Recurring Low-Cost Camera Problems

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1

We are two college students building the low-cost microscrope, and we keep running into the same few problems. We are unsure if they are related, and would appreciate any help:

  • We keep getting a “camera disconnected” message with a black screen. We have run some code in the terminal and enabled the camera, and it is being detected, so we are unsure what the problem is. We tried switching out the flex cable and the camera itself, and it worked for a little bit, and now it’s not working again. The solution can’t just be switching out the components over and over?
  • The one time we did get the camera working, we saw some horizontal black and white stripes instead of the sample. The sample did cover some of the stripes, but we could still see the stripes behind the sample. When we shined an iPhone camera flashlight over the camera, the same thing happened. Is there something wrong with the camera itself?

Thank you!

black:white stripes
black:white stripes1233×1693 126 KB

2

camera disconnected
camera disconnected935×2022 155 KB

Here is the camera disconnected image

3

I don’t know, but I would look at the power supply. If the power supply is insufficient I could imagine issues of this nature.

4

Check the ribbon cable’s positioning and bending. I’ve had a lot of trouble with acute bends and stress on the cable and it caused stripes followed by loss of image. Try temporarily repositioning the optics module so the cable is straight - if that removes the problem you might need a longer cable to relieve stress.

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