An omnidirectional camera using a cheap Christmas ball ornament as a reflector.

I used thin struts rather than an clear tube to hold up the reflector because I was having glare issues with glass tubes. glass that isn't meant to be optical doesn't have anti-reflective coatings. The trade-off with the struts is that things will get dirty, and the view is slightly occluded.

This is a camera for my future telepresense robot. I plan to use it on an autonomous powerwheels sooner than that.

github might have a more up-to-date .scad file.

https://github.com/markfinn/markbot/tree/master/omnicamera

This allows 360 degree viewing from one webcam. I used a Logitech HD C510.

Print the plastic pieces, cut some metal struts from sheet steel or extruded aluminum, add the insides of a webcam. add a little square of glass, lots of epoxy and screws, then mount it on a pvc pipe.

I hope to start printing one tonight.

You can export a .dxf for the metal (and glass) to help get the idea where to cut, but Openscad will also print the calculated strut length, you entered the width, and the cutout is non-precision.