Webcams
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Why USB Camera?
Using USB camera as a surveillance device that can be managed remotely is a very nice use case. Today IP cameras are not affordable to everyone due to their higher prices, however with the Plug Computer and a simple USB camera that you didn't use long time it is possible to have "IP Camera".
Supported Webcams
in kernel 2.6.30 a lot of camera are supported, you just need to compile the kernel with correct modules and enable V4L USB devices. Currently tested:
* Logitech, Inc. Notebook Deluxe
* Quantum DC-2120 (OmniVision Technologies, Inc. OV519 Webcam)
* Logitech C120
* PlayStation®Eye
Requirements Recommendation
* Plug Computer loaded with Ubuntu 9.04 Ubuntu_9.0.4_Plug_Computer_Distribution * Kernel 2.6+ (recommended 2.6.29 + 2.6.30-rc5 patch) * Supported USB webcam * Apache web server
Compiling the kernel with the correct webcam driver
Please follow these instructions to compile 2.6.30-rc5 fresh kernel. before building the kernel edit the configuration with the following command:
make menuconfig ARCH=arm
Browse to Device Drivers->Multimedia Devices make sure the following are selected:
* Video For Linux
* Enable Video For Linux API 1
* Video Capture Adapters
V4L USB Devices -> (Select your appropriate camera driver)
Save the configuration and continue building the kernel.
Testing your camera
After booting the device with the resulted kernel image. simply install dov4l which will check your camera connection.
apt-get install dov4l
Make sure the camera is connected to the USB socket, then enter:
dov4l -q
the command will query you camera capabilities and the driver that being used, you should get similar output to this:
Number of radio/tv channels if appropriate: 1 Number of audio devices if appropriate: 0 Maximum capture width in pixels: 640 Maximum capture height in pixels: 480 Minimum capture width in pixels: 48 Minimum capture height in pixels: 32 Image size (x,y): 640, 480 The channel number: 0 The input name: zc3xx Number of tuners for this input: 0 The input is a camera The norm for this channel: 0 Brightness: 32896 Hue: 0 Colour: 0 Contrast: 32768 Whiteness: 39321 Depth: 8 Palette: Unknown! (0)
Installing V4L libraries
Install V4L libraries by entering:
apt-get install libv4l-0
Installing Webcam Server
Now it's time to install the application. simply install webcam-server.
apt-get install webcam-server
make sure your Apache web server is properly configured and running. assuming your web root directory is /var/www, please copy the following directory to webroot:
cp -apr /usr/share/doc/webcam-server/applet/ /var/www/
now edit the following file and change the URL value to point the correct IP address of the Plug Computer:
/var/www/applet/webcam.html
Running the Webcam server
Create a running script startcamserv.sh with the following content:
#!/bin/bash export LD_PRELOAD=/usr//lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so webcam-server -s
Run the script, and browse to the camera applet: http://PLUG-IP/applet/webcam.html
for more information about webcam_server project please go here.
Remote monitoring
It's time to configure you router forwarding port 80 to the Plug Computer's IP. now you can watch remotely what is going on. :)
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