flat key for pi cam

thingiverse

This is a companion tool designed to keep the Raspberry Pi Camera securely in place while turning its lens, making adjustments easier and less prone to damage. Inspired by modmike's description on Thingiverse (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2886101), I attempted to refocus my raspberry pi camera for use as a webcam with OctoPrint. On my first try, I destroyed the cam using metallic tools, so this time I used only plastic tools and printed a wrench from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1570865. Although my cam has v1.3 printed on the board, it required the V2 side of the wrench to function properly. The tool was helpful but frustrating because it was difficult to keep the small camera in place while turning its lens, causing it to be torn out of its tiny contact and resulting in OctoPrint not recognizing it afterward. The only way to reset the camera was by rebooting the Raspi, waiting for OctoPrint to reload, and then trying again. However, even after reloading, the camera remained out of focus, making the process even more challenging. To overcome this issue, I needed a second tool that could hold the cam in place while using the wrench. That's when I came up with this solution. I modified mtowara's wrench by cutting one side to make it thinner and flatter on one end. Then, I cut a square slightly larger than the camera module. With this new tool, I was finally able to see the current change and successfully focus my cam. For anyone who may need to adapt the size of the square for their own camera module, I've included the freeCAD source next to the STL file.