IRCamTrap

In need for a highly customizable trigger system to tell the story of nocturnal wildlife I designed and build my own system: IRCamTrap. The system is modular and quickly set up. In the following I will present its advantages.

Controller
The control box receives the trigger signal and wakes up the flashes and fires them after an optional delay for letting them fully recharge. The camera can be triggered once or multiple times to shoot a sequence of images. Also the length of the camera signal can be changed to fire multiple flashes.
The controller can be equipped with two different transmitter. One can send e.g. daily sms reports in a predetermined intervall with the number of captured images and the battery status.
The other transmitter module can upload small JPG previews to a server to monitor the camera trap from afar. That’s more efficient for remote areas to check and make sure everything’s working fine.
Set-up
Depending on the subject we can use different types of sensors to motion trigger the camera: IR (light beam) and PIR (radiant heat based).
IR sensors can be used for precise triggering when passing a specific point. Another advantage is in bright sunny condition. PIR sensors are nice when observing a wider range and detecting smaller and taller animals.
3 sensors can be combined when necessary e.g when in hish-speed mode for very fast animals.
Multiple cameras can be triggered simultaneously.

Light
Camera flashes can be be daisy-chained in any order. In the current version we are using a wired connection due to the lowest power consumption possible. Connected with a multi connector cable the system can be easily set up in multiple ways. The standard cable can be used to connect all flashes as well as light beams and motion detectors (PIR). This ensures maximum flexibility in the field. Flashes are powered by separate rechargeable batteries with 24Wh.

Features

  • Up to 2 ir light hardwired barriers or NEW wireless: max 60 different ids can be used
  • Multiple pir (wireless)
  • Interval shooting
  • Multi sequence shooting
  • Flash wake up setting
  • High-speed trigger mode
  • Video and photo release mode (depends on camera model)
  • Gsm -> daily sms report
  • Optional 3G/lte -> Upload previews
  • Aux output for additional light etc.
  • Adjustable
    time slot settings
  • Daisy chain all components
  • Several combinations of the sensors for precise shooting
  • Rugged aluminum enclosure
  • Undervoltage battery protection
  • Battery alert when low
  • >6 months battery life
Menu of IRTrap
Custom pcb

SENSORS: IR LIGHT BARRIER & PIR

IR light barrier
mini PIR sensor
mini PIR sensor with IR receiver (background)

REMOTE MONITOR FOR VIDEO TRAPS

Accessory

Ultra low power monitoring device for video camera traps that monitors battery level and taken clips. With help of a display important settings can be changed directly in the field. Such as transmitting interval, adjusting power sensing, login details for mobile providers, etc.

web interface

Images

More info about our current project: wildesnachtleben.de