Remote (really remote) webcam

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Remote (really remote) webcam

GSVNoFixedAbode

55 posts

Master Geek

#280531 21-Dec-2020 13:44

I'm looking to build a remote webcam (think Alpine hut) that can take hourly images and FTP them back to a server via cellular.

Criteria:

- low power, solar+batteries

- set & forget

- cheap as chips (volunteer group) & theoretically replaceable if damaged/broken/ Kea'd

- enclosure not an issue (I can print that)

So far I was wondering about:

- esp32 + camera + solar +{some form of cellular}

- R.Pi0 + T-stick or hat + solar, running MotionEyeOS

- Arduino + camera + solar + {some form of cellular - T-stick?)

- Old Android phone + solar & clever code to keep it low power.

Has anyone done something like this here? I'm familiar with a Pi Zero running MotionEyeOS, but would need to code that to drop into low power 55 minutes out of 60. Seen but not yet played with esp32 or Arduino.

This is #8 wire stuff rather than slashing out on $300-$400 security monitoring whiteware. Has anyone here gone down this particular path?

Cheers.

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467 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#2624979 21-Dec-2020 14:28

Hi - sounds like an interesting project. I've been testing some equipment for something similar to this, but haven't deployed anything yet to confirm its viability.

I'm working on a unit to capture good quality time-lapse frames that can be edited together into a video for a long term construction project. I'm using a cast-off Apple iPhone 7 and an app called 'Osnap'

The app is quite well advanced and has the ability to set 'blackout' time so it's not trying to capture images over night. It will send images to a companion app being run on a remote computer, but should also hand off the images to the phone's camera roll which should then be able to be checked remotely with Google Photos or iCloud... but I'm finding that the photos only seem to be saved to the 'camera roll' after exiting the app. This last hiccup is a pain as it would be nice to not have to have a computer dedicated to staying on 24/7 to receive the images.

I've also started testing small solar panels (from Aliexpress) that have built-in USB ports to provide power... but the panels must be too small to actually out put enough to power and charge the iPhone. Using a battery bank between the solar panel & the phone could be the solution, but so far the banks I've tested will not accept a charge and output power at the same time. I have just received a kit-set solar powered battery bank that seem to output while charging, but I haven't tested fully yet.

I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible - hence trying to stick with ready-made solutions, and although there are off-the-shelf units for time-lapse available, they all seem overkill for my possible use (and overly expensive).

There may be phones that will charge OK from the small solar panels, but the drain of running the app may be too much for long term use...?

So... I can't really recommend anything for you, but maybe give you more food for thought...

Cheers,
Mike

Photographer/Videographer clickmedia.nz

frankv

5680 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2625000 21-Dec-2020 15:27

FWIW, I know someone who has installed webcams + weather stations at a number of airfields. Of course, it differs from your project in that there's no power supply issues. But he does it with a RPi with some webcams, and a cellular modem.

Solar panels may not be ideal in an alpine environment where they're liable to be covered in snow. Or kea crap. Also, batteries lose their ability to hold charge when they get cold. Also, is the hut within cellular range?

Maybe some kind of "Joule thief" circuit might work to take the small current from the panel and convert it into large enough chunks to be useful?

Rather than putting the RPi into low power mode for 55 minutes/60, turn it off completely, and have an external circuit to power it up? The RPi would toggle an output pin connected to the circuit to turn the power off in (say) 1 minute, then shut itself down.

In Alaska, they installed a bunch of aircraft trackers at probably more remote locations than your hut. It might be worth looking into what they used?

RmACK

196 posts

Master Geek

#2625094 21-Dec-2020 20:41

When I researched something like this a year ago, I concluded that an old Android phone looked like the closest DIY option - it had the radios, a camera & a battery already, just add solar panel, charger and enclosure and a suitable app. Most importantly, already low power whereas RPi is too power hungry. Didn't look seriously at ESP as I've not interfaced them to cameras before or played with any cellular versions before. Being less remote, I also looked at wifi options but would have had to liaise with neighbours etc which wasn't practical (1 also a building site, other a rental).

