There are so many Raspberry Pi camera projects out there — from simple point-and-shoot cameras and robots with machine vision to motion-sensitive wildlife cameras. One limitation is often the ribbon cable between the camera module and the Raspberry Pi itself. These are often limited in length and can be fragile. These CSI to HDMI adaptors seek to overcome these problems.
With most ribbon cables maxing out at around 30cm in length, your usual option is to place the Raspberry Pi and the Pi camera very close together. These adaptors allow you to use short ribbon connectors at either end and then insert an HDMI cable in between. HDMI can be used for transmission up to 10 meters so that’s a heap more options when it comes to camera placement. We like how this could make us rethink projects and enclosures. Having the opportunity to site a Raspberry Pi indoors while placing the camera module outdoors could mean we can consider less rugged casings for the Raspberry Pi potentially reducing project costs.
The two supplied adaptors have a similar physical footprint to the camera modules so anywhere you have managed to squeeze a camera, these modules will fit. There are also some spare connections broken out on the board — an I2C bus and 3 general I/O broken out to pads which can all be connected through the HDMI.
It even comes with a nice storage box for when they’re not in use! We look forward to seeing what the community uses these for.
