Introduction: Go-Pro Bird Sensor

What is this?

It's a sensor trigger for a GoPro which uses a PIR sensor, relay and Go Pro Labs to trigger a GoPro to record whenever a bird (or any animal) gets close.


Why?

During lockdown I began recording videos of birds feeding in our garden. I was leaving the camera recoding for hours at a time which took up lots of memory space and time. I wanted to trigger the GoPro to begin recording when a bird came close.


Should I make it?

Well... it worked very well for me and was great fun to build. This project offers a solution to triggering a GoPro using GoPro Labs which some might find interesting.


Why does it looks like a bomb?

I'm not sure...

Step 1: Cable Diagram

Overview of the cabling. The Arduino ports pictured differ from the code.

Step 2: Make 3 X Micro USB Cables

  1. To power the Arduino, you need to strip a USB cable and wire this to the breadboard. I separated the + and - wires then soldered them to breadboard cables. I then shrink wrapped over the solders (picture was taken before I shrink wrapped)
  2. You will need three of these cables: 1 to power the Arduino and 2 to make a cable to power the GoPro

Step 3: Make GoPro Charge/relay Cable

  1. Using 2 of the micro USB cables, solder the negative terminals together and shrink wrap. connect USB cable to GoPro with USB to MICRO USB adapter.

Step 4: Wiring

  1. wire all the components together as per the wiring diagram.
  2. The cable connecting the relay to the power bank goes to the centre terminal, not the right terminal as pictured.

Step 5: Install GoPro Labs Firmware

Next, we need to make the GoPro record when it receives power.

  1. go to https://gopro.github.io/labs/control/usb/ and set the parameters how you wish.
  2. scan the QR code with your GoPro and it will download the settings


Step 6: Code

The code is very simple. Here's how it works.

  1. Read sensor.
  2. if sensor value is high; trigger relay
  3. else { do no nothing }

The rest of the code is there to serial print what is happening.

Attachments

Step 7: Housing

I built the housing from a plastic box. Make sure the sensor points the subject and try to make it not look like a bomb. #100%IP68