DIY WiFi Cam Tutorial

[TheBean]

On 7/29/2018 at 7:25 AM, Xephrew said:

I was browsing around for an outdoor enclosure and then came across this software: Kerberos ( https://kerberos.io/ ).

 

Has anyone tried it or know more about it compared to MotionEyeOS?

i tried their demo app for kerberos and it doesnt have advanced settings to change the camera stuff. so it probably is alot more basic. however, they say that their AI thing is good but dont bet your money on it. you can always try both. 

[FeaturedDestination]

Hello there, I'm quite new to this kind of stuff, and that video made this look so easy, so I decided to try this myself. I've encountered a variety of issues, including every video and image being corrupted and the Pi itself being quite unstable.

 

I believe the main issue is because I ordered a RPI Zero, and a camera module for RPI3. I can see live image and everything else works fine. Could there be a way for me to make these devices compatible?

 

The reason why I ended up with these was because DHL decided that my first, correct, order was undeliverable for no reason. I then went to find different sellers, which DHL was pleased to deliver as it usually does, but in my frustration, I didn't pay attention. I discovered this screw up while writing this.

[thiccyboy47]

How do you run these without connected to a wall's power? Ive seen some stuff online but it only seems to run for an hour..

[Xephrew]

I don't mean to sound rude if it does. But I think there should be a revisit video on this topic, a case study. Maybe setting up a camera network in Linus's house and using it for a week? Have at least one outdoor camera too.

Considering there is quite a bit of interest in this thread, I think it would be worthwhile.

 

Thanks! 

[Epictek300]

On 8/9/2018 at 5:04 AM, thiccyboy47 said:

How do you run these without connected to a wall's power? Ive seen some stuff online but it only seems to run for an hour..

The best option would be PoE, You aren't going to get good battery life out of any battery unless you wanted to hook it up to a car battery but even then you would only get a few days

[TheBean]

FOLLOW UP VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mayonnaiseblackhole]

I just built one for my parent's beach house where past security guards have been using master keys to stay in peoples houses and it is awesome! Thanks so much for the directions! The only problem I have is that every day during a similer time it records probably because of the sunlight getting to the window. Is there any way to fix this?

[StuartSab]

2 hours ago, DustierDolphin said:

I just built one for my parent's beach house where past security guards have been using master keys to stay in peoples houses and it is awesome! Thanks so much for the directions! The only problem I have is that every day during a similer time it records probably because of the sunlight getting to the window. Is there any way to fix this?

You can change the light sensitivity for each cameras motion detection. 

[mayonnaiseblackhole]

4 hours ago, StuartSab said:

You can change the light sensitivity for each cameras motion detection. 

Yah I saw that but it seemed to be so sensitive that it wouldn't detect normal motion

[mdh13192]

Well I set up 2 cameras and turned on "Enable System Monitoring" for both, but only camera1 shows (see attached). Any idea why? Not too big of a deal but it bothers me not having it working the same.

[Seiko]

On 2018-05-15 at 4:07 AM, mlow said:

Behavior in case of power failure/cut power cable?
 

How long have your been run continuously without fault? How does the overclock affect the long-term reliability of the system?

 

Does it fail gracefully and recover in events like a kernel panic/power failure/network error?

 

 

Inquiring minds..

to that I would love to add.... how does it fair while in the protective casing of the fake security camera against bad weather.... I mean sure as Canadian you are used to harsh winter... could that be used for outdoor surveillance and would it survive the Canadian weather.... both summer(rain, heatwave, etc.) and winter(cold-snaps, snowstorms, freezing rain, etc).... this could be a nice follow up.

[Sebek15]

When I try to connect my Pi zero Camera to Pi3+ server I'm getting this message:

 

Fast network camera mode is on

[Epictek300]

12 hours ago, Sebek15 said:

When I try to connect my Pi zero Camera to Pi3+ server I'm getting this message:

 

Fast network camera mode is on

Camera type should be motioneye or faster network cam depending what settings you have it set to

[mlow]

So I have an update to this forthcoming as to my solution. Pretty neat if I say so myself but not quite done. 3d printed some cool enclosures and found a source for WiFi ip came on the cheap.

