#285

[@gotj]

The ESP32-CAM has an SD-Card slot. And a big white "flash" LED.

[@raguaviva]

These videos are so good! You can't imagine how much people you are helping and how much of a time saver this is.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you!

[@nigel1964]

Thank you Andreas for taking the time to explain the differences. Its getting more interesting with the advent of the cameras. I know they have been around for a while but with the advent of Internet connectivity it gets better.

[@Tarbard]

Very useful roundup. A Pi Zero + cheap cam + sd card is in the same price range though so I will stick with those for now.

[@cabe_bedlam]

Its really hard to use anything other than a pi zero now they have put wifi on them.

[@TuttleScott]

what I was thinking. the esp32 is a bit limited for video work.

[@pisoiorfan]

It would be useful to know their mA used while streaming video over wifi, recording on card and sleep/low power mode (with PIR active), That would provide an idea about how big a battery/solar panel they need in different remote camera applications.

[@PawelRaszewski]

cezar t I managed run the second board on a single 18650 3000mAh for 6-7h. The module gets quite warm. It’s clearly not very power efficient. I wasn’t even streaming anything just run the example sketch.

[@Average_Geo]

Boy! Great prices and lots of potential! Thanks for getting my thought juices going this morning! As usual, great video!

[@anonimuso]

I really like your 'invisible hand' pointer. :)

[@AndreasSpiess]

:-)

[@mt-qc2qh]

I've been working with the AIThinker esp32 cam for a while now. I've programmed rtsp from the web, snapshot on interrupt and streaming mjpeg that cam be captured with ffmpeg on an RPI, viewable with vlc. In all cases, I add a web configuration page and employ OTA with the Arduino IDE. It's a great little device for $7. I don't play with facial recognition, but it makes a great little fpv camera on my robot platform. Lot's of fun to come.

[@ludogomez]

Hello, I'm interested by your work. Is it possible to share ? Thanks a lot.

[@MrCareyer]

The CameraWebserver Sketch is very basic and afaik only uses one CPU core. Maybe we could split the workload of the MJPEG compression among the two cores? (e.g encode odd frames with Core1 and even frames with Core2). That would maybe boost frame rate and performance quite considerably? Cheers!

[@scrampker]

that would be really cool. Currently performance is pretty bad on these, even at 1080p.

[@science4allworld587]

Thanks. Right timing... last month i had started playing with esp32-cam

[@middelbh]

Dear Andreas, first of all thanks for this overview! I have two remarks, one: I made ths ESP32-cam using an 0.96” oled display and one external button, making time lapse recordings. The images are stored on the SD card. I use the available GPIO pins with some tricks as they are in use for the camera and the SD reader. For example the TXD and RXD pins can be used as GPIO pins, and IO0 can be used as an input as soon as the sketch is loaded, I use it with a button and the touch command in my sketch. On the display you can select wether or not connect to WiFi (I did not yet add functionality to that as I do not have experience with building websites, but maybe somebody can help with that?). Then the user can select the interval for the timelapse on the display, and start te recording. As I am on a short holiday now I cannot give you the sketch, but I will do so ASAP. The second point, I hoped you would give some more info on the little (round PCB) MEMS I2S microphone, how to connect and how to record. Do you have this microphone running on an ESP32? I would be very, very grateful if you have some more info on that! Regards, Hans

[@ObjectiveLens-c9b]

it has been two weeks trying to load a program on my esp32cam followed all the youtube instructions but never seemed to get it past loading :( tried with a pins, tried with UNO but so far failed...

[@binxu2674]

@@ObjectiveLens-c9b Did you press the rst pin before you plug in power?

[@ObjectiveLens-c9b]

@@binxu2674 No. Thank you very much! so far i was able to load via development board. Was not able to test the streaming due to office filters. Will try reloading again from outside the office.

[@binxu2674]

@@ObjectiveLens-c9b good to hear. I am also a arduino starter. Cheers.

[@siskodata]

If only there is a board with 2 way audio, camea and pir then we could do a smart door bell like the Ring smart camera door bell. Instead of paying a monthly fee to record to their cloud account we could record video to a home lan based nas or server.

[@nielbierman5882]

Exactly what I would like to do with these boards.

[@nielbierman5882]

Exactly what I would like to do with these boards.

[@Justsquareenough]

Me too

[@chemamunoz4227]

Me too!

[@cameotic]

I'm also considering a ESP32-based intercom with ability to unlock an electric lock remotely.

