Help! I swallowed a camera!

[Gordon S. Hlavenka]

I was recently the subject of a photo shoot featuring a "Pillcam SB2".
This is a gizmo the size and shape of a large pill; it contains a color
camera which takes two photos per second, a radio transmitter, and 8
hours worth of battery -- total weight under 4 grams. See
http://tinyurl.com/5szgym for info.

I retrieved the camera (don't ask) and would like to have some fun with
it. These are considered single-use items, but I'll bet if I pry the
sucker open and replace the battery I can make it go for another 8
hours. Seems like it might be neat to hang under one of those $25 micro
helicopters. Plus they make another pill that does 18fps -- maybe they
use the same controller for both, and just change a jumper...

In normal use, they stick a bunch of patches on you. Each patch
contains a circular antenna about 2" in diameter. The maximum distance
from the pill to an antenna is probably around 18 inches. I'm hoping a
larger RX antenna might be able to gather enough signal to allow a range
of maybe 25 feet. I'd be able to play with the antenna on the TX side
as well -- I'll bet 11mm doesn't allow for an optimum transmit antenna
in the pill.

Problem is, I have no idea how to receive the images from my new toy.
Assuming QVGA with 75% compression, 2fps is almost a megabit/sec. I
don't think Zigbee has that kind of bandwidth and Bluetooth is probably
too power-hungry. So I'm guessing some kind of custom transmitter...?
Does anybody know what kind of receiver is necessary to pull in the
pictures? I don't have access to an RF lab so I kinda need to have an
idea what I'm looking for. The manufacturer's site is not very Hardware
Hacker-friendly :-/ The FAQ is all medical stuff, go figure.

 

[Mike Harrison]

I was recently the subject of a photo shoot featuring a "Pillcam SB2".
This is a gizmo the size and shape of a large pill; it contains a color
camera which takes two photos per second, a radio transmitter, and 8
hours worth of battery -- total weight under 4 grams. See
http://tinyurl.com/5szgym for info.

I retrieved the camera (don't ask) and would like to have some fun with
it. These are considered single-use items, but I'll bet if I pry the
sucker open and replace the battery I can make it go for another 8
hours. Seems like it might be neat to hang under one of those $25 micro
helicopters. Plus they make another pill that does 18fps -- maybe they
use the same controller for both, and just change a jumper...

In normal use, they stick a bunch of patches on you. Each patch
contains a circular antenna about 2" in diameter. The maximum distance
from the pill to an antenna is probably around 18 inches. I'm hoping a
larger RX antenna might be able to gather enough signal to allow a range
of maybe 25 feet. I'd be able to play with the antenna on the TX side
as well -- I'll bet 11mm doesn't allow for an optimum transmit antenna
in the pill.

Problem is, I have no idea how to receive the images from my new toy.
Assuming QVGA with 75% compression, 2fps is almost a megabit/sec. I
don't think Zigbee has that kind of bandwidth and Bluetooth is probably
too power-hungry. So I'm guessing some kind of custom transmitter...?
Does anybody know what kind of receiver is necessary to pull in the
pictures? I don't have access to an RF lab so I kinda need to have an
idea what I'm looking for. The manufacturer's site is not very Hardware
Hacker-friendly :-/ The FAQ is all medical stuff, go figure.

Is there a battery or is it powered by RF from the patches?

 

[Gordon S. Hlavenka]

Is there a battery or is it powered by RF from the patches?

I haven't opened it up yet but there's definitely a battery. The pill
is delivered in a blister pack with a magnet in it, almost certainly to
operate a reed switch. And as soon as they took the pill out of the
package, the LEDs started blinking (it has 4 white LEDs for flash) but
it wasn't anywhere near the receiver pack. Also, the patient
instructions say that the camera may still be flashing when, umm, you
next see it.

I found this video

which
clearly shows batteries, however this is not the same pill I have.

