ESP-CAM trigger on postbox

ESPHome
1

I am seeking some advice on the following use-case:
I have a sensor on my postbox which signals me that it has been opened. Now I want to trigger an ESP CAM like 5 sec later to make a picture of the inside of my postbox and embed that picture in the push notification, so I know what’s in the postbox.
Has anyone implemented something similar?
Thanks!

2

I’m sure there are plenty of examples. People often do this sort of thing for their doorbell etc.

The espcam creates a camera entity. Camera entities can capture a snapshot. Camera - Home Assistant

1 Like
3

Here’s an example. I find Telegram easy to use for dedicated “channels” and I like having the history of audio/visuals along with some other meta data. This example casts the image to my dedicated HA dashboard (TV), changes the tv to a camera feed, and then sends the image and a video to a “House security” Telegram channel. It’s a bit overkill for me but that’s how I like to do my projects;)

###############################################################################################################
#Front Door
###############################################################################################################
- id: '10322124585'
  alias: Front Door Alert
  trigger:
    - platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.door_window_sensor_158d00031b360f
      from: 'off'
      to: 'on'
  action:
    - service: input_datetime.set_datetime
      entity_id: input_datetime.last_door_open
      data:
        timestamp: '{{ now().timestamp() }}'
    - service: switch.turn_on
      data:
        entity_id: switch.tv
    - delay: 00:00:01  
    - service: camera.snapshot
      data:
        entity_id: camera.front_door
        filename: /media/Cameras/FrontDoor/FrontDoorOpened_{{states.input_datetime.last_door_open.attributes.timestamp|int|timestamp_custom("%Y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S")}}.jpg
    - service: camera.record
      target:
        entity_id: camera.front_door
      data:
        filename: /media/Cameras/FrontDoor/FrontDoorOpened_{{states.input_datetime.last_door_open.attributes.timestamp|int|timestamp_custom("%Y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S")}}.mp4
        duration: 60
    - delay: 00:00:06
    - service: notify.chromecast_tv_livingroom
      data:
        title: 'Smile!'
        message: ' '
        data:
          duration: 10
          fontsize: 'large'
          position: 'center'
          color: 'red'
          image:
            path: /media/Cameras/FrontDoor/FrontDoorOpened_{{states.input_datetime.last_door_open.attributes.timestamp|int|timestamp_custom("%Y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S")}}.jpg
    - service: browser_mod.navigate
      data:
        path: /lovelace-security/front-door
        browser_id: 
          - XXXXXXXXXXX
    - service: telegram_bot.send_photo
      data:
        file: /media/Cameras/FrontDoor/FrontDoorOpened_{{states.input_datetime.last_door_open.attributes.timestamp|int|timestamp_custom("%Y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S")}}.jpg
        caption: '{{states.input_datetime.last_door_open.attributes.timestamp|int|timestamp_custom("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")}} Door Opened'
        timeout: 400
        target: '-XXXXXXXXXXX'    
    - delay: 00:01:30
    - service: telegram_bot.send_video
      data:
        file: /media/Cameras/FrontDoor/FrontDoorOpened_{{states.input_datetime.last_door_open.attributes.timestamp|int|timestamp_custom("%Y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S")}}.mp4
        caption: '{{states.input_datetime.last_door_open.attributes.timestamp|int|timestamp_custom("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")}} Door Opened'
        timeout: 400
        target: '-XXXXXXXXXXX'

This is old code. Like Nick mentioned, I’m sure there are lots of examples around. Probably some good blueprints.

4

Thank you for your input. I’ll have a try and in case I run into roadblocks I’ll get back and ask again.

1 Like