[@hygri]

I had the same problem with the ESP crashing because of the camera - I just re-seated the flat flex in the ZIF connector and it worked fine after that

[@AndreasSpiess]

I tried that a few times and also changed the camera. Without success :-(

[@NSBSpeshal]

@@AndreasSpiess Don't buy the www.diymore.cc/ version of the ESP32 cam, mine came with a split ribbon cable to the camera which they suggested I solder back together, replaced the camera module and it will NOT stay connected.

[@mtarquinio]

Thanks for another very time saving video. I have a TTGO “white” and one of the many ESP32-CAM clones myself, so I highly appreciate you sharing what you have learned so far. I also got and M5Camera because it comes in a nice LEGO friendly case. For image recognition I think the K210 chip combined with MicroPython will be a strong contender.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I plan to do something with the K210 in the future.... I agree it might be better suited.

[@per-arnejohansson7476]

Maybe you should ad that no cats were woken during the making of this video ;-)

[@planker]

I made it here today 9/12/22. I have followed you through many Arduino episodes all the while having a stashed away ESP32-CAM module. With the Arduino IDE this was a simple set up, It works. Yes this is some Old business but New to me and the IDE thinks it's just a funny looking Arduino clone. Thanks, good stuff.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Glad the video was helpful!

[@johncrunk8038]

I see you have the same cat accessory on your workbench as I.

[@jamesgazin9447]

I have one too. In electronics you really need a mobile static electricity generator -- it makes life sooo much more interesting!

[@handleftman]

Hi , this board can be used to protect the zone, be installed in the door. It can be used as a control point for a smart home. For example, going to the camera, she will notice the movement and activate the microphone, using the camera you can recognize the talking person. ESP32-cam will allow you to take photos on an SD card, store and transmit data for rpi3+.

[@davidbradley3074]

You need to get a show on PBS!

[@AndreasSpiess]

You are so kind!

[@dbiswas]

This is exactly I am planning to do. Looking for a very optimized way and do most of my compute on the Controller.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Very good!

[@webslinger2011]

I have tried motionEyeOS on rpi3. Great for setting-up surveillance cams connecting on my network. Going to use it on my mobile toy robot school project.

[@neelimaranade2418]

I am also using the pi zero w + motioneyeos with a cheap camera without any lense for my DIY home security. The cost and setup ease seem to be much better than ESP camera to me. Am I missing something here?

[@vishnumabeer6772]

Can be used for optical character recognition for water meter.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not know. Maybe you find a project?

[@Konradulations]

I have a fishtank with abut 40+ Golsfish in an aquaponics setup. I am interested in installing a live feed camera and maybe add some pattern recognition to differentiate between fish (recognise individuals). I need to sort out the hardware first.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Nice project!

[@danieconradie2117]

Very useful video, thanks! I've been thinking of getting some of these boards, I have some project ideas very relevant here South Africa: 1) Intruder recognising security cam: Take pictures or a short video when sound is detected, and send it to a PC/Raspberry Pi/cloud service to do image classification to detect if a human is in the image. It then sends a alert and photo if a intruder is detected. Way less false positives than a passive security sensor. We have a very high violent crime rate, so it could literaly save lives. 2) Wildlife camera: For wildlife research in game reserves, it is a much cheaper alternative than commercial trail cameras so many more of them can be deployed. Photo's can be stored for later access or sent it to a GSM-wifi gateways. It can also be used to prevent human-animal conflict, like detecting when a lion/leopard/jackal comes close to livestock enclosures and send alerts. Both of the above ideas can be tested in my immediate area, and I also have access to world class game reserves if you're interested, so let me know!

[@Kaister]

I'm also from South Africa and was also thinking of how this could be used in game reserves.

[@drmosfet]

If you ever do another review of these types of camera devices could you please show us the low light level ability of the unit. Thanks for video's there away full of useful info and no BS.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I think they are bad (very small sensor). But maybe without an IR filter, they could be used with IR illumination?

[@asdomega]

Thanks Andreas, good timing for the video. My wife ordered me to install some cameras in the parking area. By the way, I realy like your design (Background, Charts, transparent Pointer)

[@springwoodcottage4248]

Interesting & amazingly low prices. I wonder if they have launched a bit too early, but perhaps need feedback to see which are the best directions. Perhaps in the by & by more polished versions will come, but interesting challenges now to find a use for them. Thanks for sharing such valuable experiences & all the super useful side by side comparisons.

[@PhG1961]

Great video. Suggestions: OCR/ANPR. Take picture or trigger a relay (and send email/sms) when a certain partern (license plate or random word/sentence) is detected. I've put Weinheim on my agenda. However, not sure if my wife agrees on my (short) travel.... but it's worth trying.

[@zx85]

Really handy to know about the 0 ohm resistor for the external antenna - thanks for that!

