TinyCam is a suite of software and 3D printed cases to help you build your own personalized network of security cameras using Raspberry Pi computers. This is the camera portion of my TinyCam software. It uses the excellent Picamera2 Library to access the camera, which offers much higher quality and lower resource utilization than other solutions. There is a streaming server which simply streams video from the camera. There is also a motion capture server which captures video in response to motion, with a preview image.
For other components of TinyCam, see tinycam-ui and TinyCam Server (coming soon).
TinyCam requires a Raspberry Pi and an official Raspberry Pi Camera module. I have tested it on rpi 3b+, 4, 5, and zero w 1.1 with camera modules v2.1 and v3.0, both normal and noIR versions. I have tested it on 64 bit versions of Raspberry Pi on all of these models.
Everyone has their own preferences for software to use on the Raspberry Pi. I usually access my pi devices via ssh and use screen to manage sessions. This gives you the ability to keep your terminal sessions open even when your ssh connection drops. I use Vim as my editor. Feel free to use my public dotfiles if you don't have your own setup already.
Install vim and screen.
sudo apt install -y vim screenClone dotfiles from my repo.
git clone https://github.com/sweetcheetah/dotfiles.gitCopy dotfiles to your home directory.
cp dotfiles/.screenrc ~Install a recent version of the Raspberry Pi OS (Lite is recommended). Update your OS.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -yInstall prerequisite software.
sudo apt install -y git ffmpeg python3-picamera2Once you have the prerequisites installed, test that your Raspberry Pi can access the camera by running
rpicam-helloYou will see output similar to the following:
[1:02:43.794509002] [4812] INFO Camera camera_manager.cpp:313 libcamera v0.3.0+65-6ddd79b5
[1:02:43.940066198] [4817] WARN RPiSdn sdn.cpp:40 Using legacy SDN tuning - please consider moving SDN inside rpi.denoise
[1:02:43.943657409] [4817] INFO RPI vc4.cpp:446 Registered camera /base/soc/i2c0mux/i2c@1/imx708@1a to Unicam device /dev/media1 and ISP device /dev/media2
[1:02:43.943769741] [4817] INFO RPI pipeline_base.cpp:1104 Using configuration file '/usr/share/libcamera/pipeline/rpi/vc4/rpi_apps.yaml'
Made DRM preview window
Mode selection for 2304:1296:12:P
SRGGB10_CSI2P,1536x864/0 - Score: 3400
SRGGB10_CSI2P,2304x1296/0 - Score: 1000
SRGGB10_CSI2P,4608x2592/0 - Score: 1900
[1:02:44.050737301] [4812] INFO Camera camera.cpp:1183 configuring streams: (0) 2304x1296-YUV420 (1) 2304x1296-SBGGR10_CSI2P
[1:02:44.051357962] [4817] INFO RPI vc4.cpp:621 Sensor: /base/soc/i2c0mux/i2c@1/imx708@1a - Selected sensor format: 2304x1296-SBGGR10_1X10 - Selected unicam format: 2304x1296-pBAAIf you see an error or a message that no cameras were found, you have a problem with your hardware or software setup.
The best way to install TinyCam is to clone the git repo and set it up to run as a systemd service.
Start by cloning the repo.
git clone https://github.com/sweetcheetah/tinycam.gitChange into the tinycam directory.
cd tinycamFirst, make the setup script executable.
chmod +x ~/tinycam/setup.shThen, run the script.
./setup.shCongratulations! TinyCam should now be running as a user systemd service. It will start automatically when the pi boots, and save video and images to the tinycam/images directory under your home directory.
You can see the current status of the TinyCam service by running:
systemctl --user status tinycamYou can see the logs for the service by running:
journalctl --user -u tinycam.serviceTinyCam can be configured via the following environment variables. If you have TinyCam installed as a user service via the setup script, you should edit the service file at ~/.config/systemd/user/tinycam.service
The threshold to decide when a frame has changed enough to qualify as motion.
The minimum length of captured video, in seconds.
The number of consecutive frames of motion before a capture is triggered.
To make the most of your TinyCam camera, install the TinyCam UI to help you tag and review events.