see my previous post.
Use a decent power supply. I solved all issues when used 5V/2A
After a long time, I have managed to complete the whole project.
Everything is working and the result is great.
Her are some pictures as promised.
As you can can see on the 2nd photo I replaced white silicone with velcro tape.
Now I can remove it much more easily if I have too.
Thank you again for such a great project.
I loved it from day one and I have spent many creative hours to conclude it 
PS I have already start working on an alternative 3D design with a double back cover that will be able to fit on the wall properly and and a stand - holder for the camera.
1 Like
Wow. Thatās great. Congratulations. Iām really pleased you got it working.
Iād love to see the new case when youāve finished it.
Hello,
First of all thank you for the great project and documentation. At the moment Iām in the process of implementing this. Iām still waiting for a few parts and I think for me the hardest part will become the 3d printed case. So it might takes a while before I have everything up and running.
In the meanwhile I was playing around with the camera module and I found that the refresh rate is much better is I add
camera_view: live
to the lovelace dashboard.
sometimes there are small hickups, but for me it works.
My question is, Is there a reason not to use this live mode, for instance it might cause something else to fail?
Sorry for the delay in replying @bkbartk . How are you getting on now?
I didnāt do any testing to confirm it, but my fear with using live mode was heat and therefore longevity of the ESP32. Are you still using live mode?
I have most of it working on my protoboard and without the using the case the esp32 module definitely wonāt overhead while using live mode.
I tried to modify the case a little bit so I would be able to print it using my 100x100x100 3D printer. but I found that my 3D skills arenāt sufficient enough to accomplish this.
This morning actually I was looking at an RTSP doorbell which also meets my needs without having to create the 3D model.
I still dig this project And Iām planning to use some of it, but for now Iām also looking at a different approach.
Yeah, RSTP would be great to have. Iām toying with the idea of reworking the project to use a Pi Zero 2 to get RTSP and maybe two way audio. Been trialing bits of it. Iād like to use RTSP with Frigate for object/person recognition.
Iāll try out live mode in the meantime.
Re the 3D print, my printer is 130 X 130. I printed this diagonally to make it fit. If you do decide to proceed with the project, you could always get a 3D printing bureau to do it.
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Hello!!
Iām working on this project and was told that with ESP32 CAM, when using the camera thereās only 2 pins available, but in your project you use more than that, can you explain?
Then I was a little lost with the code is it possible to have it available as a full?
Thank youuu!!
All of the op code etc it available on their GitHub link in the first post.
What a great project!
Recently i have build this and am still waiting for one item to come to complete it.
I saw that there are more people who stumble over stability problems as i do. Well possible true
that power suply is an isue but i tested this while adding
#esp32_camera_web_server:
- port: 8080
mode: stream
if it is a power problem that gives stabillity issues then it would also occur when accessing the cam over its own web server. Well it does not. no stabillity problem. I also tested it with an arduino code
with face recognition in it and all features like fps, jpeg quality etc etc. no probems for one week and no hickups.
I 'am under the impression that the API connection with HAS gives a stability problem.
Anyone else got stability problems and if so what solved it and if it was the power suply wich one did you buy and add (please provide a link).
Again, great project!
2 Likes
Hello ronschaeffer,
Sorry for my limited English.
Iām really impressed, for this job, Iām getting into home automation with Home Assistant and thatās partly what I was looking for for the future project (after setting up the alarm).
I think itās possible, but as I discover HA, is it possible to add one or 2 buttons in the smartphone notification, in order to control the electric strike for the parcel hatch and the door.
The top of the top would be to have a doorbell with 2 buttons, and redirect the notification, either to my neighbor or to me (we are only 2).
The link to the lens doesnāt seem to work. In the multitude of conversations, I saw that you had provided another link, but that too no longer works. Do you have another link, or at least the designation that would allow you to find some, because I only came across camera lenses.
thanks again
Great project here. Iāve successful built it. Have had some issues (some not resolved yetā¦)
- The files in the sd card have to be renamed to 001, 002, etc, but the VERY ORDER is estabilished in the sequence you copy it into the sd card (if you copy 002 first, and then 001, when you play ā1ā file, it will play the 002.mp3. I was going crazy. This can be avoided by using play_mp3 call, and putting the files inside an āmp3ā dirercory, with file named 0001whateveryouwant.mp3, 0002errergdf.mp3 etc etc.
