[plug] Semi OT: linux friendly security cameras

[William Kenworthy]

Thanks Kirk and others who have responded - perhaps I should have been a 
little clearer on what I am after!

I am not really interested in anything that processes on the camera, an 
app or sends stuff offsite - even for setup.  All I am after is a camera 
that takes images and  video then either offloads or allows them to be 
collected.  My current processing uses Motion on a stream and FTP's 
HiRes images and avi's off the camera storage via ethernet - this unit 
has failed recently which is why I am looking for another.  An ESP may 
be a little underpowered to replace this camera, but I am now looking at 
a Dahua model for that.

The ESP approach is ideal for (cheaply) testing locations using battery 
power - I have ordered a couple of ESP32-CAM units with a 2MP camera 
module to see how they perform.

Previous cameras I have had need either web access, or a propriety 
program that will only run under ancient windows versions (and not under 
Wine either!) leaving them dead with no alternatives when the program 
will no longer run under later windows versions.  The current crop of 
google and alexa compatible cameras look capable - but no thanks!

BillK


On 16/7/22 15:09, Kirk Turner wrote:
> I have the Swann security cameras integrated with Home Assistant. If I 
> remember correctly it is just using the generic FFMPEG streaming 
> integration - so it is streaming only support. I've had a plan to get 
> it to send email alerts and process those via home assistant but I 
> haven't put that into action. It doesn't require Windows to setup - 
> because you can connect mouse/keyboard/monitor directly to the box 
> itself to set up - but I do use their app to go back and view the 
> footage (but that is all local). I have the wired ones, but I know 
> they do wireless versions too - but they are not an independent unit 
> so if you are wanting just one or two cameras they might not be the 
> best option.
>
> Regarding the ESP32 idea - I have an Ov7675 that integrates with 
> microcontrollers (I got mine as part of the TinyML kit so has a shield 
> for an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense) but it isn't 1080 resolution. Having 
> a quick search there are higher resolution options and with an ESP I'm 
> guessing someone has already built an integrated board! In my case the 
> Nano can do on-board processing for ML, but I'm not sure about the 
> streaming capabilities.
>
> The other option is to go for the RaspberryPi0W with a camera module. 
> One of my colleagues has set up one that he integrates with Home Kit 
> via Homebridge so I'm pretty sure you'd be able to integrate it with 
> Home Assistant.
>
> Kirk
>
> On Fri, 15 Jul 2022 at 11:58, Bill Kenworthy <billk at iinet.net.au> wrote:
>
>     Hi, Google isn't helping much so I am hoping someone here has
>     expertise in this. I would like to get a security camera(s) that
>     doesn't send everything to the cloud or china. Prefer wifi, should
>     be 1080 resolution, can be fully accessed from Linux (I currently
>     do not have a working windows install) and can be made compatible
>     with homeassistant.
>
>     Or
>
>     Is something like an esp32 camera module viable/usable? I already
>     use some esp32's for other projects and if the camera modules are
>     suitable this might be the best solution - anyone tried this?
>     BillK
>     -- Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my
>     brevity.
>     _______________________________________________
>     PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
>     http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
>     Committee e-mail: committee at plug.org.au
>     PLUG Membership: http://www.plug.org.au/membership
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20220716/0f1dbe7c/attachment.html>