Preface
‘I put it on hold for a few years until I saw the quad camera hat from Arducam and thought this could finally work.’
Evan Poliquin, a young professional animator and designer, told us this when sharing the inspiration for his recent hobby project, a Raspberry Pi quadrascopic camera. It is a camera that can take four photos at once, in a digital way.
Displaying multi photos sequentially while rapidly, the camera simply outputs various kinds of dynamic pictures that twitch themselves, delivering mixed emotions like fun, bored, weird, blue, and many more beyond words.
See more wigglegram photos Evan made with Arducam Quad Hat here.
Inspiration
‘I wanted to make this since there’s really no digital equivalent’, Evan explained on the Hackster.io project page.
Actually, this is not a brand-new thing. It is wigglegrams, namely, the photo wiggles between sides to show a 3D view. Back in his college times, Evan’s film photography professor first let him know about this. Evan hoped to get one, for example, a Nishika or Nimslo, which is never a strange desire for such a curious heart.
Spending hundreds of bucks on such a hobby, however, wouldn’t be the best use of money for a student like Evan. Not until he suddenly became fascinated with Raspberry Pi did Evan pick up the thought again. Well, because it was much cheaper and affordable at that time. “4 pi zeros would cost $40, and 4 v1 camera modules would cost another $40,” Evan recalled.
He did make one, but none of the images was in sync. The idea was then put aside again for several years.
And this was also when Evan got in touch with us. “I remember before the quad hat was even released, I’d bother the Arducam sales team with so many questions about your available hardware at the time. ” Evan said and told us that he almost began to quit the original plan.
“But I’m glad I waited for the quad array.”
The Quad Cam Kit
An Arducam quad-camera kit allows you to use autofocus cameras on a Raspberry Pi. By default, the kit works in a quad-channel mode where all cameras are configured to capture stills/videos at the same time.
Evan went for a 16MP version in order to finish his project as soon as possible. Before long, Arducam updated to 64MP version.
- Multiplexing with ultra high res: 4 x 64mp cameras on 1 Pi.
- Synchronized: up to 4 cameras capturing at the same time.
- Autofocus: AF/Manual/Continuous-AF out of the box.
- Better Control: single/dual/quad channel modes.
- Highly Compatible: libcamera-ready, works well with most Pi models.
‘If I were patient I definitely would’ve gotten the 64mp kit only a few months later. The added resolution, larger lens, and larger sensor would’ve made a huge improvement in my project. However, 16mp is still more than sufficient for this, especially when a lot of the images will just end up on Instagram. ‘ Evan said.
Check more about Arducam 64MP Autofocus Quad-Camera Kit
Check more about Arducam 16MP Autofocus Quad-Camera Kit
PDF quick start – 16MP AutoFocus Sync Quad Cam Kit for Raspberry Pi
Future
Evan’s project might be neither theoretically inventive nor industrially productive, it is innovative enough, though. Innovation never talks big loudly but always implies the inside passion to address huge or tiny issues that never stop emerging around and troubling us. Or, on the other hand, implies the strong desire, together with an evergreen curiosity that drives makers to think, to create, to change.
Arducam, with the mission ‘make machine vision easier’ borne in mind, acts in the same way. To think, to create, to change. Starting by adding a camera module onto Arduino that nobody ever thought of before, the founder of Arducam, Lee Jackson has been keeping this in mind for over a decade.
As a designer, Evan’s office job is a lot of generalist design with a focus on video production and animation. ‘Fortunately, they are very supportive and place an emphasis on work/life balance so I’m able to pursue lots of my other interests in my spare time.’
Being asked about the career vision, Evan’s comment showed a genuine spirit of creation: “It was great to combine all of these skills into one project that I’m so passionate about, and be able to inspire others in the process. ”
Good luck to Evan, and the same to thousands of smart and versatile makers just like him.
The Arducam Team
