Show HN: Using RasPi and Qwen 2.5 VL to find out when birds visit my balcony
20 hours ago
- #DIY-technology
- #bird-watching
- #AI-analysis
- Used a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W with a USB webcam to capture photos of a bird feeder every 60 seconds.
- Analyzed 1,500 photos with AI to find bird activity peaks from noon to 5 PM, accounting for 70% of visits.
- Observed a 6x increase in birds on Day 3, indicating feeder discovery, with mostly sparrows and House Finches.
- Ran a resilient 93-line Python script with 99%+ upload success on spotty WiFi, costing $80 in hardware.
- AI analysis via Qwen 2.5 VL 7B cost only $0.37 for 1,500 images, making it an affordable ongoing expense.