[@AndreasSpiess]

I also learned it after I wondering why it did not work...

[@TomaszDurlej]

I was thinking some day ago as simple video stream for having look at remote analog sensors witch don't suport digitalization. Like thermometer on old furnace. Mayby some image resolution things can digitalize shuch sensors.

[@ukrainegermanysingforukrai5888]

Tomasz Durlej I would like to have recognizance of number on a LCD display. As a a result many measurement devices could be dizitalized and connected to the web for data reading. Can somebody help?

[@DougHanchard]

Either you are a very brave and trusting Cat owner, or your cat is tech savvy and knows how to avoid destroying your lab!

[@AndreasSpiess]

My lab is a mess, especially behind the scenes. So far she did not destroy anything. The only disadvantage: I everwhere find hairs...

[@wombat9999]

@@AndreasSpiess - Makes me wonder how many parts, cables and such are _under_ the cat.......

[@drmocm]

For face recognition and wifi you may be more interested in the K210 boards. I think there is also an M5StickV+ coming up with WiFi as an upgrade to the M5StickV (careful the mic does not work in that one)

[@mtarquinio]

A video featuring the Sipeed Maix Risk V you got in the previous mailbag is welcomed!

[@AndreasSpiess]

In the meantime, I also have the M5stick. Just need the time ;-)

[@mtarquinio]

Lack of available time is a challenge we engineers share...

[@rursus8354]

A suitable project wqould be to put it in any focus of a telescope, for example a follower, mounting the cam behind lenses from a scrapped binocular, making it send signals for a motor driven mount to follow a certain star.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Interesting application!

[@haajee1]

I have installed a ESP32-cam with removed IR filter and a few IR LEDS in a bird house! It works very well. The only thing is that i never saw a bird inside... :\ I also know that it need a lot of power otherwise you get the brownout message. So you must powered it on the VCC pin with 5V.

[@miketony2069]

How and where did you get cameras with the IR filter removed

[@rsg1296]

Andreas, Viel dank für sein arbeit. Grüssen von Spanien.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Bitte, gern geschehen.

[@oscarilmio7148]

Forgive Andreas, a microscopic correction, the ESP32-CAM is equipped with an SD slot. On the net I found a couple of working sketches, but I haven't yet tested thoroughly ... there is no time! Byyyyyeeeee. :)

[@GRBtutorials]

Really? Then it could be useful for my purpose. If only it had an IR-CUT filter...

[@oscarilmio7148]

@@GRBtutorials why you want an ir-cut.....that pir hurts you?

[@GRBtutorials]

Oscar Il Mio For surveillance during the night. I’m looking for an IP camera, and I don’t want it to spy on me, so I’d rather use a firmware I can control or use Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi (the problem being that I’d have to run cable through the house, and something that isn’t easy in mine). Both can be disrupted (by cutting the cable or using a jammer), so having SD card backup would be nice.

[@oscarilmio7148]

@@GRBtutorials Only Oscar plz ;) So, there are many IP cameras on the market that use an SD card to save data, simply connect the camera to a small, correctly adjusted access point, or use a do-it-yourself lan-wifi interface to connect the camera to your wifi. About ESP-CAM, yes, it has an integrated SD slot, but I haven't tested any of these potentials yet. However, if you want to start somewhere, start with Andreas's tutorial and mix it with the one in the link below. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWfTaoelZ82Zl80 If you pay attention to what is said, the limitations are inherent to the sketch, so then it is up to you to develop something more suited to your needs. Finally, if your camera's PIR annoys you because it hits the lens, well, learn from the traffic lights ;) Sorry Andreas for the "o.t."...

[@oscarilmio7148]

@@GRBtutorials randomnerdtutorials.com/esp32-cam-pir-motion-detector-photo-capture/ This can be usefull too.

[@dot-bob]

Thanks for another great video. I have been toying with the idea to use the esp camera module to control a sprinkler turret to target garden pests like deer or racoons. First start with basic aiming. Then see object recognition so target deer an not people.

[@praschr]

An idea for a future project might be a video doorbell. Maybe using an old tablet and one of those esp32 cam with audio modules.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Good idea!

[@wongsterful]

@@AndreasSpiess Great video. This is the exact project I want to build. Do you know if you can easily get the rtsp stream from the camera?

[@williamwebb2042]

I was unable to program me ESP32-CAM following your instruction and others. Examination of the board revealed that the ESP32 was not soldered down on one side!

[@AndreasSpiess]

I hope you filed a dispute!

[@foxabilo]

I have tried both the USA and the UK stock on about 40 items so far, they take the same 20-30 days to arrive as the china ones, you just pay more for them.

