Miniature video cameras (or "spy" cameras) have always been used to surreptitiously watch an area without their presence being known. You can build your own mini video camera from a commonplace webcam that will rival any commercially available. The mini video camera will be hidden in a power plug that will escape suspicion and capture everything that goes on in the area. The mini video camera will have to be used with a computer, but it can become more portable by using it with a laptop that has a USB port.
Instructions
1. Put the newspaper down on a table. Put the USB webcam down on the newspaper. Remove the screws from around the USB webcam with the Phillips screwdriver. Unscrew the lens mount from around the lens on the front of the USB webcam.
2. Insert the flat-edged screwdriver into the seam between the front and back shell of the USB webcam. Wiggle the front and back shells loose. Pull the front shell off of the back shell.
3. Use the pliers to enlarge the hole in the back shell. Pull the USB cable through the hole. Remove the circuit board and lens assembly from inside of the back shell and put them down on the newspaper.
4. Use bonding glue to attach the lens assembly to the circuit board. Let the bonding glue set.
5. Put the chisel between the seam of the power plug's front and back shells. Strike the chisel with the hammer. Separate the front and back shells of the power plug. Remove all of the electronic components from the inside of the power plug. Pull off the AC pins inside the back shell of the power plug using the pliers.
6. Use the portable drill to drill a small hole in the front shell of the power plug. Place the lens assembly and circuit board against the hole from the inside of the front shell. Screw the lens retaining ring onto the lens.
7. Drill a small hole in the back shell of the power plug. Run the USB cable through the hole. Use bonding glue to hold the front shell of the power plug to the back shell. Let the bonding glue set.
8. Plug the power plug in an AC socket. Plug the USB cable into a USB port on the computer. Run a USB webcam video program to use the mini video camera that you have built.
Tags: power plug, back shell, bonding glue, front back, front shell