Coin operated open air photo booth

[arniarni]

Hello everyone, I have idea to build coin operated open air photo booth positioned on spot with great view.

Dslr camera or FHD CCTV camera will be on pole, and at the foot of the pole will be closed box with coin acceptor, motherboard and photo printer.

Has anybody so far made such solutions?

I have a few doubts:
- can this equipment stand exposed directly to the sun in summer when the day temperature is 40 degrees Celsius?
- build with photo printer, it sun is danger for printer I can just upload photos to internet page or social networks?

all the suggestions I like to accept, feel free to write of anything about this idea?

 

[andre_luis]

Without accounting safety issues on the asset being exposed to possible depredation, nor considering market viability of the enterprise, it is worthy to mention that equipment installed in harsh environments requires an industrial type specification, which is, it has an upper allowable operating temperature range if compared to commercial rated ones. As it will be exposed to other factors such as humidity, sea air, rain, etc ... you will have to seriously consider using at least an IP-65 enclosure. As for cooling itself, in my opinion, you should either use high-flow forced ventilation, or this in conjunction with Peltier-based refrigeration, but an external cover (a 'roof') greatly attenuates the heat radiated from the case walls due to Sun radiation.

 

[d123]

Hi,

You could put a gps transmitter somewhere to track the module(s) in case of theft, if it's economical enough to do so.

Silly but serious question: What happens if/when the printer occasionally jams?

 

[arniarni]

I would set up the monitoring of the motherboard and printer device via Nagios, and I will have measured temp, paper jam and etc...

At a distance of 20 meters there is a restaurant where I would authorize staff for paper jam and basic .

GPS is good idea.

but this is still in the planning and costing stage.

 

[d123]

Hi Arniarni,

Thinking about the temperature question - I don't know but - I'd guess a box (metal?) in the sun at 40ºC with heat generating devices inside would get "quite" hot. "Quite" may be insufficient to affect the printer, etc. or perhaps it might get to be like an oven at a "low" temperature and could damage components with temperature ratings below that. I do not know if there are free software programs or e.g. heatsink manufacturer calculators to estimate temperature rise in an enclosure based on a few parameters - maybe worth seeing if anything like that exists - it would at least take the guesswork out of it.

Ventilation grille(s) and forced cooling would resolve that problem.

 

[andre_luis]

Ventilation grille(s) and forced cooling would resolve that problem.

Unless the mechanics of the enclosure is designed in such a way to prevent accidental or "intentional" injection of water into its parts (being a present a risk to the user or the asset itself) equipment purposed to deploy outdoor, especially exposed to rain and sea air, I would be somewhat reluctant to use an enclosure that is not fully sealed, I mean, water resistant; therefore perhaps it could be worth to just consider using forced cooling for internal parts, and Peltier based cooling for external parts; At this case, the only electronic device which would be exposed to environment is the external fan. Indeed a great challenge for a product designer.

 

[Pjdd]

A cooling fan will take away most of the heat generated by the equipment. Heat absorbed from the sun's rays is something that needs to be seriously considered, especially when the air temperature is already high. Covering the protective box with highly reflective material or at least painting it white will greatly reduce - but not completely prevent - the heat absorption.