Lightweight python Motion Detection

Description

Based on original code written by brainflakes and modified by pageauc user utpalc rewrote motion detection using picamera stream and pageauc modified this sample code to this example application This code uses the picamera python libraries rather than raspistill. Posted on Raspberry Pi forum under Lightweight Python Motion Detection Sample video posted at http://youtu.be/ZuHAfwZlzqY Code modified to exit image scanning loop as soon as the sensitivity value is exceeded. This speeds taking larger photo if motion detected early in scan Code is python3 compatible. This project is available on github at https://github.com/pageauc/picamera-motion

Note: This is sample code to assist development. For a full feature app see my pi-timolo GitHub repo at https://github.com/pageauc/pi-timolo

How To Install

Log in to RPI using putty ssh or raspberry pi console terminal session. Prior to install it is recommended you run

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Cut and Paste curl command below into RPI console/Putty SSH session.

curl -L https://raw.github.com/pageauc/picamera-motion/master/install.sh | bash

Press enter key to run the install.sh bash script. This will download files, install dependencies and change permissions as appropriate.

How To Test Run

cd ~/picamera-motion
./picamera-motion.py

Confirm camera and program motion detection per logging messages. Trouble shoot as required.

How to Run menubox.sh

Use menubox.sh menu picks to Edit settings.py as well as Start/Stop picamera-motion.py and/or webserver.py in Background as pi user. (when running PID will be displayed).

./menubox.sh

How to View Images

Use menubox.sh to START webserver menu pick (PID will be displayed). This will run webserver.py as a pi user background task using default 8080 port per settings.py Access the web page from a LAN (Local Area Network) computer/device web browser per URL displayed by webserver menu pick message.

Example

http://192.168.1.150:8080

Replace ip address above with a valid entry for your system. Note multiple ip addresses may be displayed by menubox.sh message when you START webserver from menu pick To view web page image(s) select a link from right pane web page listing.

Use browser refresh to update listing. Auto refresh can be enabled in settings.py per

web_page_refresh_on = True
web_page_refresh_sec = "180"

Default refresh frequency is 180 seconds. You can change this as required. Note seconds value MUST be in quotes. See other webserver variables per comments.

How To Change Settings

You can edit setting using menubox.sh EDIT menu pick or edit settings.py using nano or python IDLE.

nano settings.py

ctrl x y to Save Changes and Exit nano

How to Run On Boot

To start picamera-motion and/or webserver on startup

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

Add the following as appropriate

su pi -c "/home/pi/picamera-motion/picamera-motion.sh start"
su pi -c "/home/pi/picamera-motion/webserver.sh start"

ctrl-x to exit and save changes

How to Upload Images

Rclone can upload images to a Remote Storage Service of your choice eg Google Drive, DropBox, Etc. For remote service name setup see wiki details.

To Run rclone sync (You Must have a Remote Service Name Configured)

./rclone-sync.sh

Review output for further details or trouble shooting

How to Automate Upload

Create a crontab entry to run rclone-sync.sh regularly

sudo crontab -e

Add/Edit the following entry. Will run every 5 minutes as pi user

*/5 * * * * su pi -c "/home/pi/picamera-motion/rclone-sync.sh" > /dev/null 2>&1

ctrl-x y to exit and save changes

That's it Please note this code is pretty basic but a good learning tool if you need to implement a simple python only motion detection application using the picamera python libraries.

Claude Pageau