Haselsmasher
n3wb
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2016
- Messages
- 4
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I'm a complete and utter newb when it comes to IP Camera technology. I'm unclear in what I should be looking for with regards to the camera lens I'll need. Let me describe the project:
I will be pointing the camera at something that is *roughly* 1/10th of a mile away - so maybe 500+ ft? The camera will be looking at a train track that is visible from my house. I just want to use the camera to detect the presence of a train. As I type this I realize, the more the train fills the frame, the easier it might be to do analysis on the images. (The town I live in has a train track that goes right through town. It completely disrupts traffic multiple times per day. I live outside town with that track in clear view of my house. I want to have a camera and a Raspberry Pi set up to monitor the track and send out alerts when a train is about to enter town.)
I've read the sticky in this forum on lenses and I think I'm concluding I would benefit from a lens size in the upper end of the range - 16mm - 60mm.
Do others more knowledgeable than I (that's every person reading this) have any comments on what sort of camera capabilities I need to pull this off? I'm not asking about the image analysis, etc. that has to be done on the Pi. I just am interested in getting some sort of image onto it that allows me to conclude there is a train or not. I'll also probably (ultimately) be doing some analysis about speed, detecting the end of the train, etc. but I'm not worrying (or asking) about that at this point. I just want an image that is clear for me to base some analysis on.
Thanks!
Jim
I will be pointing the camera at something that is *roughly* 1/10th of a mile away - so maybe 500+ ft? The camera will be looking at a train track that is visible from my house. I just want to use the camera to detect the presence of a train. As I type this I realize, the more the train fills the frame, the easier it might be to do analysis on the images. (The town I live in has a train track that goes right through town. It completely disrupts traffic multiple times per day. I live outside town with that track in clear view of my house. I want to have a camera and a Raspberry Pi set up to monitor the track and send out alerts when a train is about to enter town.)
I've read the sticky in this forum on lenses and I think I'm concluding I would benefit from a lens size in the upper end of the range - 16mm - 60mm.
Do others more knowledgeable than I (that's every person reading this) have any comments on what sort of camera capabilities I need to pull this off? I'm not asking about the image analysis, etc. that has to be done on the Pi. I just am interested in getting some sort of image onto it that allows me to conclude there is a train or not. I'll also probably (ultimately) be doing some analysis about speed, detecting the end of the train, etc. but I'm not worrying (or asking) about that at this point. I just want an image that is clear for me to base some analysis on.
Thanks!
Jim