[@jeroenvanlangen8953]

If you look closely to the AI_Thinker, it does have a sd-slot. The camera is placed on the sd-slot.

[@AndreasSpiess]

You are right. My mistake.

[@amirbutt6443]

Hello sir, I hope you are doing well. First of all I must say you are a mantor of mine, "if you can't explain it simply you means you dnt understand it" your Explain your videos very well despite of your acsent.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you!

[@poepflater]

I went to a texas instruments lecture when they came out with the little microprocessor on a USB stick... they had a library that detects the sound of broken glass, I'm only a beginner but would love to have that on the ESP32... In 3 days I went from blink LED to TUNIOT to ESP32 cam working after about 24 hours of fighting.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Very good! I am sure you will detect broken glass in the future if you continue like that

[@poepflater]

@@AndreasSpiess Have watched many of your videos, greetings from Cape Town

[@TimNortonGuru]

Thank you so much for your videos. I would love to see more on cameras.

[@ralfoide]

I have an ESP32-CAM and it's working nicely with the Arduino sketch, MicroPython version, or the ESP-IDF camera examples. However the issue I still face is that the wifi transfer write speed is at best 20kB/s so it takes at least 4-5 seconds to send a single 1600x1200 image over wifi; nothing like the 2-5 fps that can be seen at 8:32 . That is not expected at all as the esp32 should be much faster than that, and I don't quite find the source of that slowness; it's totally unrelated to the camera module.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not understand why you want to transfer such resolution. The camera has much less resulution.

[@ralfoide]

@@AndreasSpiess Actually for my goal, 800x600 or 720p is perfect enough but even at these I barely get 1fps, not due to image capture but slowness sending over wifi. I made a test using 1600x1200 because ironically that's what you demonstrate at 8:40 in the video, look at the top right your setup is UXGA(1600x1200), so it allowed me a direct comparison. My comment is however not on the camera itself but the wifi speed I get. The esp32 should be able to achieve 20mbit/s but in my tests I achieve 1/100th of that, which does not seem right. Right now I'm rebuilding and flashing the ESP-IDF iperf example to test the wifi speed and isolate the problem.

[@ralfoide]

Wanted to update this. On the ESP32-CAM I now reach about 5-7 mbit/s (tested using the ESP-IDF iperf sample code, with the small pcb antenna). The issue I had before was with the wifi router. Once that side fixed, in UXGA I average 5 fps, in XGA I average 6 fps and in VGA I average 12 fps. That's good for my application.

[@fenderrexfender]

7:53 I have that board working with a fisheye lens camera powered off a wall charger

[@AndreasSpiess]

:-)

[@remy44444]

@Andreas Spiess, The price of the esp-cam is 4$, add some cooling, USB adapter you pretty much get an ultra-cheap surveillance camera ( supported by Home assistance with that default sketch! ). Add some sensors ( disable SD card/flash led), use EspHome and you get the ultimate ' magic box ' for your smart home.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Good idea!

[@ast4711]

Hi Andreas I plan to build an Babyphone with the cam and another ESP displaying the picture

[@AndreasSpiess]

Should be possible. However, do not expect a high quality picture.

[@wojciechg9498]

I have a big question for you Andreas. Do you confirm GreatScott's statement that the camera modules salvaged from the high-end smartphones are unusable for amateur makers? Due to unknown specs and protocol.

[@ScruffR70]

7:00 I think there is an error in the features table. My ESP-CAM *has* an SD card slot and you can even see it in your video directly beneath the camera module. You also state that the TTGO modules *don't* have GPIOs but then in the table you list 2+2 and 2 respectively - what gives? 😎

[@AndreasSpiess]

You are right. I already corrected the sheet and pinned a comment.

[@ZongyiYang]

For the TTGO White, have you tried using: #define Y8_GPIO_NUM 37 #define Y7_GPIO_NUM 38 This works for v1.62 with mic, I see that you have v1.6 in the video which I think is obsolete. Also for others in case it is not known, these devices require a lot of current so on USB power they tend to brownout if your USB port is low power. You need to supply power with a 5V adapter.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you for the tip!

[@CharudattUplap]

the ESP32-S ESP CAM has a SD Card slot, please check and correct your comparison chart.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you. You are right. Corrected in the overview.

[@LittlePetieWheat]

@@AndreasSpiess See: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnPSfpKLpNaSpKM

[@Matt-re8bt]

It might be time to tidy your lab and remove the dead cat, Andreas :) Great vid as always. Thank you. These look really interesting. It'd be interesting to integrate this with my home automation setup. I'm wondering if I can use the TTGO White's PIR sensor for movement and, when triggered, use the camera to perform numberplate recognition. I could then notify OpenHab of a specific person coming home, and running a scene accordingly.

