Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 13-2
What You
Will Need
QTY
Item
Description
1
Webcam
Most webcams will work, but a good frame rate (30 fps), autofocus
and screen resolution (640 x 480) are webcam features that will all
add to the quality of the picture.
Network connection to
the Raspberry Pi
A network connection is needed for the video streaming. You will
most likely want a Wi-Fi connection so that you can place your
webcam where you need it. Coniguring a USB Wi-Fi device for
your Raspberry Pi is beyond the scope of this tutorial; however,
there are a number of online resources available on how to do this.
If you have an Ethernet network point, that will work ine too.
An Internet connection
for your Raspberry Pi
You will need this to install the webcam software.
Visit this website to check for compatibility of your webcam, or any other hardware, with the
Construction
he USB webcam plugs into the USB port of the Raspberry Pi, and the Raspberry Pi is con-
nected to your home network either via Wi-Fi or network cable. You need to be connected to
the Internet at the time you install the webcam software, but you do not need an Internet
connection for the webcam to store video footage or to stream on your home network. he
video footage is stored directly on the Raspberry Pi and is streamed to a predeined port. If
you don't know what a port is, don't worry; it's like a television channel that the Raspberry Pi
will broadcast to. You will use a browser to tune into that channel (port) to view the live
video stream. You will be able to view the video using any browser-enabled device (PC, tablet,
smartphone) connected to your home network. You will not be able to view the video foot-
age from the Internet without opening up the port on your router. Your router will typically
only allow traic from the Internet to pass through port 80, which is used for Internet brows-
ing and e-mail. However, you can conigure your router to open up the port you choose for
video surveillance. I'll explain that in more detail later in the “How to View the Webcam over
the Internet” subsection of this project.
You will most likely want to run your Raspberry Pi headless (without a TV, keyboard and
mouse attached). If you are not familiar with how to do this, I advise you to do some research
and become comfortable with accessing your Raspberry Pi remotely. It is not diicult; you
just need to know the IP address of your Raspberry Pi and then unplug the TV, keyboard and
mouse and access it using a remote access SSH application such as Putty.
