Hi All,
I'm currently working on another project that I think *could* have some potential towards dash cams. One of the interests I have is running the dash cam 24x7 without depleting the battery in the car. I don't care for the idea of the interrupt controllers that turn off the dash cam when the battery has run too low.
My other project is to build a Linux server that runs 100% off solar power. This isn't exactly revolutionary, but I'm looking for something that can fit in a laptop case, is portable, and easily moved with low setup costs.
I'm not looking to use a traditional server, but rather install Linux on an Android phone, tablet, or a Linux stick which is remarkably similar to the hardware used on a dashcam. Most smartphones, tablets, and Android sticks charge or are powered via USB.
I bought an Anker 14W solar panel that charges USB devices. It is amazing how much power you can get out of this thing (or rather how little Android-powered devices seem to need). It charges about as fast as you can get out of a wall outlet.
In order to complete my setup, I'm planning to get some external USB powered battery packs and chain them together and do some real life testing with monitoring to see how much capacity I need and how this setup works in real life. I'm going to put the "server" in a Pelican case, drill a hole for the USB cable and seal it and then stick the whole thing in the back yard.
Back to dash cams, first of all it would be nice if there dashcams were USB powered or had a USB powered option. Considering I haven't seen any (please correct me if I'm wrong), it seems it would be feasible to use a similar setup. Put the solar panel on the dashboard and connect it to one or more USB battery packs (preferably with some type of charge controller), and connect them to the cigarette lighter. In the night time, the batteries would charge up the car battery while the dash cam is using power and in the day time, the solar panel kicks in, charges the battery pack(s), and then tops off the car battery. In theory, if the solar panel was large enough and the battery pack(s) were large enough to match the amount of sunlight, time in between usage of the vehicle and car battery capacity, this system should work.
I realize there are limitations such as the solar panel not charging at full capacity through the windshield and the cigarette lighter not exactly designed for charging the car battery all of the time, but I think that in a proper setup, these types of limitations could be overcome.
I'm curious to hear what you guys think.
mrted
I'm currently working on another project that I think *could* have some potential towards dash cams. One of the interests I have is running the dash cam 24x7 without depleting the battery in the car. I don't care for the idea of the interrupt controllers that turn off the dash cam when the battery has run too low.
My other project is to build a Linux server that runs 100% off solar power. This isn't exactly revolutionary, but I'm looking for something that can fit in a laptop case, is portable, and easily moved with low setup costs.
I'm not looking to use a traditional server, but rather install Linux on an Android phone, tablet, or a Linux stick which is remarkably similar to the hardware used on a dashcam. Most smartphones, tablets, and Android sticks charge or are powered via USB.
I bought an Anker 14W solar panel that charges USB devices. It is amazing how much power you can get out of this thing (or rather how little Android-powered devices seem to need). It charges about as fast as you can get out of a wall outlet.
In order to complete my setup, I'm planning to get some external USB powered battery packs and chain them together and do some real life testing with monitoring to see how much capacity I need and how this setup works in real life. I'm going to put the "server" in a Pelican case, drill a hole for the USB cable and seal it and then stick the whole thing in the back yard.
Back to dash cams, first of all it would be nice if there dashcams were USB powered or had a USB powered option. Considering I haven't seen any (please correct me if I'm wrong), it seems it would be feasible to use a similar setup. Put the solar panel on the dashboard and connect it to one or more USB battery packs (preferably with some type of charge controller), and connect them to the cigarette lighter. In the night time, the batteries would charge up the car battery while the dash cam is using power and in the day time, the solar panel kicks in, charges the battery pack(s), and then tops off the car battery. In theory, if the solar panel was large enough and the battery pack(s) were large enough to match the amount of sunlight, time in between usage of the vehicle and car battery capacity, this system should work.
I realize there are limitations such as the solar panel not charging at full capacity through the windshield and the cigarette lighter not exactly designed for charging the car battery all of the time, but I think that in a proper setup, these types of limitations could be overcome.
I'm curious to hear what you guys think.
mrted