Waterproof 3D-printed casings for use in the Amazon

High humidity, heavy rainfall and technology that must function reliably for months on end: the Amazon rainforest places high demands on technical components.
This is precisely where Hack The Planet’s “Instant Detect” camera system comes into its own. Smart cameras help the Indigenous Forest Guardians of the Borari community to detect illegal activities in protected forest areas at an early stage. Footage can be transmitted almost in real time via a local LoRa network and a satellite connection, even in areas where no conventional network infrastructure is available.

The challenge: moisture in the 3D-printed housing
The cameras are housed in additively manufactured ASA enclosures. However, micro-pores and minute leaks in the printed structure allowed moisture to penetrate and damage the sensitive electronics. The enclosures were therefore initially retrofitted with dichtol® AM, ensuring they were reliably sealed and the electronics protected.

Optimised application with dichtol® AM Hydro
In the next step, the application was further optimised. As the ASA used became softer when exposed to dichtol® AM for prolonged periods, the sealing process was subsequently carried out using the water-based variant, dichtol® AM Hydro. This makes it easier to tailor the application to the material used and the processing conditions, whilst maintaining the same objective: to reliably protect the electronics from moisture ingress.

Further information on this project is available here:

https://www.hack-the-planet.io/products/instant-detect/

https://www.hack-the-planet.io/projects/amazon-illegal-logging-detection/