Infrared Bird Box

A bird box with a Raspberry Pi infrared camera inside.

This project will not only teach you about electronics and programming, but can help support the bird population in your area. Having a camera inside a nesting box can be tremendously rewarding; however, with the Raspberry Pi you can also share the nesting box with the world by streaming the video content to the Internet. Watch as your birds gain their own Internet following!

Lesson objectives

Appreciate the nesting needs of wild birds
Understand visible and infrared light
Understand the principles of focal length and depth in photography
Understand video streaming and content distribution services

Lesson outcomes

To have made a bird box with a night vision camera inside
To have live streamed video content from the bird box to the Internet

Requirements

As well as a Raspberry Pi with an SD card loaded with Raspbian, you'll also need:

Hardware

Raspberry Pi
Micro USB power adaptor
An SD Card with Raspbian already set up through NOOBS
USB keyboard
USB mouse
HDMI cable
Ethernet cable
LAN with Internet connection
A monitor or TV
Raspberry Pi NoIR Camera Board - has a black circuit board (try CPC)
Female to Female jumper wires, at least 3 (try Pimoroni)
220 Ohm 1% Resistor; get several in case of breakages (try Pimoroni)
Infrared LED 5mm 890nm; get several in case of breakages (try RS)

Software

FFmpeg (internet streaming software, instructions are provided on the worksheet below)
Any web browser to access www.ustream.tv

If this resource is going to be used in a class environment, it will save a lot of time if the Compile FFmpeg section under step 5 of the worksheet is done prior to starting the lesson.

Extras

Bird box (try B&Q)

Time required

2-3 hours

Steps

Setting Up your Pi
Setting up the Camera Board
Wiring up the Infrared LED
Adjusting the camera focus
Installing the camera and LED into the bird box
Streaming video to the Internet
Remote control

Worksheet & included files

The worksheet
(Optional) Final version of ustream script ustream
- Download to your Pi with wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raspberrypilearning/infrared-bird-box/master/ustream --no-check-certificate

Disclaimer

This resource will walk you through overcoming the technical hurdles to have a working live webcam inside your bird box. However, it does not cover the DIY challenges required to protect your equipment from the elements. Overcoming those is your own responsibility, and will be quite a fun and motivating activity in its own right.