Hardware Integration¶
Required Tools & Components
Tools
- Soldering Iron (+ Solder)
- Mounting Putty (e.g. patafix or Blu Tack)
- Crosshead Screwdrivers (small for M2.5 screws + large for enclosure screws)
- Flathead Screwdriver (to open electronics enclosure lid)
- Pliers
- Scissors
- Wire Stripper Tool (or scissors if not available)
Components
- Electronics Enclosure (with drilled holes)
- 2x Mounting Plate Electronics Enclosure (with drilled holes)
- 2x Mounting Plate Screw Set B M-SHR
- Raspberry Pi Zero 2 WH
- Raspberry Pi CPU Heatsink
- Raspberry Pi Stacking GPIO Header
- Micro-USB to USB-A Adapter
- Witty Pi 4 L3V7
- Single Row Pin Header, angled (7 pins)
- 4x Standoff M2.5, female-male (5 mm)
- 4x Standoff M2.5, female-female (11-12 mm)
- 8x Screw M2.5 (5 mm)
- Li-Ion Battery Pack 3.7V (4400mAh)
- Voltaic V75 USB Battery Pack + USB-C Cable
- 8x Cable Tie, 3.6 mm (length: 250+ mm)
- 2x Binding Wire (e.g. from OAK/Voltaic USB cables)
- 2x Silica Gel Pack (5 g)
- 4x Jumper Wire, 1-2 female ends (20 cm)
- 4x WAGO Inline Splicing Connector
- LED Push Button (3V) + Socket
- 2x Cable Gland MBF 20-RJ45
- 2x Cable Gland Counter Nut M20
- 2x Cable Gland Sealing Ring M20
- 2x Ventilation Plug M6
- Cable Gland M20
- Cable Gland Counter Nut M20
- Cable Gland Sealing Ring M20
- Voltaic 3.5x1.1mm USB-C Adapter
- Voltaic 3.5x1.1mm Cable (30 cm)
- Camera Enclosure (with drilled holes)
- Mounting Plate Camera Enclosure (with drilled holes)
- OAK-1 (Auto-Focus) + USB-C Cable
- 2x Screw M4, internal hexagon (16 mm)
- 2x Hex Nut M4, flat
1 Electronics Enclosure¶
We will start with integrating the hardware into the larger electronics enclosure. Don't connect the lid yet, as we will do this later on when everything is in place.
1.1 Solder Headers¶
If you don't already have a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 WH with attached header, you will have to solder a header to it. Stick the heatsink on the CPU of your Raspberry Pi to keep the header sitting flush as you solder it. If this is your first time soldering, you can find detailed instructions here. As an alternative to soldering the header, you could also use a Hammer Header.
If you want to use the LED button, you will need to solder a 7-pin angled header to the Witty Pi 4 L3V7 to connect the LED button to it. Break off seven connected pins from the angled single row pin header with pliers. Use some kind of mounting putty (e.g. patafix or Blu Tack) to hold the Witty Pi board and the 7-pin header in place while soldering.
1.2 Bottom Mounting Plate¶
In this step, we will mount the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 WH, Witty Pi 4 L3V7 and the 3.7V Li-Ion battery pack to the bottom mounting plate of the electronics enclosure.
Bocube Mounting Plate B M 2213 (bottom) with drilled holes
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 WH (+ header and attached heatsink)
Stacking GPIO Header
Witty Pi 4 L3V7 (+ 7-pin angled header to connect LED button)
4x Standoff M2.5 female-male (5 mm), 4x Standoff M2.5 female-female (11-12 mm), 8x Screw M2.5 (5 mm)
Small Crosshead Screwdriver (not shown in image)
Push the stacking header on the GPIO header of the Raspberry Pi and make sure that it sits flush.
Push the M2.5 screws through the four smaller 3 mm holes in the mounting plate. While holding the screws in place, fix the 5 mm standoffs to the plate from the other side. Don't fasten them too tight yet, we will do this later.
Place the Raspberry Pi on the standoffs with the stacking header facing the four holes at the edge and make sure that it sits flush. If it doesn't fit, loosen one or several of the standoffs and adjust their position, until the Raspberry Pi slides onto them.
Screw all four 11 (or 12) mm female-female standoffs onto the 5 mm standoffs.
