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A close up view of EyeGore

A project log for EyeGore - The mad scientist's assistant

Making photos of your projects while you are working on them.

joseph-eoffJoseph Eoff 06/08/2021 at 19:310 Comments

The photos I've provided of EyeGore don't do it justice.  It is far more hideous in real life than that first photo shows.

EyeGore's very hideousness gave rise to its name.  I was going to name it Igor for everyone's favorite mad scientist assistant, but  I changed it to EyeGore 'cause it'll make you eyes bleed just looking at it.

Don't believe me?

Have a closer look:

That's pretty danged ugly - but it works.

The camera is a Logitech C270 that I pulled out of its shell.  I used some heat shrink tubing to insulate it, and taped it to the frames with its lens just under the pupil of my left eye.

I can see over the camera to work, but its point of view is very much like what I see.

The rod is a "curb feeler." The camera has an adjustable focus, but I can't change it while working.  I adjust the rod to the distance I want to work from, then adjust the focus for sharp images at that range.  While working, I just make sure the end of the rod is close to what I'm working on.  That makes sure that the subject is in focus.

That's EyeGore from above so you can see how the camera, the rod, and the USB cable are attached.

EyeGore is pretty primitive, but it gets the job done.

The "Box o' Buttons" is nearly as primitive though nowhere near as ugly.

From the topside, it almost looks good:

That's two push button momentary contact light switches mounted in a standard frame on a wedge shaped wooden box.  The push buttons are robust and cheap.  They are each about 2 inches across (56 millimeters.)  Big enough to be easily operated by foot.

The bottom side isn't quite so pretty:

The buttons are mounted in holes made with a hole saw, just like they would be if installed in a wall to operate a light.  The Arduino Nano is just hot melt glued to the side of the box.  I tacked down the wires so they don't vibrate loose or break.  The USB cable is the thickest one I own.  I used a screw and washer to hold it in place.

Nothing fancy, nothing pretty.  It does make good photos, though.


Here's my usual "focus adjustment" setup:

Clear enough to read the barcode lines at the distance I usually work at.

Have you noticed the program icon?  That's a "bleeding eyeball" that spent too much time looking at EyeGore.

EyeGore runs under Linux (as you can tell from the "Comport" selector in the picture above.)

It also runs under Windows.

Here's EyeGore on Windows 10:


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