Programmable Wildlife / Security / Timelapse Camera Projects with an ESP-32 CAM
158,539
Published 2021-04-26
- Create timelapse videos
- Trigger photographs to be taken with a switch, when movement is detected by a PIR sensor, or any other input
- Trigger a photograph to be taken when a HIGH signal is sent from an Arduino or other microprocessor
- Use onboard LED as a flash
- Save photos to onboard SD card, or send them as an email attachment
- Power the ESP-32 from a single 3.7V Li-Po battery pack
You can customise this code to make it suitable for, e.g. a wildlife camera, a security camera, or a camera triggered to take "reaction" shots in an Arduino-controlled escape room game. The ESP32 chip can be programmed using the familiar Arduino IDE, or whatever development environment you prefer. For full details of the functionality of the OV2640 camera sensor used in these boards, see the datasheet at www.uctronics.com/download/OV2640_DS.pdf
Timings
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00:00:00-00:03:31 Introduction
00:03:32-00:04:44 Example Applications
00:04:45-00:12:31 Hardware: Camera, Aerial, External Programmer, Portable Battery Pack
00:12:32-00:18:05 Wiring diagram
00:18:06-01:09:43 Software Code in the Arduino IDE
01:09:44-01:11:37 Wrapup
Hardware Used
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ESP32-CAM: www.banggood.com/custlink/33KEli3R0U
ESP32-CAM programmer board: www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001872947921.html
FTDI programmer: www.banggood.com/custlink/3KKYoIGR6f
AM312 PIR sensor: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202625567146
18650 Li-Po battery shield: www.banggood.com/custlink/mGDROiH4GB
This video is made possible with the generoud support of my Patreon donors - thankyou! For more details of this, and all my escape room technology projects, see www.patreon.com/playfultech
All Comments (21)
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I was impressed by the wide range of applications you covered, from wildlife monitoring to home security to timelapse photography. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise on this topic!
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Thank you sir for the detailed explanation. I was struggling around with these cam module to make it work. The way you explain the code is outstanding and gives a feel ease as a breeze(still i am trying :) ). Thanks again
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Great video! If all tutorial were detailed like this huge respect and gratitude!
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Thank you for the detailed video, and the comments in your programming. It's rare to find a programmer who takes the time to document what they have done. It's nice to see a tutorial that's actually a tutorial, rather then some undocumented code that was slapped together.
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Thanks Alistair, great instructional video. I have been using ESP32 cam boards for a while but your video helped me understand a lot more about the programming.
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Ive been trying to do a wildlife camera using other tutorials for so long before finding this one. Thank you so much!!!
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I bought some of these back when they didn't even have firmware. This is a very good and very complete tutorial. Thank You.
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thank you for such a clear walk-through! made it much easier to follow
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Best and most complete explanation on t'internet.
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Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. I must say your presentation style is really, really great mate, keep it up1
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Made pressure plates from tin foil and holy newspaper as a kid, Escape room box , respect.FPC cable connectors are a lock puzzle to themselves. IPX connector is the same as uFL, I didnt know that before . An excellent reference, thank you for the detail. Beautiful walkthrough .These are amazing devices and only getting cheaper, its the programming of them thats up to us.
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Outstanding presentation! Well done! 😀
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You’re a good teacher.
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Great detail on the code has given me some great ideas. Thank you
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An amazing amount of tech for just a few pounds/dollars ! Thanks for a very watchable video.
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Thanks for the excellent video and especially talking through the code in detail, helps us less experienced ones learn. +1 for slightly more zoomed in screen though especially when watching from Mobile phone. Thanks again, looking forward to the next video 👍🏻
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Great explanation. You're a legend.
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Very thorough. Much appreciated.
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Thanks heaps for making this video mate ! It's the mother lode for ESP-CAM info !
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What a great tutorial! Thank you!!
