25 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
25 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
# Outdoor camera deployment
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**2026-10-01 update:** For the proposed Pi trial, Joshua prefers to test the Arducam day/night camera in Freddy's mouth, using its paired IR emitters as part of the character effect. See [mouth placement](mouth-camera.md). The DFRobot chair-armrest placement below remains the current hardware's fallback plan. The mouth trial needs its own lens/IR reflection, sightline, and weather checks.
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The Freddy mask is intended as a stationary prop on a covered porch beside the front door, following people who walk up to the house. The DFRobot DFR1154 V1.1 is a plausible camera for this close, sheltered position, but reliability there is not yet established. Indoor held-position tests produced coordinates at approximately four updates per second with a typical 233 ms capture-to-result time. Empty-room tests also produced false detections at the current score threshold.
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DFRobot specifies an OV3660 camera with a 160° field of view, visible/940 nm IR sensitivity, onboard IR illumination, and an operating temperature of -10 to 60 °C. Its [product documentation](https://wiki.dfrobot.com/dfr1154/) does not state a water or dust protection rating. The porch roof helps, but the bare board, USB connector, and camera flex still need protection from wind-driven rain, condensation, and insects. A mask cavity alone is not assumed to be sealed.
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## Camera placement
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- The mask will sit in a skeleton's lap on the single wicker chair in the [actual-chair photo](../reference_images/wicker_chair_skeleton.png). The camera and its four IR emitters must be hidden from visitors' normal view; an exposed hat badge was rejected. The [armrest underside pod](../hardware/chair_camera_pod/README.md) is a first-fit candidate beneath the front half of the photo-right armrest. The lens and IR openings must sit below the front/outer wicker edge, clear of the skeleton's hand, with useful person-detection frames from both approach directions. A separate camera viewpoint can still supply coordinates to the eyes after calibration.
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- Aim the camera at the front-door approach rather than the whole yard. The very wide field of view makes distant people small in the 320 × 240 frames used by the current detector, but visitors near the door should be much larger. Measure the actual approach distance and inspect saved frames before fixing the mount.
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- Give the lens an unobstructed view. Keep any protective window clean and separated from the onboard IR LEDs, or place IR illumination outside that window. A close surface already caused an IR-lit purple washout during bench testing.
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- Use the porch roof as shade while preserving a view of the approach. Check for strong backlight from the yard and reflections from the front door or sidelights; indoor success does not predict performance under those conditions.
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## Outdoor acceptance test
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1. Place the camera at the proposed chair-armrest height and angle with its intended housing. Record the path distance and a frame with a person at the near, middle, and far parts of the intended tracking zone.
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2. Record repeated normal-speed walk-bys in daylight, deep shade, dusk, and darkness. Include approach from both directions and a clear path. Measure detection rate, missed runs, false triggers, and capture-to-coordinate latency from saved logs and images.
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3. Verify whether the onboard IR lights improve the night walk-by results at the installed distance. Check the window for IR glare and the camera for condensation after a temperature change.
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4. Test two people crossing and short occlusion. A stable target should continue through a brief miss and clear when the person leaves. The current raw model output is not yet suitable to command the eyes directly because of observed false positives.
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5. Run the complete protected installation for at least 30 minutes with its final power supply. Confirm stable camera and eye behavior, clear lens, dry connections, and acceptable internal temperature.
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If people remain too small or tracking is too slow at the real path distance, adjust camera aim and resolution/model first, then consider a narrower-field camera or different detector. Keep the installed sensor choice contingent on these tests.
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