Sadly, the project ran out of time & the old phone I had earmarked for it turned out to be dead, so I gave in and bought an OTS option (a Black Friday sale knocked $100 off, so while it was pretty pricey, the cost was a mere rounding error for the construction project it monitored over the xmas period).

GSVNoFixedAbode

55 posts

Master Geek

#2625341 22-Dec-2020 10:01

clicknz:

I've also started testing small solar panels (from Aliexpress) that have built-in USB ports to provide power... but the panels must be too small to actually out put enough to power and charge the iPhone. Using a battery bank between the solar panel & the phone could be the solution, but so far the banks I've tested will not accept a charge and output power at the same time. I have just received a kit-set solar powered battery bank that seem to output while charging, but I haven't tested fully yet.

Still looking at the potential of using an old Android or iPhone as the easiest path, but it seems the always-on power requirements compared to a on-snap-send-off board-based system are way too high.

Thanks for the comments so far everyone.

GSVNoFixedAbode

55 posts

Master Geek

#2625392 22-Dec-2020 10:59

Related question - anyone ever get a Raspberry Pi running with a Vodafone or Spark T-stick for mobile internet? Just wondering what the power requirements would be.

elpenguino

3419 posts

Uber Geek

#2625442 22-Dec-2020 12:32

This table shows Pi power consumption of the first few models. If 230 mA is your 'always on' current load (+ modem) then your solar PSU needs to be quite large. ( I gave up recording the later models when I saw they were not aimed at a low power market).

It can be tempting to spend considerable effort to minimise power consumption however this adds complexity (= time + $$) to your development.

It can be tempting to then 'simply' supersize your solar power supply but then this will require larger structures and batteries which are not without their own cost + issues (consent?).

I'd suggest that if you don't want to spend the next n months of your life figuring this all out , that you opt for a commercial offering. Perhaps an Arlo (sp?) cam or similar + a modem would get you going.

Once you know your load you'll be able to design a solar power supply of the correct rating to give you reliable supply.

Note that reliability of solar power supply goes up with the amount spent on panels and batteries.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

GSVNoFixedAbode

55 posts

Master Geek

#2625455 22-Dec-2020 12:56

elpenguino:

This table shows Pi power consumption of the first few models. If 230 mA is your 'always on' current load (+ modem) then your solar PSU needs to be quite large. ( I gave up recording the later models when I saw they were not aimed at a low power market).

Thanks. The Pi with MotionEyeOS does everything & would be on a microcircuit timer to power on hourly, take the image then auto power off. The problem with a Pi Zero at this stage is trying to find a T-stick/USB Modem that a) works with linux and b) is still available for Spark.

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noroad

949 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#2625465 22-Dec-2020 13:25

A ready done solution that will just work (assuming cellular coverage)-

https://www.arlo.com/nz/products/arlo-go/default.aspx

https://www.arlo.com/nz/products/arlo-pro/solar-panel.aspx

If you go cheap you will get cheap, just saying.

GSVNoFixedAbode

55 posts

Master Geek

#2625617 22-Dec-2020 19:30

noroad:

A ready done solution that will just work (assuming cellular coverage)-

https://www.arlo.com/nz/products/arlo-go/default.aspx

https://www.arlo.com/nz/products/arlo-pro/solar-panel.aspx

If you go cheap you will get cheap, just saying.

Thanks for the Arlo links - they look good. Unfortunately this is a volunteer group so $800+ for hardware that might get damaged/'lost' is a bit of a stretch, especially if it works and can roll out to other locations. A Pi-based solution would be around $100. That I can just about justify out of my own pocket.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#2625668 22-Dec-2020 23:20

Depending on how much time you want to spend on eBay on this, you can get surplus industrial cameras that do this. For example your wishlist immediately reminded me of the DCM14, but they're asking a bit too much for a ~20-year-old camera with very old firmware. Having said that, those things will run forever under very adverse conditions, including long power outages.

