On my remote laptop I have several options for accessing, controlling and viewing stuff.
And I still have the option of capturing video and stills using RaspiVid and RaspiStill. I have also added a video stream option using RaspiMjpeg + streamEye. Yes, the Pi2B cpu runs a good 10'C hotter than it did on the A+ I have modified my Gambas application which previously enabled/disabled motion, but now does the same thing to motionEye. One upside for the Pi2B is that it boots and starts streaming in less than 20 seconds!įor this Pi I'm using motionEye and streamEye. This will probably be my first choice as replacement for the A+ assuming it has 1GB of RAM. I was hoping the new A+ would have been available during 2016, but it looks like it is still a few months away. One downside with using the Pi2B is the increase in current draw from my 12V 12Ahr battery. I think the extra RAM made a massive different, and I can now happily do lots of things, like open the Gambas IDE while other stuff is running. So I took the plunge and replaced the old board with a newer Pi2B. With only 256MB of RAM, the whole thing was frustratingly slow, but I don't think it was anything to do with motionEye.
I needed to update the software on my Pi to use motionEye, but found the new Pixel Raspbian was slowing down the boot time (and everything else) on my Raspberry Pi A+. Once the system is deployed I can play around with settings, I just don't want to use up too much of my wifi bandwidth.įor this system, things got very complicated. MotionEye web interface for the Pi Zero external camera Initially I'm using this fast mode, but only running with a resolution of 640x480 at 15fps. This uses the GPU to produce higher resolution and frame rate than is possible with motion (which just uses the cpu).
It has a "Fast Network Camera" option which replaces the motion camera driver with streamEye and a Python program called raspimjpeg.py. This is a small operating system for the Pi which captures and streams mjpeg video from the RaspiCam. On the Pi Zero used for the external camera, I have installed streamEyeOS.
But the external camera will just stream video, and this will be viewable on a remote laptop. The internal Pi will still record the number of times the entrance beam is broken, and will also capture video clips via motion. When the box entrance sensor turns on the power, both the internal and external Pi boards are powered up. One other notable aspect of Calin's work is that it is so well documented!įor the external camera which is pointing to the box entrance, I have decided not to use motion capture. Calin's motionEye software generates a server web page which allows you to view the motion stream, adjust video & motion settings, and access saved media.īut as you will see shortly, motionEye also has a lot of application flexibility. While looking for ideas for the new Pi zero powered camera, which is to capture video from the outside of the box, I came across some work by Calin Crisan.Ĭalin has been busy working with Kenneth Lavrsen's "motion" software. In my last BirdBox2017 post I outlined my ideas for adding a second camera to my existing systems. I am going to use motionEye to stream and display video to a remote laptop.īut this has meant a lot of upgrading to the heart of (what was) my 2015 bird box. After a couple of weeks of investigation, procrastination and frustration, I think I have reached a decision.