Helmet Camera Update

After playing around with cameras on our chickens, its time for something more action-packed.  We've been working with a friend to put a video camera on a falcon.  So far we have a simple prototype, but more to come!

There are several different camera options we are working on, too - lots of mods to make it lighter and smaller... here is some of the hardware we are 'tweeking'.  One of the camera's we have will do 60 frames per second, and so far in our testing, it is working great!  Very nice quality, and the faster FPS will keep up with the birds as they hunt - and they hunt fast! 

We put the hood on to see how she liked it... and so far, so good.  Best part of the helmet camera is that it tracks to the animal's visual focus - where they look is where the camera records.  Plus, on the head the stability of the video is excellent.  So long as the bird tolerates it...

 Here's a nice pose - she is a beautiful bird!

 Stay tuned - this is one of our most fun projects so far.  Can't wait to share some action video!

This is the perfect engineering project, too - alot of variables, high speeds, high stress (on the equipment), weight constraints, etc.  Lots of fun.