[Mr Ben]

I've been trying to figure out a good weather proof case for outdoor cameras.  I'm in Texas so it doesn't get very cold, but where I am it rains a lot and is also very humid.  I settled on this pelican 1010 case drilling a hole for the power cable resealing with silicon. My concern is with overheating since there will be zero airflow and a fair bit of insulation with the rubber insert.  Further the two IR lamps on the camera module I got put out a good little bit of heat.  I haven't powered it up enclosed yet to test and check temps, but do I need to figure out a cooling solution of some sort?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Case-Pelican-1010-Micro/dp/B001CCZF6E?keywords=pelican+1010&qid=1538359013&sr=8-3&ref=mp_s_a_1_3

 

[hotbrass]

Mr Ben, I too live in Texas.  Forget about humidity if you are running cameras full time.  They run plenty hot which keeps them dry.   ALL cameras should be shielded from direct water contact.  I have not built one of those kits, but my cameras run 24/7/365 for years and they are all hot but have never failed even in the 110 heat we had this summer..

[s8nlilhlpr]

Thanks for taking the time for a write up!  Like most I have a raspberry pi or 2 lurking around from other projects so I'm off to order some cameras and give this a try.  I will be using an ubuntu VM for the hub in my homelab.

 

Like the previous 2, I'm located in Texas!  After the initial testing I'll look into mounting these properly near the doors and weather proofing.

[doc_electric]

I want to set this up myself, but I have no idea how much storage this would require if you'd use, say, 3 cameras at 720p at 10fps with continuous recording, storing the files for 7 days. Anyone have an idea how much you'd ideally need to store this? I'd assume regular hdds would be fine for this set up.

[Cedronc]

Hello

So i've have installed motionOS and i have 3 problems 

1. my "wpa_supplicant.conf" keeps failing and i don't know why.

2. When i do it via ethernet and i try to connect to the ip it gives an error and only that.

3. When i try to log in i type "admin" then enter and then enter again for the password (because its nothing) and it gives an error code "[root@meye-58ebdc91 ~]#

 

Please help my its for school. 

 

[TheTron]

On 7/26/2018 at 9:10 PM, klop2031 said:

Love the tutorial! I actually was able to get about 20fps on my little pie zeros. 

 

Here is my setup:

• 2 raspberry pi zero w (wireless)
• 1 Odroid XU4 (wired)
• 2 IR cameras found in original link
• Hyper Tough Camera (for my front yard) 
• Outdoor Receptacle cover (I purchased a slightly different one) This is for my backyard

 

I have made some improvements over the original video. In the video and tutorial they show them gluing the camera to the dummy camera "leds". I decided I would remove this so I don't damage my camera and can include one of the IR diodes as shown here:https://imgur.com/a/WhJlHvL

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As we can see I pinned the camera to the glass to reduce IR reflection and to keep the camera in place without using tape/glue.

 

 

 

 

I also was able to reach in upwards of 20fps recording at 1024x768 which is slightly higher than 720p

Just follow the tutorial but you set this resolution and fps. Then in each pi zero you must set the quality to a lower value under video device. I have set mine to about 10%. This will greatly improve your FPS. I honestly can't remember where I read about lowering the quality value while still retaining good quality, it was on the github for motioneye. Under movies I set the quality to about 30% so I don't overload my XU4.

 

Here is the settings:

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We can see that I am getting 14 and 11 fps here, but many times I get 20 depending on whats going on and my motion settings.

 

Give it a shot and see how it goes.

 

 

Really impressed with your setup. Did you just junior hacksaw away the other IR LED and circuit board that it was mounted on?

 

I'm probably going to try and create something similar myself.

 

TIA

[NeoMeUp]

Thank you so much for an awesome idea/introduction to some cool free interfaces.  MotionEyeOS you are just are cool as LTT.

[carlito2727]

I just did the whole setup with one pi 3+ as the hub and a regular pi3 and everything seems to work ok, the only issue I can't seem to resolve is to connect to my freenas. I add the correct values ip, share name username and pass and I keep getting the same error.

 

Accessing network share failed: cannot mount network share!

 

WARNING: Connect error on fd 17: ECONNREFUSED
2018-12-11 03:25:39: [motioneye]

 

I'm pretty sure I have the correct credentials but it keeps saying that it can't mount.

 

Storage device = network share

\\192.168.1.41\Movies

protocol version = 1.0

Root directory = my freenas says it should be "/mnt/media/Movies" without the quotes. Does this make sense? that's basically the only setting I'm not entirely sure.

[RICKY777]

Anyone know if you can view the cameras on the host raspberry pi? IE permanently connect a screen to pi3 running motion os

[H0pelessWanderer]

On 5/15/2018 at 1:39 AM, jakkuh_t said:

I think I got everything... if you have any questions, ask below

 

------

 

The first step is to decide what you want your setup to be, as you'll need to know how many parts to order. There is a few different options, and once you've chosen, click on the parts list for your respective setup.