Push the Witty Pi board onto the stacking header. You will have to use a little bit of force, but be careful to push only at the corners of the board without touching the electronic components.
The Witty Pi board should ideally sit flush on the stacking header as shown in the following image. If you used 12 mm instead of 11 mm standoffs or a different kind of stacking header, the GPIO pins might be a little bit exposed under the Witty Pi board which is okay.
Use the remaining four M2.5 screws to fasten the Witty Pi to the Raspberry Pi. Turn the mounting plate and also fasten the screws at the underside tightly.
Next, we will fix the battery pack to the mounting plate.
Push the cable ties through the 4 mm holes at the edge of the plate, with the opening of the head oriented towards the Witty Pi. Then push them through the other two holes from underneath the plate. Align the position of the cable tie heads with the height of the battery pack (~4 cm).
Place the battery pack between the cable ties with the cable oriented towards the white connector on the Witty Pi and align it with both boards. Fasten the cable ties, while holding the battery pack in an upright position.
Cut off the protruding ends of the cable ties. Connect the battery pack cable to the Witty Pi. Optionally, put the cable behind the cable tie head for cleaner cable management.
To attach the silica gel pack to the mounting plate, it is recommended to use something that can be easily reopened to replace a saturated pack with a new one (e.g. releasable cables ties).
In our example, we will reuse the black binding wires that came with the USB cables of the OAK camera and V75 battery (keep the second one for the camera enclosure). Push both ends of one wire through the two remaining holes from underneath the plate and slightly twist them for fixing. Use the wire to attach the silica gel pack to the mounting plate only shortly before field deployment to keep it as effective as possible.
1.3 LED Button¶
Continue with 1.4 Cable Glands + Vent Plug if you are not using the LED Button!
We will start by preparing the jumper wires that we are going to use in the next steps to connect the LED button to the Witty Pi and Raspberry Pi. The jumper wires come in different colors which can be used for orientation. Strip off two strands of two still connected wires.
Cut off the connectors at one end of the wire, while keeping the female connectors.
For the next step, you will need to strip about 1 cm of the insulation from the wires. You can do this carefully with normal scissors or use a specific wire stripper tool.
Remove about 1 cm of the insulation at the previously cut cable ends.
Twist the open wire ends with your fingers to make them more robust.
Open the latches on both sides of the four inline splicing connectors.
Insert the open wire ends into each of the connectors until they hit the back wall. While holding the wires in this position, close the latches to secure them.
For the next steps, prepare the disassembled LED Button (button, sealing ring, counter nut, socket), the jumper wires + connectors and optionally a short cable tie.
Put the sealing ring onto the thread of the button.
Take a look at the socket and note the colors of the cables that are labeled with C and NO. In our case this is green for C and yellow for NO. We won't use the white cable labeled with NC.
The green C cable will be connected to the GND (Ground) pin and the yellow NO cable will be connected to the SWITCH pin of the Witty Pi board. The red cable is the +3V supply and the black cable is the Ground for the LED ring. We will connect both to the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins.
Take off the insulation on the ends of the button cables and twist the open ends. Cut off the NC cable (white in our case) to close its end as we won't need it.
Guide all button cables under the Raspberry Pi between the standoffs, as shown in the following image. Make sure that the latch of the socket is pointing upwards.
Connect the +3V (red) and Ground (black) button cables to one pair of the jumper wires and the C (green) and NO (yellow) cables to the other pair. Push the cables completely inside the connectors until they hit the back wall and hold them into position while closing the latches.
For better cable management you can optionally use a cable tie to keep all four connectors together. Make sure to orient the latches to the outside of your bundle that the connectors can still be opened later on if necessary.
Push the female end of the jumper wire that is connected to the C (green) cable of the button onto the left angled pin (GND) on the Witty Pi board. Push the female end of the jumper wire that is connected to the NO (yellow) cable of the button onto the third angled pin (SWITCH).
Push the female end of the jumper wire that is connected to the +3V (red) LED cable of the button onto the sixth pin on the outer GPIO row of the Raspberry Pi (= GPIO 18). Push the female end of the jumper wire that is connected to the Ground (black) LED cable of the button onto the seventh pin in the same row (= Ground).
Insert the mounting plate into the enclosure with the USB ports facing towards the drilled holes and fix it with the four mounting plate screws.
