Mukesh Sankhla's Touch Cam Is a Touch-Sensitive Network-Connected Raspberry Pi Camera

Computer science student Mukesh Sankhla has built a self-contained Raspberry Pi-powered camera, dubbed the Touch Cam — featuring, as the name suggests, a touchscreen display as well as a separate touch sensor.

"This project combines the power of Raspberry Pi with a custom CAD redesign and an innovative touch interface," Sankhla explains of his creation, "allowing users to conveniently capture photos, videos, and time-lapse sequences. The Touch Cam features a high-resolution touch display, providing a visual interface for camera controls, image previews, and video playback. With the touch display, users can easily navigate through menus, and view real-time images and videos."

The build is an upgrade to Sankhla's earlier Pi Cam, which placed a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B single-board computer and a Raspberry Pi HQ Camera Module into a custom-built case as a network-connected camera system. The original, however, lacked on-board controls — meaning it could only be operated over the network from a separate device. That's where the Touch Cam differs.

"A touch sensor has been incorporated into the design," Sankhla notes, "enabling seamless operation for capturing photos and starting time-lapse sequences. By simply tapping the touch sensor, users can initiate the desired camera function, whether it's capturing a single photo or starting a time-lapse sequence."

Using a combination of the touchscreen display and the separate touch sensor, it's possible to use the Touch Cam as a roughly pocket-sized camera — though it still retains the network capabilities of the original Pi Cam project, hosting a web server for browser-based video and photo capture. The 3D-printed housing, meanwhile, includes a fan — keeping the Raspberry Pi cool even in hotter conditions.

A full build guide, with 3D print files for the housing and code for the web server side of the project, is available on Sankhla's Instructables page.