GoPoor Is a Raspberry Pi-Based Action Camera on a Budget
New GoPro cameras cost upwards of $300, but RedditPlatinumUser’s GoPoor action camera cost less than $50 to build.
GoPro’s first “action cameras” used film, but the company’s digital video cameras took the extreme sports world by storm over the past decade. Their popularity grew along with social media, as documenting one’s activities became almost as important as the activities themselves. There are countless competitors today, but GoPro remains the gold standard. Unfortunately, GoPro cameras are quite pricey. To film on a budget, RedditPlatinumUser built this “GoPoor” Raspberry Pi-based action camera that clips onto the bill of a ball cap.
A huge factor contributing to the appeal of GoPro cameras is their ability to stand up to the elements. When in their protective cases, they’re waterproof, dust proof, and shock proof. There are examples of GoPro cameras literally surviving falls from airplanes and continuing to record after they hit the ground. The GoPoor has no such pedigree. Its enclosure is made of cardboard and all of the electronic components are exposed to whatever weather impacts the hat. But it cost less than $50 to build and is customizable thanks to the powerful hardware.
The heart of the GoPoor is a Raspberry Pi Zero single-board computer, which had a retail price of $5 before the current supply shortage came into effect. It receives power from a single $5 18650 lithium battery and a $10 charger/regulator board. It records video through a $15 wide angle camera that plugs into the Raspberry Pi’s CSI (Camera Serial Interface) connector. A separate $7 Adafruit MEMS (microelectromechanical system) microphone records audio. For storage, RedditPlatinumUser chose a generic $5 microSD card. The cardboard for the enclosure was upcycled from an Amazon box and was free. The hat clip costs $10, but RedditPlatinumUser notes that one could save money by using velcro instead.
The video quality is actually pretty decent, as shown in this video of a target shooting exercise. But before you start acquiring parts to build your own GoPoor, you should be aware that you can buy serviceable consumer action cameras for about the same amount of money as you’d spend on this project. Of course, those won’t give you the satisfaction of using a device you assembled yourself.