timelapse

timelapse is a user-configurable automatic time-lapse trigger for digital cameras; it allows taking photos at regular intervals without requiring user intervention. timelapse is based on the ATtiny2313 microcontroller and provides a user-configurable timer with a resolution of 1 millisecond. It was designed with Canon EOS DSLR cameras in mind, but may well work with other brands.

timelapse was designed so that it may be built at home by electronics hobbyists.

Features

• Configurable delay of up to 999999.999 seconds (~11.57 days) with 1 ms resolution
• Configurable pulse width (with the same parameters as the delay) allowing timed exposure
• Configurable shot count; 1-10000 or infinite
• Fully digital configuration with LCD
• User settings stored in ROM
• Powered from 9 V battery

Obtaining timelapse

At present, the only way to obtain timelapse is to build and flash it yourself. The current (v0.1) board is a rough prototype that nonetheless does the job. A redesign of the PCB is planned; this should make it suitable to integrate into a case.

A tarball containing the design schematics, PCB layout, firmware sources and firmware HEX is available at http://proj.penguindevelopment.org/timelapse/. (Direct link to latest version.) The schematic is in gEDA/gaf .sch format, and the PCB layout is in gEDA PCB .pcb format.

For instructions on building the timelapse PCB, see the README. For instructions on flashing the firmware (and optionally compiling it yourself), see INSTALL (both files are also included in the tarball). A list of components is also available. For instruction on DIY PCB fabbing, use your favourite search engine. ;) (If you have a laser printer, you can try the toner transfer method, which was used to build the first prototype; [1][2].)

Keep in mind that you need an AVR programmer to flash the firmware. The USBTinyISP by Adafruit industries is cheap and does the job.

User guide

Operating timelapse is fairly straight-forward. A quick guide can be found in the README.

Bugs and feedback

Report bugs via email at bugs[at]proj[dot]penguindevelopment[dot]org.

Send your feedback to feedback[at]proj[dot]penguindevelopment[dot]org.

Pictures

Coming soon!