Open-source wearable system for field pictures collection.
Marchin’ is a hardware–software system designed to automate large-scale image acquisition during normal marching. It enables the capture of thousands of images in a consistent, repeatable, and efficient way without disrupting natural field movement.
The system consists of a waist belt, a chest harness, and a lightweight aluminum frame that allows easy mounting of GoPro cameras or smartphone holders. This modular design makes Marchin’ adaptable to different imaging setups, camera types, and field conditions.
Marchin’ was originally designed and built by QED.ai for the ImageSafari project where the primary goal was to collect high-quality images of plants across different growth stages, heights, and viewing angles. At the same time, the system supports systematic metadata collection for each plot, enabling every image to be precisely linked to its location and plot-specific attributes. This provides full traceability and long-term consistency between images and field data.
The Marchin’ system can operate together with the QED Camera app, which integrates directly with ODK Collect, allowing synchronized image capture and metadata recording. Depending on project requirements, the system can also work with other available mobile or GoPro-compatible camera applications that support automated capture and external triggering such as GoPro Remote app.
By combining ergonomic hardware, flexible camera mounting, and structured data collection, Marchin provides a scalable solution for field imaging in agriculture, ecology, and other data-intensive outdoor research workflows.
- Assembly Guide: see how to build the hardware step by step.
- Instruction Manual: learn how to use the system in the field and configure the apps.