 

1. Single Camera w/o hub server

• Parts list:
    Reveal hidden contents

  1. Raspberry Pi Zero W (kit)
     • If you purchase a kit make sure it includes the accessories below, otherwise you must purchase them separately.
     • Accessories required: 2.5A micro USB power supply, 4+ GB Micro SD card (get a MUCH bigger one if you plan on storing footage on camera), Pi Zero ribbon cable adapter, mini HDMi adapter (necessary to troubleshoot), and a Micro SD reader.
  2. Camera
     • There's several types such as, wide angle, infrared, and just regular ones.
  3. Camera Housing
     • Download ours to 3D print
       • If you don't have a 3D printer, you could have the parts printed by a company like Shapeways.
     • Buy one
• Pros
  • Least expensive setup
• Cons
  • Lower attainable FPS/res

2. Single Camera w/ hub server - *RECOMMENDED*

• Parts list:
    Reveal hidden contents

  1. Camera Parts:
     1. Raspberry Pi Zero W (kit)
        • If you purchase a kit make sure it includes the accessories below, otherwise purchase them seperately.
        • Accessories required: 2.5A micro USB power supply, 4+ GB Micro SD card (get a MUCH bigger one if you plan on storing footage on camera), Pi Zero ribbon cable adapter, mini HDMi adapter (necessary to troubleshoot), and a Micro SD reader.
     2. Camera
        • There's several types such as, wide angle, infrared, and just regular ones.
     3. Camera Housing
        • Download ours to 3D print
          • If you don't have a 3D printer, you could have the parts printed by a company like Shapeways.
        • Buy one
  2. Hub Server Parts:
     1. Raspberry Pi 3 (or better) (kit)
        • If you purchase a kit make sure it includes the accessories below, otherwise you must purchase them separately.
        • Accessories required: 2.5A micro USB power supply, and a 4+ GB Micro SD card (get a MUCH bigger one if you plan on storing footage on the hub server).
     2. An Ethernet cable to plug it in
• Pros
  • allows for future expandability
  • higher attainable FPS/res
  • more reliable vs. no hub
• Cons
  • costs more (you have to buy a second Raspi)

3. Multiple Cameras w/ hub server - *RECOMMENDED*

• Parts list:
    Reveal hidden contents

  1. Camera Parts (multiply by the amount of cameras you want):
     1. Raspberry Pi Zero W (kit)
        • If you purchase a kit make sure it includes the accessories below, otherwise purchase them seperately.
        • Accessories required: 2.5A micro USB power supply, 4+ GB Micro SD card (get a MUCH bigger one if you plan on storing footage on camera), Pi Zero ribbon cable adapter, mini HDMi adapter (necessary to troubleshoot), and a Micro SD reader.
     2. Camera
        • There's several types such as, wide angle, infrared, and just regular ones.
     3. Camera Housing
        • Download ours to 3D print
          • If you don't have a 3D printer, you could have the parts printed by a company like Shapeways.
        • Buy one
  2. Hub Server Parts:
     1. Raspberry Pi 3 (or better) (kit)
        • If you purchase a kit make sure it includes the accessories below, otherwise you must purchase them separately.
        • Accessories required: 2.5A micro USB power supply, and a 4+ GB Micro SD card (get a MUCH bigger one if you plan on storing footage on the hub server)
        • Optional: USB HDD to store footage
     2. An Ethernet cable to plug it in
• Pros
  • higher attainable FPS/res
  • more reliable vs. no hub
• Cons
  • cost (lol, 2 cameras + hub is still cheaper than a Nest cam)

4. Multiple cameras w/ a desktop computer as a hub

• This is a setup that you can build, but I haven't investigated it yet, so stay tuned on this.

 

My recommendation is to have a hub server regardless of the number of cameras to ensure the best possible image quality, but if your budget doesn't permit, a single camera w/o a hub server can still work decently.

 

 

Click on the header for your desired setup to see the actual DIY steps.

Any update on multiple cameras with a desktop as a hub?

[bonelifer]

I posted this as a reply to a comment on the Youtube video, but I thought it'd probably better to also post it here. How to setup Day/Night cycle modifications so that the camera works well in both situations. I found this blog post while researching motioneyeos. Basically you setup it to know your location, so that it can calculate your Sunset/sunrise times. It will then take your customized copies and swap them out and restart the motion daemon for the setting to take effect.  https://blog.ligos.net/2016-04-18/Day-Night-Cycle-For-MotionEye.html This was something I was searching for. I haven't done this project yet, as it's a long term project that is vying for a  money that is currently going into another project. Hopefully though this helps anyone that would like to optimize their cameras for maximum day/night performance. You'll obviously need to figure out your own settings, this just helps you automates the change over.