This project came about somewhat by accident. Each year, the scouts in the field have a scout ball. Together with the other organizers, we brainstormed ideas to enhance the ball. One idea we came up with was to have a photo booth where visitors could take pictures. However, none of us wanted to operate the photo booth for the entire evening. So, I came up with the concept of an unattended photo booth.

The photo booth has become incredibly popular. As a result, I often use it at my friends‘ weddings or when people specifically request a photo booth.

The photo booth is composed of a Canon EOS 100D camera, although another Canon camera can be used as well. The camera is connected to a computer that handles several tasks, such as displaying the live preview on a monitor, showcasing the most recent photo taken, downloading photos from the camera, and sharing the photos to Google Drive.

To further facilitate the photo-taking process, I also developed a camera trigger control. In front of the individuals, there is a large green button. When someone presses this button, a ten-second countdown initiates. The countdown is indicated by a ring of LEDs encircling the camera lens. This encourages people to look directly at the lens, resulting in high-quality photos.

The control system encompasses an Atmega 8 microcontroller unit (MCU), which assesses the pressed button, manages the camera’s focusing and triggering, and controls the addressable LED using 1Wire protocol. Additionally, my hardware was intended to have an OLED display that would exhibit the timing and other outputs, such as lighting. However, these functions are currently unused since they have not been necessary.