as possible to make my life easier.
Though for security cameras, maybe @eagleeyedtiger would have better knowledge around what is good out there?
Looking at what others have done online, it seems the corals can really benefit inference speeds for image recognition. Hopefully I’ll be putting my order in to test it out :)
Hmm… Interesting thought from the psychologist. Can’t say I necessarily agree or disagree with them as I’m not a cat! 😆
Yes our preference would be to have indoor cats (due to their safety and wildlife safety), and we adopted a senior cat that stays indoors (other than supervised walks outdoors on a leash). Though in the case of our parents cat, we think it’s mainly due to him being a stray for the first ~1.5 years of his life, he HAS to go out. Won’t go to the bathroom indoors whatever we do for him, and continuously begs to be let outside etc.
I’ve been looking online but couldn’t find a definitive answer.
It seems that if I purchase something overseas and have it shipped here, if its total value (incl. shipping) is under $1000 NZD, that Customs won’t collect GST at the border, and rather, this is supposed to be collected by the Vendor.
But what happens if your vendor doesn’t collect GST at the time of sale, and your goods are under $1000? Will it then be collected at the border by Customs?, or by your shipper (e.g., DHL)?
Interesting, I wonder if there’s a way to know whether a seller does under that per year, or maybe if customs flags that they are doing over the limit, they send a request to the vendor, hence if they don’t seem to be collecting gst as time of sale, one could assume they are under?
That makes sense. Maybe I’ll give it a go and order it lol. It’s somthing that isnt sold here, and even if they do end up putting on GST somewhere along the line, it’s not a deal breaker.
Aotearoa Weekly Kōrero 19/4/2024
Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!...
Aotearoa Weekly Kōrero 11/4/2024
Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!...