So I reckon I'll give this a go since the development looks like its already been done. Has anyone got an old, unlocked android phone they would like to donate to the cause? It needs to run at least android 2.1 I think, and it would be preferable it it had a removable battery since I'll want to be adding my own big battery. Also, old laptop batteries (dead is fine since I'll be pulling the cases apart to scavenge cells) would be useful as well. If I can't get an old phone, it looks like I can buy a new one from ebay for about $60 anyway.
The end product should be a discrete little box that will take a photo every 20(ish?) minutes during daylight hours and send it somewhere, and should run for 2 to 3 months, or more if I put more batteries in it.
I reckon that the build cost will be under $100 (assuming I have to buy the phone, and if not, probably about $40) and the operating costs something like $5 per month (for a telstra 250 mb/month data only plan). This would give enough data for 1 photo every 20 minutes during daylight hours.