Push the LED button from the outside of the enclosure through the 19 mm hole on the left.
First, secure the button with the counter nut. Try to close it as tight as possible while pressing the sealing ring against the outer wall of the enclosure. Make sure to align the connectors of the button with the corresponding slots in the button socket and push the socket onto the button with the latch of the socket aligned with its counterpart on the button.
1.4 Cable Glands + Vent Plug¶
Insert the mounting plate into the enclosure with the USB ports facing towards the drilled holes and fix it with the four mounting plate screws if you skipped the LED button integration.
Cable Gland MBF 20-RJ45 + Sealing Ring M20 + Counter Nut M20
Ventilation Plug M6
Micro-USB to USB-A Adapter
OAK-1 USB-C to USB-A cable
Open the cable gland and use a screwdriver or pencil to push out the slotted sealing insert.
Guide the USB-C end of the OAK-1 camera cable through the cable gland from the threaded side.
Open the slot of the sealing insert and put it around the USB cable.
Push the sealing insert back into the cable gland completely. Screw the cable gland nut a little bit on the cable gland. Don't fasten it yet, the USB cable has to move freely.
Slide the cable gland to the USB-A side of the camera cable. Connect the Micro-USB to USB-A adapter. Prepare the cable gland sealing ring and counter nut.
First, put the sealing ring onto the thread of the cable gland. Then insert the USB cable through the 20 mm hole in the center of the enclosure. From the inside, guide the cable through the cable gland counter nut and connect the adapter to the inner Micro-USB port of the Raspberry Pi.
Fasten the cable gland counter nut tightly from inside the enclosure while pushing the sealing ring to the outer wall of the enclosure. Be careful to keep the USB cable in position so that it doesn't lose connection to the Raspberry Pi. Finally, also fasten the cable gland nut outside of the enclosure tightly, so that the sealing insert is pressed together around the USB cable.
Remove the counter nut of one of the M6 ventilation plugs and push the plug from the outside of the enclosure through the 6 mm hole. Fasten the counter nut tightly from the inside of the enclosure while pressing the sealing ring against the outer wall of the enclosure.
If you are using the solar panel, also attach the M20 cable gland to the electronics enclosure. Put the sealing ring onto the cable gland thread, push the cable gland through the 20 mm hole on the right side of the enclosure and fasten it with the counter nut from the inside. Don't fasten the cable gland nut at the outside of the enclosure yet.
1.5 Top Mounting Plate¶
In the following steps, we will attach the V75 Battery Pack to the top mounting plate that will be fixed in the lid of the enclosure. Prepare the top mounting plate with drilled holes, the remaining four mounting plate screws, the Voltaic V75 USB Battery Pack and the remaining six cable ties. Depending on the length of your cable ties, you might only need four of them (see next step).
Start with pushing the ends of two cable ties through the two holes that are farther away from the edge of the plate while orienting the cable tie heads towards the center of the plate. Leave about 5 cm of the cable ties sticking out while turning the plate and pushing the cable tie ends through the holes at the edge from the other side. You can now already put the battery pack on the mounting plate to check if you need to extend the cable ties, as in our example below.
Put the battery pack onto the mounting plate with the USB ports facing towards the cable tie heads. Connect and tighten the cable ties. Cut off the protruding ends.
Push the two remaining cable ties through the holes on the right side of the battery while orienting the cable tie heads towards the center of the plate. Leave about 4 cm of the cable ties sticking out while pushing the cable tie ends through the holes from the other side.
Connect and tighten the cable ties. Cut off the protruding ends. The V75 battery should not move when shaking the mounting plate.
For the mounting plate integration, prepare the following tools and components:
Electronics Enclosure Lid
Mounting Plate + Voltaic V75 USB Battery Pack
4x Mounting Plate Screws B M-SHR
Voltaic USB-C to USB-A cable
Crosshead Screwdriver
Insert the mounting plate with the battery pack into the lid of the enclosure and fix it with the four mounting plate screws.
Put the lid on the electronics enclosure with the USB ports of the battery pack facing towards the USB-C port of the Witty Pi board. Close the latch on the USB port side, this latch will function as a hinge from now on and should not be opened again as long as the battery pack cables are still connected (for more info, check 1.6 Closing the Enclosure). Connect the battery pack to the Witty Pi board with the USB-C to USB-A cable.
