KiloCam PCB
KiloCam is a low-cost camera designed to make ecological monitoring for conservation, research, or citizen science more accessible than ever. KiloCam offers reliable photo capture at intervals programmed by the user and remarkably long deployment duration. Here’s a bit more information:
Cheaper, easier to use, and more power efficient than a CoralCam. We always recommend users start with a KiloCam, then only build a CoralCam if they are sure they need video.
Uses the widely-available ESP32-Cam, which you can buy from Amazon or a number of online vendors for about $5-10 USD. KiloCam communicates with this board and provides it with power on a scheduled basis.
No soldering! The KiloCam board simply snaps onto the ESP32-Cam and has convenient screw terminals to attach a power source (up to 8 V).
The KiloCam board includes a high-accuracy real time clock with its own backup power supply (user-supplied CR1220 battery), ensuring KiloCam knows the time and date even when power is disconnected.
Extremely power efficient for long deployment times, roughly 32X more power efficient per-photo than a GoPro. On a single 3.7 V 500mAh battery you can expect:
As many as 3336 capture cycles when capturing one photo per cycle
As many as 920 capture cycles when capturing bursts of four photos per cycle.
Want more cycles? There’s room for KiloCam and two 500 mAh batteries inside of a typical GoPro Hero4 style underwater housing. Want more deployment time? Simply reduce the number of photos per burst.
Every KiloCam board includes breakouts for two digital pins, allowing you to control or read data from external sensors (like a motion sensor), or control external LEDs by using these pins to flip a switch or activate a mosfet.
Two variants of the KiloCam circuit board are available:
KiloCam v2 - Green PCBs: These boards are the original KiloCam and are widely used, they are also the cheapest. They operate as a timed power source for the ESP32-Cam.
KiloCam v3 - Blue PCBs: These boards are the most up-to-date and actively communicate with the ESP32-Cam, dramatically speeding up the image capture process, reducing power consumption, and allowing for accurate timestamps to be put into the filename of each image.
Please note that there may be a short delay between your order and the time of shipment. All KiloCam units are bench-tested prior to shipment. Board design may vary slightly across manufacturing runs.
For more information on what KiloCam can and cannot do, the materials you’ll need to use it, and the latest code files please visit the KiloCam GitHub repository. Questions? Please email austin@ecologisconsulting.com
KiloCam is a low-cost camera designed to make ecological monitoring for conservation, research, or citizen science more accessible than ever. KiloCam offers reliable photo capture at intervals programmed by the user and remarkably long deployment duration. Here’s a bit more information:
Cheaper, easier to use, and more power efficient than a CoralCam. We always recommend users start with a KiloCam, then only build a CoralCam if they are sure they need video.
Uses the widely-available ESP32-Cam, which you can buy from Amazon or a number of online vendors for about $5-10 USD. KiloCam communicates with this board and provides it with power on a scheduled basis.
No soldering! The KiloCam board simply snaps onto the ESP32-Cam and has convenient screw terminals to attach a power source (up to 8 V).
The KiloCam board includes a high-accuracy real time clock with its own backup power supply (user-supplied CR1220 battery), ensuring KiloCam knows the time and date even when power is disconnected.
Extremely power efficient for long deployment times, roughly 32X more power efficient per-photo than a GoPro. On a single 3.7 V 500mAh battery you can expect:
As many as 3336 capture cycles when capturing one photo per cycle
As many as 920 capture cycles when capturing bursts of four photos per cycle.
Want more cycles? There’s room for KiloCam and two 500 mAh batteries inside of a typical GoPro Hero4 style underwater housing. Want more deployment time? Simply reduce the number of photos per burst.
Every KiloCam board includes breakouts for two digital pins, allowing you to control or read data from external sensors (like a motion sensor), or control external LEDs by using these pins to flip a switch or activate a mosfet.
Two variants of the KiloCam circuit board are available:
KiloCam v2 - Green PCBs: These boards are the original KiloCam and are widely used, they are also the cheapest. They operate as a timed power source for the ESP32-Cam.
KiloCam v3 - Blue PCBs: These boards are the most up-to-date and actively communicate with the ESP32-Cam, dramatically speeding up the image capture process, reducing power consumption, and allowing for accurate timestamps to be put into the filename of each image.
Please note that there may be a short delay between your order and the time of shipment. All KiloCam units are bench-tested prior to shipment. Board design may vary slightly across manufacturing runs.
For more information on what KiloCam can and cannot do, the materials you’ll need to use it, and the latest code files please visit the KiloCam GitHub repository. Questions? Please email austin@ecologisconsulting.com
KiloCam is a low-cost camera designed to make ecological monitoring for conservation, research, or citizen science more accessible than ever. KiloCam offers reliable photo capture at intervals programmed by the user and remarkably long deployment duration. Here’s a bit more information:
Cheaper, easier to use, and more power efficient than a CoralCam. We always recommend users start with a KiloCam, then only build a CoralCam if they are sure they need video.
Uses the widely-available ESP32-Cam, which you can buy from Amazon or a number of online vendors for about $5-10 USD. KiloCam communicates with this board and provides it with power on a scheduled basis.
No soldering! The KiloCam board simply snaps onto the ESP32-Cam and has convenient screw terminals to attach a power source (up to 8 V).
The KiloCam board includes a high-accuracy real time clock with its own backup power supply (user-supplied CR1220 battery), ensuring KiloCam knows the time and date even when power is disconnected.
Extremely power efficient for long deployment times, roughly 32X more power efficient per-photo than a GoPro. On a single 3.7 V 500mAh battery you can expect:
As many as 3336 capture cycles when capturing one photo per cycle
As many as 920 capture cycles when capturing bursts of four photos per cycle.
Want more cycles? There’s room for KiloCam and two 500 mAh batteries inside of a typical GoPro Hero4 style underwater housing. Want more deployment time? Simply reduce the number of photos per burst.
Every KiloCam board includes breakouts for two digital pins, allowing you to control or read data from external sensors (like a motion sensor), or control external LEDs by using these pins to flip a switch or activate a mosfet.
Two variants of the KiloCam circuit board are available:
KiloCam v2 - Green PCBs: These boards are the original KiloCam and are widely used, they are also the cheapest. They operate as a timed power source for the ESP32-Cam.
KiloCam v3 - Blue PCBs: These boards are the most up-to-date and actively communicate with the ESP32-Cam, dramatically speeding up the image capture process, reducing power consumption, and allowing for accurate timestamps to be put into the filename of each image.
Please note that there may be a short delay between your order and the time of shipment. All KiloCam units are bench-tested prior to shipment. Board design may vary slightly across manufacturing runs.
For more information on what KiloCam can and cannot do, the materials you’ll need to use it, and the latest code files please visit the KiloCam GitHub repository. Questions? Please email austin@ecologisconsulting.com
Coral disease monitoring in St. John, USVI using KiloCam in an underwater housing.
Example of KiloCam time lapse using an ESP32-Cam camera.