[SOLVED] Cheap IP cam Snapshot feature remote?

Solved
1

A few years ago I bought a cheap IP cam, this cam is now functioning as live cam. It doesn’t record anything.
There is a snapshot trigger input on the back of the cam to make a snapshot which I can set to save on ftp-server on my raspberry pi (which is also my blynk server).
I don’t know if there is an option to remotely trigger a snapshot.

I now have a AC doorbell triggering my wemos mini pro when pressed. The wemos will send a webhook http post to a telegram-bot link to send a notification in the family group chat.

I would like to make a feature to include a snapshot of the moment when the doorbell was pressed.

Link of cam: http://www.dx.com/p/standalone-ip-wireless-wifi-lan-camera-with-night-vision-and-pan-tilt-motors-26358#.WHqNgCPtSEd

2

You could hack the camera and trigger the switch with a transistor or relay that is activated via a device controlled by Blynk.

3

Yeah, that’s a possibility… But I was hoping on a wireless solution… Maybe there is a custom new firmware for this device to trigger the shutter by http request?

4

I believe that would be a request outside of the Blynk forum :wink:

And as it is an unbranded camera, your guess as too where to search is as good as mine.

PS, at least your camera has the remote trigger option… mine doesn’t, otherwise I would have already made my own Video Doorbell to replace my absolutely craptastic SkyBell :smiley:

5

@hutje I have an almost identical camera but mine doesn’t have a button to take a snapshot.

If the device was badged it would be something like a Tenvis JPT3815W, which is quite a popular camera.

Over the years I have done quite a bit with the camera and there are certainly url’s you can call to take a snapshot.

I will have to check the precise details for mine but it is something like

http://ip:port/snapshot.cgi

Sometimes the url will need to include a username and password in the first part or last part of the url.
Also some urls are specific to certain browsers but I think snapshot.cgi is universal.

Therefore I think your requirement might be possible.

You might find this page useful https://www.ispyconnect.com/man.aspx?n=TENVIS

6

@Costas Ohh, good information! Mine is a Foscam fi8910w… I will check out the command and the link you provided, just in case.

7

They are all very similar and ispy has a much bigger database of url’s at https://www.ispyconnect.com/sources.aspx

8

Thanks. Tomorrow I will look in to it! Thanks again!

9

Couldn’t resist to take a look. I got mine from the Lidl. My model is HVC-xxxxxxxx it’s a heden visioncam

10

@Costas

OK, now I am intrigued about this idea from @hutje .

I determined how to get a .jpg image from my camera… http://10.10.3.30/snap.htm?loginuse=[login]&loginpas=[password]

Then I place that info into WebHook under URL, set it as GET and assign it pin V31.

I also setup a Button widget on V31 to simulate a sensor input.

Over on the Arduino I set up:

BLYNK_WRITE(V31)
{
  Blynk.email("myaddress@gmail.com", "Peek A Boo", param.as???()
}

Of course, here I hit a wall… since the data is a .jpg, not an integer or a string… how exactly do I pass this .jpg image thru email?

I have tried both param.Int() and param.Str(), just for kicks… and get a nice email stating 1 :slight_smile: So at least that part is working.

Am I falling down the wrong rabbit hole here?

11

@Gunner you are not going to be able to email the image via Blynk for now.

Your camera will have a facility to email images. It’s just a case of sending the snapshot trigger and the camera firmware will do the rest.

I will check out my camera.

12

@Costas

Hmm, yes, that will work just as well (another DOH! on my part)… it is nice to have another point of view, to point out the obvious… but I bet you are not allowed to be around when someone is playing solitaire :wink:

1 Like
13

There is also a ftp function to save the picture to a remote server. I am going to send it to my raspberry pi and let him send it straight to my telegram chat with the telegram api http request.
Or it is possible with the ipcam uploading it straight to the telegram chat link.

14

@hutje I have used the ftp facility but don’t know about telegram.

Currently I can send the Webhook and the log shows a 200 OK response. The image was created but unfortunately it looks like webhook is also trying to retrieve the “document” (jpeg) file and even at just 22Kb it is way too big to go via Blynk.

Debug gives:

[43987] Packet too big: 46010

And drops the connection to the server.

You could make the request via Blynk but outside of webhooks but I’m still struggling to get the jpeg.

15

I think it’s possible to request the snapshot from the wemos and the picture will save on the ftp server. Then I can make a python script to send the picture with the http request api of Telegram to get the picture.

16

@hutje I have a bash script that takes a snapshot and then emails it to me. It’s not based on movement though, simply on demand (or I run the screenshots in a loop and just email on demand).

Just need to work out how I can call the script from a WeMos / Blynk.

17

@hutje an @Gunner Blynk Webhook is now taking snapshots from my camera and emailing them to me.

Built a very basic php page that runs the bash "snapshot and email " script when the page is loaded. Added the php url to Webhooks and all working fine.

For me it is quite useful because I use a WISP that doesn’t allow port forwarding so this particular camera is not normally accessible via the internet.

1 Like
18

You lost me at Gunner :smiley:

What command do I add to webhook to include the .jpg into my email?
BTW, I know diddly about PHP (Pretty Hard Programming?) and a script is what I don’t use when making a YouTube video :wink: … so please use very big words when explaining the steps, hah!

19

@Gunner my PHP skills are very basic but I have a pretty good idea what to type in Google when working with unfamiliar computer languages.

It’s quite an involved process and not simply a case of typing a url into the Webhook widget.

Basic steps:

  1. You need access to a server.
  2. You create a basic web page with a few lines of PHP code.
  3. The PHP code is set to run a bash script when the page loads.
  4. The short bash script takes the snapshot from your camera and emails the photo to you.
  5. Url is entered into Webhooks and effectively loads the web page for you which in turn runs the PHP and bash script to email the photo to you.
20

@Costas Ahh, I miss-understood… I thought the webhook widget had been modded in the last update to allow direct image link/download to app (not that we have a viewer widget yet ;))

Thank you for the basic data flow requirements… I will eventually look into other programming languages… but still dragging my way through C/C++ functions that Arduino uses (not to mention Blynk command structure).

And yes Google is very handy… I tried Googling Irony in relation to your answer :smiley: