Blink.trigger_camera not updating thumbnail

1

I would like to capture an image when the blink camera detects motion. I use the following code, which works inconsistently. This automation sucessfully saves the file everytime, but sometimes the image is from previous motion detection event.

I have tried duplicating the trigger service with 5s, 10s delay, but unable to get the latest image reliably.

There is nothing in HA logs or automation trace that indicates why sometimes it fails to get the latest image.

Anyone using blink.trigger_camera service reliably?

sequence:
  - service: blink.trigger_camera
    data: {}
    target:
      entity_id: camera.g8t2_hv01_2513_6nqt
  - data:
      filename: /config/www/images/cam.jpg
    service: camera.snapshot
    target:
      device_id: 1263a1fc15737ebbcb4cfa5fa55856c5
2

Hello,

I am also using Blink cameras and have the same problems, the thing is it seems to be model related.

  • Blink Outdoors work fine.
  • Blink Mini & Mini 2. Work and update the image when I get into the app, but the funny thing is the app is updated via the automation! so it seems the camera.trigger_camera is working but the snapshot being downloaded is an old one.

I am currently trying to pinpoint and debug this problem but I am still out of luck.

3

Hi there,

For what is worth, I can confirm behavior (outdoor ok, mini and mini 2 ko).
I have tried blnkcamera “trigger” and adding a delay before “camera.snapshot” 30 secs, 1-2 minutes but it’s totally unpredictable and unreliable. Was not sure about the pictures being exactly the same but running find + sha calculation confirmed that the jpg are 100% identical.

I thought about capturing a short 2 secs mp4 video for my purpose (which is triggering via telegram 4 snapshots from 4 cameras to know where the home pets are) but I don’t think this is possible.
Thanks for sharing your experience.