Embedded Engineer — Raspberry Pi Dual-Camera Probe (Off-the-Shelf Parts, No Custom PCB)

I'm a designer building a compact, ruggedized inspection camera for field research use, and I need an embedded systems engineer to lead the electronics build. The system is a slim probe on a flexible or rigid extension, tethered to a handheld control unit. Two camera modules give simultaneous forward and lateral views inside dark, enclosed spaces, with IR illumination and live streaming to a phone or tablet over local WiFi. There's no cell signal where it operates, so everything runs self-contained on battery. Current state: I built a working proof-of-concept (Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, Arducam NoIR module, Python/Flask + picamera2 web app streaming over a local hotspot). It proves the interaction model. It is not close to field-ready. What I need from you: Component selection and system architecture for a dual-camera build using commercially available modules and boards — explicitly no custom PCB Board selection sized for two simultaneous 1080p streams with acceptable latency (Pi 4/5, CM4, or a case for something else) IR illumination design and thermal management inside a very tight probe envelope Power system: battery selection, runtime budgeting, charging, and safe field handling Cable/tether design for signal integrity over the probe length Bench validation and iteration on two identical units Nice to have: parametric CAD for the probe and handheld housings, designed for FDM printing in PETG. I model in Blender and have SOLIDWORKS available, so I can take this on, but I'd rather the enclosure be designed around your electronics than retrofitted to them. Hard constraints: Probe outer diameter under 1 inch (this is the binding constraint on nearly every other decision) Off-the-shelf components only Design files and documentation will be released open-source, so the BOM needs to be reproducible by a third party Deliverables are owned by the end client; you'd be working under a standard IP assignment Working style: I'm the principal on this and handle design, software, fabrication, and client communication. I'm looking for a collaborator who can support the electrical domain and explain their reasoning. We will need regular check-ins over roughly a 3 month build cycle, with a specification phase at the beginning.