Surf Camera Prototype

This project started with the goal of building a tripod-mounted camera tracker that could follow a surfer in the water using GPS data. The system was designed to be lightweight and attach to any camera. It would rotate automatically to keep the surfer in frame, using a cellular connection from the surfer’s Apple Watch.

The hardest part was getting the cellular module to work. I started with the MKR NB 1500, but the board was defective and failed to connect. I switched to the SIM7600G-H, which had better documentation and was made for Raspberry Pi. That seemed like a good fit, but the spring-loaded standoffs for the UART interface failed. After spending too much time troubleshooting, I gave up on that approach.

I ended up soldering a direct serial line from the SIM7600 to an ESP32 and built the communication using bit-banged UART. After that, things improved. I could send SMS, ping servers, and pull data over LTE. The ESP32 handled the cellular communication while the Raspberry Pi acted as a local server. It hosted a JSON endpoint that updated hardcoded GPS coordinates.

The working prototype ran a webpage on the Raspberry Pi that displayed live coordinates. The ESP32 pulled that data and rotated an MG995 servo to point toward the surfer’s location. The system was not fully finished, but it worked. There was real cellular data flowing into motor control. I did not complete the Apple Watch integration, but the goal was for it to send live GPS and motion data to the Pi, which the ESP32 would then respond to.

The mechanical design was a challenge. My Ender printer had poor calibration, and prints came out inconsistent. This made it hard to get clean parts for the tripod mount. Still, the prototype showed the core system worked. I learned a lot about serial communication, AT command sets, and running a Flask server on a Raspberry Pi.

This was my first time combining embedded systems, mechanical design, and wireless networking in one project. It was rough in some places, but it proved the concept. I plan to revisit the design with better prints and a stronger mechanical assembly. The long-term goal is a modular, GPS-based surf camera tracker that can be used in real conditions.