[@AndreasSpiess]

This is probably what they intend. And maybe you could even sleep the ESP and only wake it with the PIR pin

[@DaveGee2010]

@@AndreasSpiess As the parent of two cats ... How about an esp project that would track how many different places our cats sleep each day and for how long at each location. P.S. Big fan of your work!

[@anvz6]

@@AndreasSpiess I used my TTGO T-Camera to attach a wireless camera to my cat. It is funny to see what he's seeing like when he spies you from strange places.

[@RoboNuggie]

What an excellent video, thank you Andreas...

[@AndreasSpiess]

You are welcome!

[@roostertechchan]

I got esp32-cam working with MicroPython as well. It takes a picture and emails it to me.

[@KenSkier]

That's impressive! I want to do that in my project. Can you reply to this comment with a link to micropython code that captures images or video (preferably at max resolution) from the esp32-with-camera board? Thanks!

[@KenSkier]

(Oh. I don't need code to do the emailing. I am looking for micropython code that will capture images or video, at max resolution, and save them to an sd card.)

[@ivanarakistain3885]

Can you share code?

[@roostertechchan]

@@KenSkier sure, just flash the bin file from here github.com/Lennyz1988/micropython/releases/tag/v1

[@roostertechchan]

@@ivanarakistain3885 look at my other comment and look at the webcam module inside the bin, after you flash it.

[@albertroswell]

I will work soon in a project to start using this cameras for home presence devices

[@AndreasSpiess]

Good luck!

[@VicenteFontanella]

Arriving late to this party, just order the Esp32 cam. Let see what we can do with it. The project I have in mind will be use is to take a pic of my desk 3 times a day to compare the organisation of my desk during several months. Usually mess. Lol.

[@AndreasSpiess]

This might become an "art" project ;-) Good idea!

[@snitkjaer]

I would like to use the camera for meter reading with some sort of ocr

[@sasajovanic6963]

This something that I'm currently working on. Take the picture of the power or gas meter every 28th day in the month and send it to my e-mail

[@geirandersen7941]

I have a couple of ESP-EYE modules, which I would like to use to count peoples in a room. If anybody have a suggestions or link to a project, please let me know, thanks!

[@felixh.7501]

Excellent subject and video, Andreas!! Have you experienced a very high heat from these cameras? I used one with esphome, heat is quite high. I think you should consider furthering work on these because very few people have gone to complex topics such as wake from deep slip, trigger of picture taking, or output switch of relay from a detection...

[@AndreasSpiess]

They get quite hot. This is why the combination with a PIR might be interesting. Then you can deep-sleep the ESP and only wake it up when movement occurs. We will see if we will find more work on these modules other than showing the demo mode ;-)

[@felixh.7501]

@@AndreasSpiess super, looking forward to your next findings!!

[@sammig1059]

@@felixh.7501 So do I.

[@rklauco]

Wait, esp32-cam (2nd tested) does have microSD slot, right under the lens...

[@semmu93]

Also I would love to see some stability tests, since the ESP-CAMs I have seem to be really unreliable. But it could be because of the weak power source I use, didn't test it with any other yet.

[@AndreasSpiess]

ESP32s do not like unstable power supply because of the bursts produced by Wi-Fi.

[@rikjansen8795]

Great video again. My project will be a doorbell camera, where a Rpi does the motion detection on the camera. When someone is detected or the doorbell is pressed it will send a Telegram message with the picture(s)

[@daveway856]

I just wanted to let you know. I just picked up a few ESP32-cam's. I also purchased a few fish eye cameras with RazPi Zero cables. They don't fit. Very close. I guess I need to find a vendor that has such cables. (Ribbon cables) Or find ESP32-cam compatible cameras. Maybe the interface is different? My application is for security so wide angle is needed. Thanks for doing all the hard work putting out so much information. Dave

[@AndreasSpiess]

I never looked into this matter. But I am sure you find out if they are the same cameras. Only a fitting connetor is not enough.

[@daveway856]

@@AndreasSpiess Hi Andreas Yes. Here is the information for your reference. I have photos, but don't see any way to post them here. Raspberry Pi Zero 22 pin. .5mm pitch ESP32-Cam 24 pin. .5mm pitch.

[@falias4]

Nice coincidence. This week I spent 4 hours to get the M5Stack Dev-Board working, that I purchased a year ago. It's really hard to find information about such older boards. My project idea is just a simple portable camera, that is working in seconds... to observe my cnc or stuff I'm making in the kitchen.