- I donāt like my cam snapshot is public visible, so i have saved the camera file in ā/media/doorbells/snapshot.jpgā and then sent via notification from ā/media/local/doorbells/snapshot.jpgā (ā¦but it is not shown on dashboard, only via www sharing)
- Iāve added one more button to push
- Iāve added an action on timeout, who play noone is in.
The issue i have now, is related to the play_loop. It doesnāt work! Iāve also set loop:true into the ESPHome sensor config, but it still not repeat the track.
Any advice?
Edit (since is still the last post ā¦)
Iāve successful added the last visitor image on the dashboard from the media folder. Just create a camera from file, and include it in the dashboard:
Also i was having stability issues, so i added an heatsink to the HOT esp32.
Since i had changed the camera to the OV 5640 with another heatsink mounted on it, and they will be extremely hot, iāve also added a small 5v fan.
Now the esp32 is at 29ā°degree, and the cam around 45.
Still have the loop issue.
Love the project and looking to do something simliar, but with peephole design. Was just ordering the hardware and got stuck on the Lens Cover. Would you happen to have another supplier for it please? The eBay link has expired.
Thanks
Thanks, @n4vm4n
Here is a new link: 16mm Circular Clear Round Flat Glass Cabochons | eBay. Iāll update the README on Github.
1 Like
This is a brilliant project. Thanks a lot for sharing this and github page.
My question to you, Is it still working ? Inspired by this project, I have gathered all hardware and some time to do it. The coding part works brilliantly however before I attach everything in its place, I just let the esp32-cam hang on a wall for a time to be tested the stability. And I find the camera feed stops every now and then, is it normal ? I am using esp32-cam from ai-thinker.
I am adding a motion sensor component into the mix as well and will use the one remaining GPIO for it. And I am planning to activate the camera only if there is motion and/or press in the button. Rest of the time, it shouldnāt stream to homeassistant at all hence preserving some BW as well as less pressure on the ESP cpu.
Could you suggest any idea how I can do that (Targeted capture rather than stream)?
Thanks
Glad you found it useful!
I had similar camera issues. One way that I worked around then was to automate periodic reboot of the ESP32 board.
The other way was with a motion sensor as you say. Because my front door has people walking past frequently, a front facing sensor connected to the ESP32 itself wasnāt practical. I just used a battery-powered sensor mounted to the ceiling of the porch above the door and triggered the doorbell camera with an automation.
I used the doorbell for a number of years before recently moving on to something else. The 3D-printed case finally started warping from the sun which prompted me to start a new design. The new design was using a Pi Zero W 2 with Pi camera instead of the ESP32, partially in the hope that the camera would be more stable but also to make it simpler to bring in features like 2-way audio.
In the end, a busy time with work meant that I didnāt finish the new design before having to replace the doorbell.
Thanks @ronschaeffer for replying. Thatās very helpful. I hope your new project would be another masterpiece, best of luck.
I monitored the internal temperature of the board and found the correlation of crash with temperature. So, exposing to a less harsh environment almost resolved the issue. Also your suggestion will be part of the automation schedule to make the board always in healthy state.
By the way, I faced another issue of the camera image quality. I dont expect superb image from a $6 camera module but most of the Internet post of the image using this camera is way better than mine. I could live with the difference in quality but in daylight the camera cant take the face at all. Its too dark to identify even if its a postman or someone else !! I tried with few parameters like AWB, gain etc with only worsening the effect. I guess there is some magic combination but to me it seems a very big challenge right now.
To deal with the image quality issue, using another board now (ESP32-S3-WROOM n16r8 - 8MB PSRAM). And set the jpeg quality as 10. These 2 combination improves the image to a greater degree for a background image. But face is still very dark to identify at all. My door is in such a spot that there is bright glare 2m behind the person, probably thats why this camera cant cope up with the focus.
Any suggestions would be great.
Regards