Plant Cam: esp32 camera case / mount (exotic plant timelapse camera)
We calculate the final price from your selected file. You review and accept it before payment.
Saved on this device.
3d printed enclosure for seed studio esp32-s3 sense and OV5640 with m12 lens (65mm, 100mm, 120mm, 160mm, 180mm)
- Rating
- 0 / 5
- Likes
- 1
- Downloads
- 9
- Makes
- 0
- Views
- 112
- Reviews
- 0
Updated at source:
Model information
- Source
- Printables
- Category
- Photo & Video
- License
- Creative Commons — Attribution
PlantCam: 3D Printed Plant Camera Case
Why I created this project
Plant Cam is a minimalist 3D printed enclosure for a XIAO ESP32S3 Sense microcontroller and an OV5640 camera; a sturdy mount with a tripod thread, and nothing else. I built it because I needed a quick simple solution to hold the tiny camera, lens and microcontroller in a package I could also mount to a tripod. This was primarily to collect example images and timelapse data to train the machine vision model I now use to render timelapse videos of exotic plants. But I would not recommend using this outdoors.
A plant timelapse is a long-duration sustained workload: the camera runs for weeks, and camera sensors create lots of heat, heat means noise, color shift and haze. So this design incorporates heatsinks for both the camera module (back) and the esp32 itself (bottom), keys the camera module so it can't rotate mid-run, and sinks a brass 1/4"-20 insert into a solid base so tightening a tripod screw won't break the print.
Official Plant Cam page · More information
Parts
Aluminium Heat Sink for XIAO, 2pcs (normally included w esp32 s3 sense)
1/4"-20 UNC brass heat-set insert
~25 g PETG or PLA
Print settings
0.2 mm layers, 4 perimeters, 30% infill, no supports (specifically for the heat insert).
Assembly
Heat-set the tripod insert: 7.4 mm pilot hole, iron at 230 °C, press straight and slow until flush. Cool fully before threading.
Stick the 10 × 10 mm heatsink to the thermal pad under the XIAO first — it's fiddly later.
Plug OV5640 into the daughter board.
Drop the dev board stack (esp32 and sense daughter board) into the rear shell, aligning USB-C port with the back.
Seat the OV5640 and its heatsink in the keyed front pocket.
Slide retention clasp over the back of the case.
Attach adhesive heatsink to back of camera module.
NOTE: this case is designed specifically to accommodate the external wifi antenna and CANNOT be used with a micro-sd card inserted into the esp32-s3 sense daughter board!