 

[Wim Lewis]

I was recently the subject of a photo shoot featuring a "Pillcam SB2".
This is a gizmo the size and shape of a large pill; it contains a color
camera which takes two photos per second, a radio transmitter, and 8
hours worth of battery -- total weight under 4 grams. [....]
Problem is, I have no idea how to receive the images from my new toy.
Assuming QVGA with 75% compression, 2fps is almost a megabit/sec. I
don't think Zigbee has that kind of bandwidth and Bluetooth is probably
too power-hungry. So I'm guessing some kind of custom transmitter...?

I'm betting it's analog, like those tiny surveillance/security/babymonitor
cameras that broadcast on 900MHz or 2.5GHz ISM bands.

Can you find an FCC identifier for it anywhere? If so, you can look up
the identifier on the FCC's website to find some information about the
device, which might include the transmit frequency and modulation scheme.

 

[[email protected]]

Gordon,
I've done the same thing. I found this thread while looking for the
same information. I too thought about using this on an R/C helicopter,
or maybe just a good spy-cam. I'm not sure that the focus on the lense
will be ideal. It may be made only for macro focus, so this may be
better for a camera-on-a-stick or something similar. I'll know more
once I start getting pictures. So far, all I have done is to cut the
pill open. I still have very little information, but this is what I
have found:
The device is broken up into two small circuit boards that sandwich
two small 1.55v batteries connected in series to provide 3.1v.. Both
boards have small test contact points that I think will be very useful
for "re-purposing" this device. The first board contains the camera
and is connected to the second board with a ribbon cable. The second
board has a 27MHz crystal and small transmitter chip marked ZL70081.
After some googling, I found this:

ULP Medical Transmitter (ZL70081)
Technology:0.35ìm CMOS
Supply Voltage2.6 -3.2 V Battery
Radio Frequency:400 -440 MHz
Type of RF link:Transmit only
Bit Rate:2700 kbits/s
Operating Power:5.2 mW
Ext. comps:10

 

[terry]

Gordon,
I've done the same thing. I found this thread while looking for the
same information. I too thought about using this on an R/C helicopter,
or maybe just a good spy-cam. I'm not sure that the focus on the lense
will be ideal. It may be made only for macro focus, so this may be
better for a camera-on-a-stick or something similar. I'll know more
once I start getting pictures. So far, all I have done is to cut the
pill open.  I still have very little information, but this is what I
have found:
The device is broken up into two small circuit boards that sandwich
two small 1.55v batteries connected in series to provide 3.1v.. Both
boards have small test contact points that I think will be very useful
for "re-purposing" this device. The first board contains the camera
and is connected to the second board with a ribbon cable. The second
board has a 27MHz crystal and small transmitter chip marked ZL70081.
After some googling, I found this:

ULP Medical Transmitter (ZL70081)
Technology:0.35ìm CMOS
Supply Voltage2.6 -3.2 V Battery
Radio Frequency:400 -440 MHz
Type of RF link:Transmit only
Bit Rate:2700 kbits/s
Operating Power:5.2 mW
Ext. comps:10

Just leading on from this very interesting info; have often thought
about the following.

In many countries and areas of the world; and not just those run by
dictatorships, 'the authorities' often don't like those who are
obviously using cameras. And also cell phones that contain cameras.
Even in some tourist places there are instructions 'not to take
pictures' of police stations, military installations, political
rallies etc.

However a small camera like that could be mounted unobtrusively in
head gear without wires, sending to a recorder or transmitter to a
satellite hidden in clothing!
One could even swallow it for concealment if necessary!

Wherever the wearer looked could be recorded or transmitted to an
orbiting satellite. Even if the observer perhaps a dedicated UN
observer, witnessing, for example, an atrocity, was killed, a record
of what had been seen perhaps even the killer/s themselves could have
been transmitted instantly to UN headquarters.

Of course whether the UN could do anything without one of the major
powers vetoing it is another matter!

Seems like it could be another version of a 'little UN blue pill'!