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ImageGenCam parts laid out: Pi Zero, camera, display, battery and printed case
ImageGenCam parts laid out: Pi Zero, camera, display, battery and printed caseCredit: openai/imagegencam (Apache-2.0)

ImageGenCam: build a Raspberry Pi camera that remixes every photo

Gadget, Easy

OpenAI's open-source weekend build: a Pi Zero 2 W camera in a 3D-printed case that runs each photo through image generation, with a phone web app for downloading photos and editing prompts.

View build on GitHub ↗Share on X

ImageGenCam uses a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, a Pimoroni Display HAT Mini, a Pi Zero spy camera, a PiSugar 3 battery and a 16 GB microSD card, all in a 3D-printed case. The FAQ recommends PETG because the case folds. You need a Mac with Codex Desktop, Wi-Fi and an OpenAI account.

The repo is set up for Codex to lead the build. Paste the prompt below and it reads the repo and walks you through each step. Snap a photo, pick a prompt, and the transformed image shows up in the album while you keep shooting. Built-in prompts include a clumsy scribble, everyone turned to cheese, goblin mode and an anime portrait, and a Magic Button does whatever you ask Codex to make it do.

The README says you can get it running in under an hour if you know Codex, Pi and 3D printing. No printer? Upload the STL files to a print service. Apache-2.0.

How your agent drives it

Copied from the openai/imagegencam README

  1. Paste into your agent
    Help me make ImageGenCam https://github.com/openai/imagegencam

Any coding agent that can run a shell can run these. Read the README before you run anything on a robot that moves.

Ideas to try with it

Our ideas, not the builder's claims.

  1. Mount the camera on a robot and remix what it sees on patrol
  2. Add a prompt that labels every object in the frame
  3. Use the Magic Button to send the photo to your agent
Source
openai/imagegencam on GitHub
Last commit
2026-06-08
Builder
openai
Repo
openai/imagegencam, 485 stars
Built with
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W

Links

Guides: Codex and ChatGPT hardware projects people actually built

What to build next

Builds that share a board, robot or agent with this one.