GSVNoFixedAbode

55 posts

Master Geek

#2628192 30-Dec-2020 19:13

Just an update: got a Pi (3B for the moment, Zero once it arrives) with camera, old Telecom T-stick (mf180), and using raspistill to grab an hourly image.

Turned off HDMI, BT, to minimise power for the moment and will do similar for wifi when ready.

I used uhubctl to keep the USB slot powered off until ready to send the image, so sequence is:
Crontab to run a script hourly 8am-8pm,
Power on USB
Take image
Connect T-stick modem
Send image via FTP
Disconnect modem
Power off USB

Next job: measure current when quiet and when sending; find/print a suitable case for the environment.

frankv

5680 posts

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#2628666 31-Dec-2020 17:28

I suspect that you will be using a lot of power keeping the Pi alive while its doing nothing useful except incrementing the seconds counter.

This page has some ways to reduce power (e.g. turn off HDMI & LEDs) https://raspberry-projects.com/pi/pi-hardware/raspberry-pi-zero/minimising-power-consumption

And maybe you can reduce the CPU clock speed enough to make a difference?

However, I suggest that you look for a RTC that can start up the Pi at appropriate intervals e.g. https://blog.tindie.com/2020/11/portable-raspberry-pi-power-and-rtc-with-the-pisugar2/ This would be less complex than your current plan...

at power-on: if a GPIO is 0V AND time is between 8am and 8pm (or, better, if it's daylight via either a sensor or sunrise/sunset lookup), take image, connect t-stick modem, send image by FTP, shutdown

The GPIO thing is to allow you to regain control for debugging or whatever... just a pushbutton or switch between your selected GPIO pin and 0V with a 10K pullup resistor to 3.3V

GSVNoFixedAbode

55 posts

Master Geek

#2629760 3-Jan-2021 17:14

frankv:
...I suggest that you look for a RTC that can start up the Pi at appropriate intervals e.g. https://blog.tindie.com/2020/11/portable-raspberry-pi-power-and-rtc-with-the-pisugar2/ This would be less complex than your current plan...

I’d looked at the Sleepy Pi but that more than doubled the cost of the project: well over $100 to get it here. The Pisugar 2 looks exactly what I need and considerably cheaper - thanks for that. Anyone have a source for it that ships to NZ??

GSVNoFixedAbode

55 posts

Master Geek

#2750383 27-Jul-2021 09:53

Just an update on what was configured and now working:

Pi Zero
Pi Camera module
Spark T-Stick
PiSugar2 board
Solar from external feed to keep battery topped up

8am PiSugar2 board wakes up, applies power to Pi
Pi boots
1. Turn on modem and connect via 3G
2. Take image (with datestamp)
3. FTP image to server
4. Set next wakeup time of next hour or day on PiSugar2 board
5. Shutdown

Testing the PiSugar2 board looks to give about 2.5 days of operation standalone in case Solar feed fails.

And the result:

Things to change for later:

increase image frequency to 30 minutes
wide angle lens for camera module
add extra wait after 3G modem connects to allow for delayed network handshake so time updates correctly before image is taken and datestamp applied.

clicknz

467 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#2750391 27-Jul-2021 10:12

Great to hear how this project has progressed & thanks for including a sample pic.

I mentioned my own methods of approaching a similar task further up the thread - I was looking at setting up on a building construction site for a complete time-lapse of the project, but as that didn't eventuate I lost impetus on testing options.

I've still got an old iPhone that I'm hoping can be put to use as a fairly simple remote camera at some stage, but I've still got to overcome the power & image transfer issues I'm having... not being Pi-savvy I'm trying to keep things very simple.

Cheers,
Mike

Photographer/Videographer clickmedia.nz

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