EEVblog #278 - Elmo Visual Presenter Teardown

Teardown Tuesday
What's inside an Elmo Visual Presenter?
More importantly, can it be used as a PCB inspection/soldering tool?

[EEVblog]

Thanks for the support, but I'm afraid "really interesting" is entirely different for every single one of my 15000+ viewers. I can't possible make videos to please everyone.

[paleozon]

Dave, these document cameras have a microscope adapter that fits over the lens to be able to zoom in even closer. They are availabe for certain models but not others. You may want to check if this one has an adapter. Great work, tearing it up and enhancing it.

[EEVblog]

The problem was not Vegas, it was my 2nd render step using Handbrake.

[myozone]

'Most' cameras can be made to focus nearer than specced if the lenses is moved further away from the sensor, but this can effect to depth of field a lot. I don't know if it would be the case with your setup but might be worth a go !

[stumbling]

We can expect some swooping cinematic camera shots of circuit boards in future then?

[MattNeighbour]

The sticky pads under the PCB are likely to be thermally conductive, they appeared to be under the BGAs and will conduct heat directly to the chassis.

[SuperAhmed]

Dave, the lenses you use with your HD camera in the other videos (diopters, +10...) should work with this, as well.
Btw, sidenote, 10$ isn't exactly "expensive" for these, try 8-16x more.

[YQTFun]

The school put ELMOs in all the lecture and labs last year, pretty cool when a prof is describing components and such. I wonder what the video input is for?

[EEVblog]

Yep, yep, yep, and yep. Please keep hassling me so I can get off my bum and produce some more variety!

[Falcrist]

I bet someone with plenty of time could turn that thing into a very nice soldering station!
Make the arm collapsible so the camera and light can be moved closer. Maybe change the lens so it can focus properly. Cover the surface in some kind of heat resistant material. Move the built in LCD and keypad elsewhere. Mount a nice big LCD somewhere easy to look at.

[Coolkeys]

Loved the combination of tear down mod and operation, would like you to operate all the items you tear down if possible.

[alexkantor]

They used these at my school. Very nice, very clear. Came in Ferrari red.

[jvcrules]

Send it to the geek group. I remember they needed one for teardowns. Or use it yourself for closeup teardowns.

[Dr.Stein]

Excellent teardown. I got the full demo from the video! I need a close-up magnifying deck for soldering, and want to use a screen and not a lens.

[PrimalEdge]

just got connected to your stuff - liking it so far!

[eptgrant]

Just mount the camera on a big arm attached to the bench, mount the monitor somewhere near it, and presto

[daspolemon]

I'd check to see if the firmware can be changed of that thing. Possibly with adding Video recording capabilities. There are cheap Chinese cams that record in HD (808 #16) and fit in a key chain thingy. Since this device has SD card support, it's only a matter of firmware.

[joblessalex]

I can't believe I can learn so much over your videos! Keep making them, and make one on which parts are salvageable from various devices please. I am just a kid, and horridly poor!

[bits]

These have a very nice output quality, the models they use in my classes output anything from 640x480 VGA to SXGA. There are cheaper models that only do VGA, XGA, and SVGA, however and I have also seen those hanging around in a couple classrooms.

[ab.]

You could probably use a various mess of adapters for DVI to HDMI to a capture card in a computer.