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4.1.1 Camera

Introduction

Here we will make a camera with a shutter, when you press the button, the camera shoots while the LED flashes.

Required Components

In this project, we need the following components.

It’s definitely convenient to buy a whole kit, here’s the link:

Name	ITEMS IN THIS KIT	LINK
Raphael Kit	337	Raphael Kit

You can also buy them separately from the links below.

COMPONENT INTRODUCTION	PURCHASE LINK
GPIO Extension Board	BUY
Breadboard	BUY
Jumper Wires	BUY
Resistor	BUY
LED	BUY
Button	BUY
Camera Module	BUY

Schematic Diagram

T-Board Name	physical	wiringPi	BCM
GPIO17	Pin 11	0	17
GPIO18	Pin 12	1	18

Experimental Procedures

Step 1: Build the circuit.

Step 2: Go into the Raspberry Pi Desktop. You may need a screen for a better experience, refer to: Connect your Raspberry Pi. Or access the Raspberry Pi desktop remotely, for a detailed tutorial please refer to Remote Desktop.

Step 3: Open a Terminal and get into the folder of the code.

cd ~/raphael-kit/python-pi5

Step 4: Run.

sudo python3 4.1.1_Camera_zero.py

After the code runs, press the button, the Raspberry Pi will flash the LED and take a picture. The photo will be named my_photo.jpg and stored in the ~ directory.

Note

You can also open 4.1.1_Camera_zero.py in the ~/raphael-kit/python/ path with a Python IDE, click Run button to run, and stop the code with Stop button.

If you want to download the photo to your PC, please refer to FileZilla Software.

Warning

If there is an error prompt RuntimeError: Cannot determine SOC peripheral base address, please refer to If gpiozero doesn’t work.

Code

#!/usr/bin/env python3
from picamera2 import Picamera2, Preview
from gpiozero import LED, Button
import time
import os

# Get the current user's login name and home directory
user = os.getlogin()
user_home = os.path.expanduser(f'~{user}')

# Initialize the camera
camera = Picamera2()
camera.start()

# Initialize a variable to track the camera's status
global status
status = False

# Set up LED and button with their GPIO pin numbers
led = LED(17)
button = Button(18)

def takePhotos(pin):
    """Function to set the camera's status to True when the button is pressed."""
    global status
    status = True

try:
    # Assign the function to be called when the button is pressed
    button.when_pressed = takePhotos

    # Main loop
    while True:
        # Check if the button has been pressed
        if status:
            # Blink the LED five times
            for i in range(5):
                led.on()
                time.sleep(0.1)
                led.off()
                time.sleep(0.1)
            # Capture and save a photo
            camera.capture_file(f'{user_home}/my_photo.jpg')
            print('Take a photo!')
            # Reset the status
            status = False
        else:
            # Turn off the LED if not capturing
            led.off()

        # Wait for a short period before checking the button status again
        time.sleep(1)

except KeyboardInterrupt:
    # Stop the camera and turn off the LED if a KeyboardInterrupt occurs
    camera.stop_preview()
    led.off()
    pass

Code Explanation

Imports necessary libraries for time handling, camera control, and GPIO component control.

#!/usr/bin/env python3
from picamera2 import Picamera2, Preview
from gpiozero import LED, Button
import time
import os

Retrieves the current user’s login name and home directory for saving photos.

# Get the current user's login name and home directory
user = os.getlogin()
user_home = os.path.expanduser(f'~{user}')

Initializes the camera and starts it.

# Initialize the camera
camera = Picamera2()
camera.start()

Declares status as a global variable and initializes it to False.

# Initialize a variable to track the camera's status
global status
status = False

Initializes an LED connected to GPIO pin 17 and a button connected to GPIO pin 18.

# Set up LED and button with their GPIO pin numbers
led = LED(17)
button = Button(18)

Defines a function takePhotos that sets the global variable status to True when the button is pressed.

def takePhotos(pin):
    """Function to set the camera's status to True when the button is pressed."""
    global status
    status = True

Assigns the takePhotos function to be called when the button is pressed.

try:
    # Assign the function to be called when the button is pressed
    button.when_pressed = takePhotos

    ...

Continuously checks if the status is True. If so, it blinks the LED five times, captures a photo, and resets status. If not, the LED remains off. There is a 1-second delay between each loop iteration.

try:
    ...

    # Main loop
    while True:
        # Check if the button has been pressed
        if status:
            # Blink the LED five times
            for i in range(5):
                led.on()
                time.sleep(0.1)
                led.off()
                time.sleep(0.1)
            # Capture and save a photo
            camera.capture_file(f'{user_home}/my_photo.jpg')
            print('Take a photo!')
            # Reset the status
            status = False
        else:
            # Turn off the LED if not capturing
            led.off()

        # Wait for a short period before checking the button status again
        time.sleep(1)

Catches a KeyboardInterrupt (like Ctrl+C) and stops the camera preview and turns off the LED before exiting.

except KeyboardInterrupt:
    # Stop the camera and turn off the LED if a KeyboardInterrupt occurs
    camera.stop_preview()
    led.off()
    pass