If you are using the solar panel, follow the next steps to prepare the connection between the Voltaic V75 battery pack and the solar panel input cable.
First, connect the Voltaic USB-C adapter to the 3.5x1.1mm cable with a twisting motion.
Plug the USB-C adapter into the USB-C side port of the V75 battery pack and guide the other end of the cable through the M20 cable gland. Don't fasten the cable gland nut yet.
Push the solar panel input cable end through the cable gland while making sure that the grooved part is just barely covered by the sealing insert. Hold the cable in this position and fasten the cable gland nut outside of the enclosure tightly, so that the sealing insert is pressed together around the cable end.
You are now finished with integrating the hardware into the electronics enclosure!
1.6 Closing the Enclosure¶
You can open the lid of the enclosure by inserting a flathead screwdriver about 0.5 cm into the slit in the middle of the latch. Open the latch with the screwdriver by pushing it into the direction of the enclosure. Watch this video clip as reference before you open the latches for the first time. In this way, you can also completely remove the lid.
To make sure that the enclosure is only opened at the correct side, you can use a special blanking plug to determine the hinge side. It is also possible to close the enclosure with screws. For more information, check the Bocube info page.
2 Camera Enclosure¶
In the next steps, we will integrate the OAK-1 camera into the camera enclosure.
2.1 Mounting Plate¶
Push two M4 16 mm screws through the two drilled holes in the middle of the mounting plate. Screw two M4 nuts onto the screws until you reach the middle of the screw.
Use the 3 mm allen key to screw the M4 screws into both M4 holes of the OAK-1 camera in an alternating way. Only rotate a few turns for each screw and then switch to the other screw. Hold the M4 nut in place with your finger to avoid it blocking the screw, it shouldn't touch the mounting plate yet. Do this until the screws are completely inserted into the camera.
Now push the screws against the mounting plate from the other side and use pliers to fasten both nuts to the plate. Make sure that the camera is mounted parallel to the plate and does not move when shaking it a little bit.
To attach the silica gel pack, we will reuse one of the black binding wires that came with the USB cables of the OAK camera and V75 battery. Push both ends of the wire through the two small holes from underneath the plate and twist them around the silica gel pack for fixing.
Insert the mounting plate into to enclosure with the USB-C port of the OAK camera facing towards the 20 mm hole and fix it with the four mounting plate screws. This will be a little more difficult compared to the bigger electronics enclosure. Make sure to hold the screws perfectly vertical while screwing them in the holes of the enclosure to avoid any blocking.
2.2 Cable Gland + Vent Plug¶
Prepare the MBF 20-RJ45 cable gland, M20 sealing ring, M20 counter nut and M6 ventilation plug. To connect the camera, we will also need the USB-C cable end from the already prepared electronics enclosure.
The following steps assume that you already connected the cable gland of the electronics enclosure. For more detailed explanations, check 1.4 Cable Glands + Vent Plug.
Put the USB-C end of the cable first through the cable gland nut and then through the cable gland. Put the sealing insert around the cable between both components and make sure that everything is oriented as in the following image.
Push the sealing insert back into the cable gland completely. Screw the cable gland nut a little bit on the cable gland. Don't fasten it yet, the USB cable has to move freely.
First, put the sealing ring onto the thread of the cable gland. Then insert the USB cable through the 20 mm hole in the enclosure. From the inside, guide the cable through the cable gland counter nut and connect it to the OAK camera.
Push the counter nut against the inner wall of the enclosure and fasten the cable gland from the outside of the enclosure. Be careful to keep the USB cable in position that it doesn't lose connection to the OAK camera. Finally, also fasten the cable gland nut outside of the enclosure tightly, so that the sealing insert is pressed together around the USB cable.
Remove the counter nut of the remaining M6 ventilation plug and push the plug from the outside of the enclosure through the 6 mm hole. Fasten the counter nut tightly from the inside of the enclosure while pressing the sealing ring against the outer wall of the enclosure.
2.3 Closing the Enclosure¶
If you insert the screws for the transparent lid, you will have to screw them through the holes in the lid first. Seal the camera enclosure by fastening all four screws.
Both your electronics and camera enclosure are now connected securely and are completely waterproof. Be careful during transportation and deployment to not pull the USB cables, as this could loosen the connection between Raspberry Pi and OAK camera.
