I just got back from a lovely hike with my dog Cody. We visited a wonderful trail in Dover, MA that runs alongside the Charles River off of Farm Road, near the Porter Woodlands. The weather was perfect – slightly cloudy, a high humidity level which opened up the cedar trees – filling the air with a subtle woodsy fragrance. The water was calm, the fellow hikers delightful. Every now and then the most amazing bird calls and navigating insects beating their wings filled the atmosphere.
I had a thought. How interesting it would be to create a device that I could hang from a tree beside the trail that could capture audio and broadcast it to a server for streaming.
- It could be solar-powered so that it could recharge when possible – since I live some distance away from where it would be placed.
- It could be consumed on a webpage on my personal website – as a way for me to virtually visit and adjust my mood while at home relaxing or working.
- It would be a nice side-project in order to learn more C (sketch) for Arduino (potentially) as well as work with some backend technologies to make it happen.
I know that almost all audio online that isn’t directly tied to desired music playback could be annoying. So it could live on a separate and selected project page as an experiment.
I could just record there and loop playback, but I am after live conditions. If it’s raining, I want to hear the patter of the raindrops on the leaves. If it’s windy, I want to hear the whistling through the pinecones and needles. If it’s evening, I want to hear the peepers.
I’m sure it’s been done before, but I am going to break the system down into bite-size requirements and design something on my own and see how far and how robust a system I can create. I will definitely not implement video for this – just audio. No one wants spied upon while thinking they are hiking securely. I will place it far enough off-trail as to not capture any personal conversations… maybe the occasional dog barking only.
I’ll make it work outside my home first, and then think about a cellular connection and then solar-power and all the edge cases with handling logic to follow. This could be fun.
If too expensive to start, I’ll still design it and then save up and wait to purchase the parts.
Update
It looks like there are cellular trail cameras. With their included SIMs you choose a carrier and pay about $10 a month for the plan. I’ve done this with my Apple Watch Ultra. So I’m interested in such a thing without needing the actual image/video transmitting. I can’t come close to creating for the same price point but I’d lose out on the learnings. So I’m not sure how to best proceed. I can buy one with a plan and use it while also coding up an Arduino at my house to create similar without the cellular or waterproof solar project box. That way I’m learning how to correctly implement but also enjoy the audio experience. I wish binaural was supported but I understand why it’s not (expense and utility). That would only benefit a moving audio source and 99.9% of the time such a thing would not be presented.
After looking at coverage maps and reading cellular reviews, AT&T seems the best for Dover, MA. And this camera looks to be about the best value. Imagine how much less it could cost if it were audio only.
