The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book - Projects_Book_v4

Tutorial

raspberrypi.org/magpi The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book 101

NIGHT-VISION CAMERA TRAP

SET UP

WITHOUT

EXTRA PI

In order

to set up

MotionEyeOS

without the

need for an

additional

earlier model

Pi, follow the

instructions

found here:

magpi.cc/

1UCvYwV

IP address scanner like the mobile app Fing and look
for the IP address of a device name beginning with
‘meye-’. Enter this IP address into your browser’s URL
bar, which will direct you to the page generated by the
Raspberry Pi, showing the live feed from the camera,
if connected to the older model Pi. The next step will
show you how to set up a WiFi connection so that the
Raspberry Pi Zero (and WiFi dongle) can be used.

STEP-10
Set up WiFi connection
When your browser is presented with the
MotionEyeOS interface provided by the older
Raspberry Pi model, navigate to the settings menu in
the top-left corner of the screen. You may need to set
up an admin user name and password beforehand.
Under the Networks tab, switch Wireless Connection
on, and fill in the Wireless Network Name and
Wireless Network Key fields with the name and
password for your wireless network, ensuring that the
details are added with 100% accuracy. Once completed,
click Apply and allow the system to reboot. Once
rebooted, power off and insert the microSD card into
the Pi Zero in the casing, then boot it by connecting
the 12 V supply to the socket in the rear of the case.

STEP-11
Configure MotionEyeOS
Connect to the Pi Zero in the same way as before,
although you may need to rescan to find the IP address
if it’s changed. Once connected, there are a couple of
settings that need tweaking before the camera can
be let loose! Firstly, as the camera is mounted with a
180° flip, the Video Rotation setting under the Video

Device menu should be updated to 180॰. Finally, if you

want the camera to record video whenever it detects

motion, make sure that the Motion Detection and

Movies settings are switched on.

>STEP-12

Using the camera

Now that everything is ready, the camera is free to be

placed in the wild! When choosing a location for the

camera, make sure that an extension power cable is

able to reach it, and that the camera is pointing in a

direction where you would expect some interesting

animal activity, such as a gap in a fence. Finally,

check that where you are placing the camera has

a decent WiFi signal, otherwise the camera will

continuously reboot until it finds a connection,

and no footage will be collected. Good luck!

IR LED Array

Above Putting

the camera next

to the front door

allows you to see

who’s been visiting

during the day!

Above A simple diagram illustrating the power distribution circuit

Raspberry Pi

5 V UBEC

12 V Input