[@Boogiemoose]

I have the ESP32cam as security cam outside and it works as it should. But at night its not that good even tho the spot it recording is light up with lamps.

[@silverjohnson3163]

I would like to create a remote control lawn mower with this including a front and rear camera to stream the image my phone. I guess I would need two esp32 cams or some way to mux them onto the same bus. Cool video !

[@AndreasSpiess]

Good luck with your project!

[@silverjohnson3163]

@@AndreasSpiess yeah I just got the code working so far with the esp32Cam with controls and video stream

[@SirMickPb]

I am hoping to move my ESP8266 garage door controller to the ESP 32 with the Camera. I don't think there are enough pins however to attach the position sensor switches and the NRF201 antenna. Still would be very nice to have visual confirmation of the door position and pictures from when the door was opened to send to Blue Iris and show on OpenHAB. Having fun. Thank you for the inspiration and knowlege

[@AndreasSpiess]

Nice project!

[@cbm80amiga]

1.3" ST7789 in TTGO Black is not an OLED - it is LCD IPS used commonly in cheap BT watches :)

[@zenmanproject]

I have only tried the esp32-cam boards (the $8 version) with only moderate luck. What I would love to see is a stripped down version of opencv on an esp32. Specifically i would like to use esp32 cameras to get distances to apriltags. That would be a much cheaper solution than using a raspberry pi.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I am not sure if the ESP32 has enough power for this job. Maybe the -S3 with its vector commands can help here...

[@MiniLuv-1984]

rear view and the like cameras on vehicles are generally analogue to overcome the delay inherent in digital vision systems. It would be useful then to characterise these boards in terms of latency. Are any good enough to be used for vehicle rear vision? Also, I guess we need a maximum number in ms latency that will not interfere with real time vision applications to compare the cameras against.

[@DustinWatts]

Maybe flashing the ESP32 using MicroPython and use OpenCV?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not think the ESP32 is powerful enough to do pattern recognition. I rather think this part has to be done on a more powerful machine. But maybe somebody will proof me wrong.

[@DustinWatts]

Andreas Spiess That sounds like a challenge! :)

[@amsf2011]

Thank you Andreas for your wise and clever videos

[@AndreasSpiess]

Glad you like them!

[@martinhullwegen1005]

Danke!

[@AndreasSpiess]

Sorry for my late answer (I was away). Thank you for your generous support!

[@DmitryKiktenko]

It should well fit in sleep phase detectir device. The board and camera are small enought to fit inside some kind of eyewear to detect movement of an eye, so you can know it is a fast sleep phase of dream. Kind of IR backlight is needed.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Maybe you try it. Sounds interesting.

[@figueroalabs]

We are already working with this cameras to make "body cams" for Park Ranges in Coco's Island in Costa Rica, where they need to fight illegal fishing inside the national park, so we will also add a wifi tracking station like the ones used for drone projects like Ardupilot.

[@randolfaquino9998]

wow.that is a good great undertaking. I hope you fare well particularly with the large scale fishing that deprives locals of food and livelihood

[@piebebakker2447]

Hi Andreas, I have the ESP32-CAM running and use it for my catfeeder, to verify if the food is dispatched and the 2 cats are eating, while we are away from home (this was a hard requirement from my wife). I added in the software the possibilty to do a http GET, which puts on the flash light and then streams the picture to my rasperrypi, where it is stored and can be looked at anytime. My wife is quite happy with it, which for me made it a succesful home automation project. Happy to share the code .

[@AndreasSpiess]

Happy wife, happy life! Maybe you post a link to the code?

[@piebebakker2447]

@@AndreasSpiess Hereby the link. Next to the ESP32_CAM software I have included a python program that actually fires off and stores the picture(s). Plus some STL files for the housing and a little documentation. drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oeXK3RdRFF0gvLIs-Qo639d4y01AS0I9?usp=sharing

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you very much for the files. I will have a look at it.

[@supremeleader8796]

I have came across use cases of tinyml with sound and image recognition on arduino boards. One very useful project is to use these boards for utility meter readings. Esp32 boards are capable of character recognition, more especially so when only numerical characters are involved

[@AndreasSpiess]

I saw these meter reading applications, too. But we already have a smart meter. So I could not test it :-(

[@HelmutTschemernjak]

