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FPC adapter for reusing cameras

A project log for Laptop Webcam Reuse Made Simple

Showing you how to reuse laptop webcams in your project

aryaArya 05/29/2019 at 13:370 Comments

This is an adapter that lets you connect USB wires to the camera easily, so that you don't need to solder thin wires to the connector's pads or reuse the original wiring. You can find the KiCad files in the "Files" section of this project.

This adapter is pinout-agnostic - no matter the pinout of your camera, which pins are ground and which are data pins, it will work. It also gives you a way to solder the FPC adapter to the shield pads on the PCB so that it's harder to accidentally tear the flex adapter off of the solder pads. Also, it accepts some variations in the connector pad pitch - I've printed it out and it works on the cameras I use, even if the connector pitch is a little bit smaller than 1mm.

Once the design is finalized and I have a chance to test it, I will make usage instructions and sell these on my Tindie store. In the meantime, you can use this OSHPark link to try it out yourself!

This adapter is designed for 6-pin cameras, so you can use it even on cameras which have microphone pins and try to reuse the microphone, too. If you don't need all the 6-pins, you don't have to solder all of them.

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