Home Security Smart Camera System Using Raspberry Pi

Home Security Camera Using Raspberry Pi 3B

Introduction

As I had to leave my house for a trip and I was worried about the security of my home, I decided to set up a quick and cheap home security camera system using a Raspberry Pi 3B.

Materials Needed

• Raspberry Pi 3B

• Raspberry Pi Camera Module

• MicroSD card (8GB or higher)

• Ethernet cable

• Power supply

• Case for Raspberry Pi (optional)
  
  

Software Needed

• Raspbian Jessie (or later)

• Motion (a motion detection software)

• NO-IP (a dynamic DNS service)

Steps

1. Preparing the Raspberry Pi

• Download and install Raspbian Jessie on your microSD card.

• Insert the microSD card into your Raspberry Pi and connect the power supply and Ethernet cable.

• Power on the Raspberry Pi and wait for it to boot up.

2. Setting up the Camera Module

• Connect the camera module to the Raspberry Pi.

• Run the following command to enable the camera interface:

• sudo raspi-config

• Navigate to “Interfacing Options” > “Camera”

• Select “Enable”

• Save and exit raspi-config.

3. Installing Motion

• Run the following command to install Motion:

• sudo apt-get install motion

4. Configuring Motion

• Open the Motion configuration file (/etc/motion/motion.conf).

• Make the following changes:

• Change videodevice to /dev/video0.

• Change width and height to the desired resolution (e.g. 640x480).

• Change framerate to the desired frame rate (e.g. 25).

• Change quality to the desired JPEG quality (e.g. 75).

• Change target_dir to the directory where you want to store the images/videos (e.g. /home/pi/motion).

• Change stream_port to the port you want to use for the live stream (e.g. 8081).

• Change stream_localhost to off to allow remote access to the live stream.

• Save and close the configuration file.

5. Creating a Folder for Motion

• Create a folder in your home directory named motion.

• Change the permissions of the motion folder to allow Motion to write to it:

• sudo chmod 777 /home/pi/motion

6. Enabling Motion

• Run the following command to enable Motion to start automatically on boot:

• sudo systemctl enable motion

7. Rebooting the Raspberry Pi

• Reboot the Raspberry Pi to apply the changes.

• sudo reboot

8. Viewing the Live Stream

• Open a web browser on your computer and go to the following address:

• http://192.168.1.15:8081

• You should now see the live stream from the camera.

Note: Your IP will be different so you have to check what IP is given to your raspberry-pi.

9. Setting up Remote Access

• Create an account on NO-IP.

• Install the NO-IP Dynamic DNS Updater.

• Follow the instructions provided by NO-IP to configure the Dynamic DNS Updater.

• Port forward port 8081 on your router to the Raspberry Pi’s IP address.

10. Testing Remote Access

• From a computer outside of your home network, open a web browser and go to the following address:

• http://yourdomain.com:8081

• You should now see the live stream from the camera.

Conclusion

Using the Raspberry Pi 3B, Raspberry Pi Camera Module, Motion, and NO-IP, I was able to set up a fully functional home security camera system for a low cost. This system allows me to view the live stream from anywhere in the world, giving me peace of mind while I’m away from home.

*I didn’t complete step 10 because my attempt was unsuccessful and there was limited time, yet I’ve included it for the readers’ reference.