can we interface a webcam and a PIR motion sensor to an arduino...???

Projects General Guidance
1

Can we interface a webcam and a PIR motion sensor with an Arduino…?

I want to connect a PIR motion sensor and a webcam to an Arduino…

when a human enters a specified region…the PIR motion sensor will send a signal to the Arduino…
the Arduino then sends an actuating signal to the webcam so that it switches ON and starts recording…

when the human moves out of the specified region…the PIR motion sensor will send another signal to the Arduino

the Arduino then controls the webcam by turning It OFF…

also is it possible to store the recorded video in a storage device (preferably SD card)…?

please help me…

2

You aren't going to be able to record data from the Webcam on the 8-bit Arduino that only has a few K of RAM.

You really need a PC or maybe a Raspberry Pi to do this kind of work.

3

okay...if I connect the whole setup and arduino to a pc or laptop...is it possible to capture and store the recorded video in a HDD or SD card...?

4

Capture the video on the laptop. You really don't need an Arduino or PIR at that point. Use motion detection software on the PC, which will have recording capability built in.

5

i want the recording to be done for the security purpose...

so I can't put a laptop for recording in an open place so that a person can see that I am recording...

I want to put a webcam in a room...and I will place a laptop or pc in another room...i'll record the video through webcam and pc...

so this is the whole basic idea...is it possible...?

6

akhilchirravuri:
so this is the whole basic idea...is it possible...?

There are commercial systems and open-source projects that accomplish this.

Again, you probably want a Raspberry Pi more than an Arduino for what you are trying to do, if you insist on using a microprocessor board near the camera (even though there's really no reason.)

7

to use rasp berry pie...I need to learn Linux programming...I don't have time for that...

all I want is...as I've mentioned...PIR sensor, webcam connected to an arduino...from arduino to Laptop or pc...and then recording and storing the video...

is this okay...? or is there any other way you're going to suggest...apart from rasp berry pie...??

8

Drop the idea of a webcam, PIR sensor, and Arduino.

Instead, get a wireless IP camera for the camera portion (they really aren't that expensive - more expensive than a cheap USB camera, though); you can stream the data from the camera to the laptop, and the software on the camera and the laptop will detect motion from the video stream and record as needed (most camera/software setups can even email you and do a number of other nifty things - I have here at my house a multiple wifi camera system with a dedicated ZoneMinder server that I custom built for security reasons - ZoneMinder is not for the faint of heart or mind, though - it is pretty damn complex, and not as well documented as it needs to be - but it gets the job done).

If you -must- use a web camera, you can find "USB extension" dongles that could extend the camera cable via a length of cat-6 cable, but these dongles sometimes don't play nice with certain USB peripherals. Note that you will need one of these dongles for each end of the cable - in other words, don't get one just for the camera, then attempt to plug in the other end of the cat-6 cable into your ethernet port, unless you enjoy a dead ethernet port (it -does not- convert USB to ethernet - that said, there are converters for this as well - but at that point, you may as well get a wired or wireless IP camera!).

9

okay fine...

one last doubt...

I want to store the recorded video directly to the SD card...if this is the case...you want me to use a raspberry pi...is that the thing...?

10

You aren't going to be able to record data from the Webcam on the 8-bit Arduino that only has a few K of RAM.

You really need a PC or maybe a Raspberry Pi to do this kind of work.

Of course the Arduino Yun can do all of this an more. Get up to date guys!

Mark

11

holmes4:
Of course the Arduino Yun can do all of this an more. Get up to date guys!

Yes the Galileo is also a more likely target than the Yun, which is really focused on a WiFi use model.

So why not be more "up to date" on "can an Arduino do this"? Two reasons. 1) Someone who has clearly done no research is asking about the Uno or Mega when they said "Arduino". and 2) Both the Yun and Galileo are so new, that a limited number of resources exist to take advantage of their SOC/SBC.

As much as I enjoy using Arduino, today, the best choice would still be a Raspberry Pi for something that requires a SBC for someone new to embedded electronics.

12

For this I would recommend a wireless web cam and a PC to do the storage. Even quite inexpensive cameras come with motion detection, remote steering control, the ability to send text/email alerts etc as well as the video stream which could be used by the PC for more complicated monitoring if you want to do that - and there is a vast amount of free software available to do that sort of thing, and plenty of development kits making it easy for you to implement your own application if you want to.

13

for the arduino motion sensor camera its for my school project i need to build the project from scratch but thanks for the link

14

thendo:
i would like to build a motion sensor system using an arduino uno, pir and an ip camera which basically sends an email of the captured picture so how do i go about it??

Buy a Foscam web cam which can probably do what you need.

15

the project about using an arduino and a camera that also sends an email is actually for my school project i need to build it from scratch

16

Then you are not going to be able to compleate your school project.