My white TTGO camera with SSD1306 OLED was working, often I use the target ESP32 DEV Module and enable PSRAM. Also the motion sensor worked fine, my model hat no BMC nor any mic soldered. Here are the pins for the camera: (of course I defined CAMERA_MODEL_TTGO) #elif defined(CAMERA_MODEL_TTGO) #define PWDN_GPIO_NUM 26 #define RESET_GPIO_NUM -1 #define XCLK_GPIO_NUM 32 #define SIOD_GPIO_NUM 13 #define SIOC_GPIO_NUM 12 #define Y9_GPIO_NUM 39 #define Y8_GPIO_NUM 36 #define Y7_GPIO_NUM 23 #define Y6_GPIO_NUM 18 #define Y5_GPIO_NUM 15 #define Y4_GPIO_NUM 4 #define Y3_GPIO_NUM 14 #define Y2_GPIO_NUM 5 #define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM 27 #define HREF_GPIO_NUM 25 #define PCLK_GPIO_NUM 19 I spend some more time to investigate into camera options, capering images on my own and decoding the HTML page. Please note that the low level camera support is included in the IDF SDK as a binary library and not as an Arduino library source. There are other projects with complete Arduino source available. The true disadvantage is that the ESP32 has little PSRAM and after a few frames it is full. Great video as always, Thanks Helmut

[@AndreasSpiess]

Thank you for posting your pin numbers. Unfortunately, it also did not work :-( Maybe there are more versions of the same board available. I used this diagram: github.com/Xinyuan-LilyGO/esp32-camera-series/blob/master/schematic/OV2640_V16.pdf I do not think pattern recognition on the ESP will lead to good results. I rather think it could be interesting in conjunction with an RPI4 or a Jetson Nano. Then the ESP could provide the pictures and steer local actuators.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I think your board is this one: github.com/Xinyuan-LilyGO/esp32-camera-series/blob/master/schematic/OV2640_V05.pdf

[@docwhogr]

where you can buy the fish-eye lenses alone?

[@bfx8185]

I'm sitting in the first row long time :D Thank you for your review report of the boards. Two project what I have in mind is hidden security camera inside the house which is able to recognize peoples. (mostly me to start sequence like turn on the lights , heating my soldering iron :D and make a reports of overnight measurements) Second one is wide lens cam in car to record when somebody scratch my car on parking place. (you know it how it goes at supermarket parking place)

[@World_Theory]

I like the idea of using a camera as a user input device… There are many ways it can be done, using just that as your premise. One way I've considered, is using an object with a QR Code printed on it, which the camera can track. You can even use multiple QR Codes with unique IDs encoded in them. …Three things to consider, though, are the latency of the camera and video processing steps, the FPS, and the pixel count (or resolution). Latency will lead to an experience that feels slow and unresponsive. Low frame rate will lead to motion tracking errors with fast movements. A low number of pixels will mean less detail, so you'll need to compensate with larger QR Code labels. Anyone is free to use these ideas, by the way! I kinda hope that someone does something with it.

[@weithiamneo1442]

There is a KZbin channel by Kevin Darrah whereby he used ESP8266 to capture image and then forward to online productivity tool Slack. The image is only capture when a IO signal is triggered and a alert is also send to user. It can be used for home security. This modules would fit that use nicely.

[@karlheinzneugebauer]

Repurpose a door peephole and put that camera in its case :) I'm really curious if that could work.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Well possible.

[@devluz]

I am working with cheap esp32-cam for a while now. They do have some odd quirks e.g. on at least two of my devices the camera stops working if it doesn't touch the sd card slot ... I have no idea why. I also can only program it if it gets 5V but not 3.3V. Multiple IO ports accessible don't seem to be usable e.g. IO16, Programming via Wifi doesn't work properly, ... My plan is to build a security camera with wheels on it that either works like a remote controlled car or like a gondola on a rope having over my garden ;)

[@bobdoritique7347]

Merci Andreas. I am interresting for a video about I2S MEMS Microphone with esp32 if it is possible?

[@fleaniswerkhardt4647]

Great video! Thanks. I have a question about the chart shown at 04;20 - detailing the Esp32-cam . It says no SD card slot is available. I'm holding this exact same board in my hand - and there clearly is an SD card slot . I haven't checked that it works but I'm sure it will.

[@AndreasSpiess]

You are right. I pinned a correction post as the first comment ;-)

[@dave-in-nj9393]

I would like to add my vote for a still cam to watch plants grow. also I would like to know what type of battery life one would get ?

[@AndreasSpiess]

Good idea wit hthe plants. I would not use batteries for that application. The current consumption is quite high.

[@NaikRaghavendra]

@@AndreasSpiess Can anyone point me to an example of using TTGO White module powered by solar panel and 18650 battery?

[@FJgenieter]

I bought one, planning to use it as security camera, with MotionEYE on my HomeAssistant setup.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Good idea. Probably its resolution is not sufficient.

[@FJgenieter]

@@AndreasSpiess i think it is 1600x1200 max, I think that is quite good.

