hacking a webcam to work for aerial photography

I'm wondering if anyone has ever seen a webcam modified to be used for aerial photogaphy, I know that they are USB and don't have the standard video/audio connections. I recently came across a compulabs cm-x300 computer-on-module board http://www.compulab.co.il/x300/html/x300-cm-datasheet.htm that can run linux and has a usb interface and camera interface. I am wondering if anyone has tried this and connected a web cam to it since they are pretty small and would fit into the fuselage similar to the all inspiring predator look.Anyone tried this? If not I am thinking I will give it a go and post my results and progress here.

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  • I've looked at the blackfin in the past but haven't really come to the conclusion if that would be a viable solution.

    I have been looking into cameras to use on my ardupilot uav and wanted one that had the capability to zoom in and out, the cmos camera boards are lousy in this department, so I have been looking at some webcams that have around 5 megapixel resolutions with zoom not to mention they are small enough and light enough for the task. The only other option was to buy a point and shoot camera and remove it from the shell and position parts as needed to fit into the space allotted.
  • Moderator
    Web cams really have lousy optics for distance applications.

    They have plastic wide angle lenses which are not of the quality we require for flying.

    The traditional cameras we use are also quite small, but use higher quality (usually glass) lenses.
    They also handle changing light situations better due to better ICs.
  • 3D Robotics
    Seems awfully complicated for a cheaper camera. Or are you planning to do onboard image processing? If so, you might want to consider Surveyor's Blackfin board.
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