Recording Video surveillance

[cheapNdisgusting]

What I want to do - Record video from a digital camera hooked to my computer. I want it activated by dry contacts on a motion sensor for a short period of time (5 min.) or so, and then standby until the sensor is triggered again. The sensors I have have an adjustable time on/off.
What I've got - P4, windows XP, fair asst of cameras, a little knowledge, lots of parts, and a lot of time.

The purpose of this project is to record a tresspasser when I am not home. Sometimes I am gone for a week or two and do not want a week or two of footage. Is this possible or do I need to buy something pre-made. Rather make it myself.

I appologise if this is the wrong forum.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[jwax]

This system uses a webcam, but you could improvise I'm sure:
http://www.theill.com/ConquerCam/
He has various options for digital motion-detect, and capture options.
If you google, you'll find lots of surveillance software. Have fun!

[cheapNdisgusting]

Thanks jwax, I'll take a look.

[Lenp]

A thought!

Some years back I designed a circuit that used a common motion detector to triger a micro processor. The processor started the vcr in record mode and as long as there was motion the recorder ran. After the motion stopped a delay was started and the recorder was stopped. One tricky issue is that many recorders used the stop switch as an eject control if the button was held too long. Proper pulse length solved that. I used simple reed relays from the processor to interface to the recorder's physical switches. This could likely be done today with a dvr as well. I considred using IR control but the pulsing schemes are all different and were difficult to find.

Len

[cheapNdisgusting]

Thanks lenp. I understand how this would work and it is probably the best solution as far as "build-it-yourself" goes. This would work especially well with the older vcrs.

The motion detector triggers the microprocessor which triggers the reed relays to start recording, and after the motion detector clears, the system goes back to stand-by.

Worth a shot. Thanks

[jollyrgr]

This can all be done with software; no need for a motion sensor as the camera acts as the sensor. When there is a significant motion on the camera the overall picture "changes". The software recognizes this and then records. In some cases the software is always recording into memory but does not do a "write" to the file until motion is sensed. That way any motion that is sensed is always cached. If motion is then sensed the previous few seconds (such as ten seconds) this then written as part of the file. The after motion time can be set as well. There are a few free programs to do this. Here are some examples:

http://www.video-surveillance-guide.com ... ftware.htm

The Dorgem software says it is no longer supported but the old downloads are here:

http://dorgem.sourceforge.net/download.html

Here is still another version that is a "one channel" version (only supports one camera) but is still free. If you want multiple channels you have to buy it.

http://download.cnet.com/CyeWeb-One-Cha ... 63730.html

Hope this helps.

I am currently configuring a system for work. This will be a 200 camera system recording for 30 days. This will require (depending on the vendor) between 16TB and 60TB of hard drive space. You can always consider a stand alone four channel recorder. These can be found on eBay for about $100 to $300 dollars. Upgrading them is as simple as removing a few screws and changing out the hard drive.

[cheapNdisgusting]

Jollyrgr that sounds perfect. If it works good then I will probably upgrade to several cameras but just one for now. Monday I will try your suggestions. Thanks a lot and I will update this thread with my results.

Thanks go to Nuts and volts and T&L for this forum.

[jwax]

Here you go cNd- a surveillance robot and fun besides:
http://www.robotsrule.com/html/spykee.php