[@himanshuyadav2008]

Hello andreas, I have a esp32 devkit v1 30GPIO version. I am facing issue when providing power to vin pin from external power supply(+5V). esp32 board show power on led but its sketch doesn't start until I press reset(EN) pin. Can you please help me to provide some information on this issue.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Unfortunately, I cannot do remote debugging.

[@juanpablocadenaaguilar5929]

Good afternoon Sir. I just found your channel and it is awesome! Is there any reference for the thesis you were the expert that you commented at the beginning of the video? the one about using esp32-cam to count people in a conference room... Or do you have any tip or tutorial for something similar? Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[@AndreasSpiess]

I do not know if it was ever published. I saw some tutorials for the ESPcam and video transfer, but I do not remember where

[@brendanbarbour8568]

Surely one ideal application involving pattern recognition would be a "Guide Scope" for a computer controlled telescope mount. This would permit long exposures, which is the critical requirements for deep space telephotography. The characteristics of the camera and lens will be critical in order to work in low light conditions. It is so exciting, I simply must do it...what is the conversion efficiency of the camera chip is it a CMOS or CCD Camera..?

[@philipchisholm]

Great Video... And I saw you also have a great video on the TCA9548A I2c multiplexer... I am working with a ESP32Cam with OV2640 cam but wanted more gpio pins... for controlling a motor (L2N98 which needs: - ena , in1, in2 pins), a touch sensor, two limit switches, and a few push buttons plus a few LEDs. Would it make sense to add a TCA9548A 1-to-8 I2C multiplexer to the esp32cam - then adding a GPIO Expander (MCP23016)... or what would you recommend? A tutorial would be cool - I am sure lots of people would love to have more gpio pins on this cool little board! Cheers. And great work!! Phil

[@AndreasSpiess]

You do not need a i2c multiplexer if you plan to use MCP23016. They have 2 address pins and you should be able to connect 4 of them on one I2C bus. 1 I2C bus supports up to 127 devices with different addresses.

[@philipchisholm]

@@AndreasSpiess Ah ok - that makes sense...now just need to figure out how to change the gpio pins be SDA and SCL...I am using the wire.h library but no luck so far....I need to do a bit more reading

[@deanhedin1615]

Great overview. Very helpful. Thanks.

[@AndreasSpiess]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rayleblanc7209]

I'm trying to figure out what would be the best cameras to use for my project. I built a remote control snow blower using a 10 channel Flysky RC connected to a mega 2560 pro micro. I want to add a 360 birds eye like they have in cars. That requires streaming 4 cameras. I thought of using a car system that has its own video stitching and processing, but I don't know how I could send the video signal over wifi. If using esp32Cam I would need real time video stitching software. I looked at the M5Cameras from Marcus Tarquinio reply, but the ap only supports 1 camera at a time.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I also never saw a project with 4 ESPcams running in parallel...

[@rklauco]

I used a set of these cams for Motion and works no problem.

[@DQSoft]

Last year I've got a pair of ESP32-CAMs, my project idea was to take photos periodically, detect changes (movement) and than send a photo to a server. The examples I found were not much documented or stable. I got to the point of taking photos in 320x240 (to minimize memory and processing), converting them to grey-scale, comparing them and, if a certain number of pixels changed, take a 1600x1200 photo and save it to the SD card. There were crashes and mysterious errors during development, the end result was not great. So I lost interest in the project. Another annoying thing thing with the ESP32-CAM is that the bright white LED is connect to one of the pins used for the SD card, so it blinks when you access a card.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I also came to the conclusion that these boards were overhyped. That is why I never used them afterwards :-(

[@martinmchugh1924]

An idea for these boards might be as long term timelapse camera. To document a 6 month house build or similar. Would require extremely low power optimization (your favorite 😁), solar and batteries etc.

[@AndreasSpiess]

I think you already find such projects including code.

[@eugy2008]

I think the TTGO White board would be best for my project. Andreas, did you get the camera on it working? It looks like the pin-out is different for the version with and without the microphone. Maybe that's the problem in your code? Were you able to use the PIR sensor on this board? General question, has anyone tried connecting any of these cameras (or any other lower priced) to a cellular MCU board to have pictures send over the email or uploaded to a server? If so, could you share your set-up and code?

[@AndreasSpiess]

I never used it again. But you should find projects on google.

[@everydayengineer8117]

Hi, If you are interested in using a board mount lens to better fit your application, try this simple adapter: Board mount adapter concept m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3qmZ3mqnrqlhbc How to build it and image comparison m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/imGzZGqXetOYqtE Image comparison without my Itanglish :) m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXykq6yLaNZ-gNU