Webcam for elderly

hello lain, My senior family members can't go outisde in this time due to the epidemic, So I was looking into getting them webcams and microphones (they own desktop computers) so My family and I can video chat with them, unfortunately, since many people are in the same situations, the stores ran out of webcams, so I was looking into dismantling a laptop from an E-recycling place for it's webcam and mic. I heard that many laptops' webcams use USB to connect to the motherboard anyways, how would you go in achieving such a project?

Well, webcams might use USB bus but they connect to it using flat flexible cables. So provided your motherboard even has the correct port and if webcam you're planning to scavenge has the same FFC it might work. Otherwise it would require soldering some stuff on the motherboard with no guarantees of working. Just buy your grandma a regular webcam from somewhere else.

You remove the camera and it's cable with male connector that goes into camera board, strip the wire and solder it to male USB-A plug, insulate the naked wire with heat shrink or electrical tape, attach the camera board to something at face level, voila - you have a free webcam. Make sure it's a USB era webcam, they have 4 wires. This British gentleman explains what else (along with USB webcams) can be salvaged from an old laptop: https://invidio.us/watch?v=WLP_L7Mgz6M Video specifically about webcams: https://invidio.us/watch?v=CouxmNqxO4A He explains how to find correct data and power lines: Ground always shorts with mounting holes, data lines are in twisted pair, you can guess which is which by connecting them to a computer and swapping in case of failure, a positive wire is usually red and is connected to power regulator on the board.

>>4572 buy an eyetoy off ebay