I'm tossing around an idea for a future project. We have some vehicles that have to be parked too far from buildings to use a typical surveillance system. One of which has had fuel stolen on more than one occasion. Well, I would like to catch the .... um, .... "person" in the act.
I have seen on YouTube that folks have made infrared cameras using the Arduino. If anyone has experience with something similar, I have a few questions ...
1 - Are these worth the time/money involved in building?
2 - I've never been around an infrared camera that I know of. Would it "glow" and give itself away to a would be thief?
3 - It would need to pick up motion and be able to light up out to a distance of 50 feet or so. Is that possible?
4 - I've seen pics taken from the adafruit camera and I'm not impressed. Is there a better camera one could use that would take better photos? Maybe with auto-focus?
I'll stop with those for now. With these answered, I should be able to decide if this is something I want to do. Or, if I need to look into a different approach altogether.
Thanks Folks!
INTP:
Trail/game cam
That's a good idea. I did, however, fail to mention that I tried that. He/they found it and took it time before last. I thought I had it hidden well. But it was no the case.
DangerToMyself:
That's a good idea. I did, however, fail to mention that I tried that. He/they found it and took it time before last. I thought I had it hidden well. But it was no the case.
Are you sure you were not observed installing it? Could be someone residing nearby. Could be someone you know or that knew. They might even have a camera of their own...
Is it not possible to fit the camera inconspicuously inside the vehicle?
DangerToMyself:
I have seen on YouTube that folks have made infrared cameras using the Arduino. If anyone has experience with something similar, I have a few questions ...
1 - Are these worth the time/money involved in building?
Don't know about specific examples, but generally high bandwidth video and a simple microcontroller like the ATmega is not really a good match. A Raspberry Pi might be a better choice, but there could be better and more economical other options. You'd have to do some more research.
DangerToMyself:
2 - I've never been around an infrared camera that I know of. Would it "glow" and give itself away to a would be thief?
They don't have to glow, no. It depends on how smart your thief is. If he suspected a hidden IR camera, he could use a mobile phone camera to scan the area for IR sources. Try it yourself with a TV remote, though YMMV: some phone cameras may have IR filters.
DangerToMyself:
3 - It would need to pick up motion and be able to light up out to a distance of 50 feet or so. Is that possible?
Just about anything is possible. Practical and cost effective are different questions.
Even with the camera, if the thief is hardcore, he may be masked.