You may find the "sealed" enclosure still accumulates condensation - unless your enclosure is gas tight, thermal cycling will cause humid air to be drawn in, where the moisture condenses and cannot escape. You may still need a small drain hole.
I wasn't sure about the best solution in that regards. I did add a small hollow tube that helps equalize pressure from thermal cycles, to prevent the lid from being popped out. So I guess I did allow a pathway for moisture to move in and out. I'll see how it fairs over a longer period of time.
I'm just starting to learn about this whole IoT thing and this is way over my head, but I'm really excited at the possibilities here! I'm building an ESP32 based multi-sensor for my chicken coop right now and I may want to include one of these ESP32 cameras. Thanks!
I’ve been thinking about something like this with a (ultra sensitive) pressure trigger to activate the program, which will include sending a photo via sms to my phone. The beauty of this is that the switch can break the circuit and reduce power consumption when it’s not activated. I really like your implementation!
I was aiming for, in my mind, the simplest and most reliable solution. My mailbox gets battered by crazy weather a lot. Particularly, high winds. I hope the solar cell will be able to keep the battery topped up in perpetuity.
the sample sketches for espcam have a few clever tricks that can do facial detection in the video stream; so tasking it to say "that doesn't look empty" should be super simple.
@@frollard At the moment the ESP isn't holding on to the images, just sends them off. But yes, the processor should definitely have enough grunt to run some sort of simple comparison.
Really nice project. I was tinking in making some sensor for my mailbox. I loved this. Probably some allert could be triggered by comparing an ampty box reference image with an actual state.
Thanks and yeah you could do some rudimentary image processing on the esp32 to see if there is something in the box and then send some kind of push notification. You'd have to be carefully rationing your energy demands though. Would be interesting to try out.
In v2 consider a plastic mailbox (common here in the USA, not sure about NZ). Then you can 3D-print a false back to hide the electronics with a hole for the camera. The plastic should allow WiFi to pass. Also, if you can find a mailbox that matches the color of the solar panel to make it less noticeable. Another possibility is if you have low-voltage lighting in your yard you can run a lead to the mailbox to charge the battery when the lights go on. This might eliminate the need for the solar panel altogether, or at least supplement it.
Agreed, with a plastic mailbox I could have just dropped it in there. But I was working with what I had on hand (and I didn't like the plastic mailboxes I could find). Personally, I quite like the solar cell. It makes the entire thing completely autonomous.
could have put a scale in the floor of the box to sense if there is anything in there once a day and send a notification or something. maybe it would take too much power but I think it's a neat idea.
I'm super fond of the new-ish laser time of flight sensors - vl53l0x etc...they can measure millimeter accurate distances for 3-2000mm at 20hz (trading range for accuracy/time) for a pittance of electricity; I suspect it couldn't easily detect a postcard...but an envelope could, especially if the base of the box had some rails that mail landed on such that the laser measured the cavity between rails. Thin and compressible rails would mean you don't lose precious volume for packages but light envelopes would stand tall and be detected.
This is a neat idea, though, for me, I don't know that I would need a camera. I would make a small modification from the camera to a dri contact or pressure plate, and set it to wake when that sensor is triggered. I would probably also do a reset or "mail picked up" switch. Thanx for the video
Yes, many ways to do this. But keep in mind whatever switches and pressure sensors you use need to be highly weather/water proof. And pressure sensors that can react to the weight of a letter would likely also be tripped by to the crazy winds around here.
Think I would have had an activation switch on the hinge just to broadcast a notification to a listener it the house, and if I was ambitious maybe a watchdog with the state of charge levels on the battery. Sure, the camera etc are clever and credit for getting the power usage down but just more to go wrong. Btw do you still get usable pictures after dark?
I'm not only interested if there is something in the mail, but also what it is. Don't want to make the trip for circulars but little yellow packages get me excited ;) Yes, I get images after dark since I am using the flash LED during capture.
Nice 1st stage to your project? Things have a way to take on a mind of their own. I'm also a newbie, to hobbyist electronics (guessing you aren't 😊), in general. Got into it, for designing/building smaller solar/Li-Ion projects. Always on the hunt for new ideas. Thanks. PS. I took one look at your front section/fence, & thought that's got to be in New Zealand. Being in a trade, I've gotten used to recognising house types. I'd guess you're near the sea/lake. It just has that look. Hi, from a fellow Kiwi 👋
@@fhuable Yep. My favourite character, in my favourite TV series. JMS was a genius, when he concepted & produced Babylon 5. Just wish the filming had been mastered in HD/real32mm.
@@fhuable I guess time will tell. Historically, redos can't capture the original essence, & interaction of the writers, actors & directors (in that order). Hope I'm proven wrong.
That's it I'm buying a set of ESP32 rn! Thank you for the awesome video. Subscribed! PS : Is it possible to buy a ESP32 with the ability to power off the camera module out of the box ?
Not sure. The esp32 has a limited number of available pins, most of them used. I guess it would boil down to finding a module using a camera that can more effectively sleep via software command rather then relying on an external pin. If you don't run of a battery, or use a larger solar cell, the 6mA sleep current probably won't be an issue.
I appreciate the design and concept. However, it seems overly complex for the purpose of receiving a notification when there's mail. A simpler solution could be using an IoT switch, similar to those used for monitoring doors. These devices, which are battery-operated and typically have a year-long battery life, could effectively indicate mail arrival. All I need is a basic alert to notify me when the mailbox is opened, as the specific contents of the mail are not my concern.
great project, question if I wanted to build this exact project but have the camera running 24/7 how big of a battery would you suggest? If the power consumption is 6 milli amps, will a 2000 mAmp lipo battery be appropriate? Thanks so much!
Not sure what you mean with running the cam 24/7. The 6mA power consumption stated in the vid was for deep sleep. So only when the board is doing absolutely nothing. As soon as it's awake and processing camera data the consumption goes up. Anyhow, whatever you do it depends on how much energy your solar cell can provide (in the worst weather). Whatever you consume during the day/night will have to be replenished the next time the sun comes up. Otherwise the battery will slowly drain. A 2000mAh battery can (very roughly) supply 2000mA for 1 hour. Or 20mA for 100 hours and so on.
@@fhuable 24/7 video streaming, I read the power consumption of the esp32 during this state and found it was drawing 240 mA. So I purchased a 9watt - 6volt solar panel along with a 10ah lipo battery. Currently running test to see how well it charges over time. I was able to get 2 days of power with the battery alone and can charge the battery in less than 6 hours. (in max sunlight conditions). But ill probably implement some battery saving features like deep sleep if the battery capacity dips below a certain amount nad have it power back on when the battery is recharged. Not ideal but it helps. Thanks for the help!
Hi, love this video with all the extras about the enclosure and power. That said, I'm new to this so there is so much to learn in all these areas. I'm looking to make a weather station with inputs from an anemometer, wind vane and BME280. I'm not quite sure how to add these inputs to the ESP32-CAM though as there don't appear to be enough. I have the Wifi, BME280 and camera going without the SD-Card but I think I'm out of inputs. I would like to add a cell/mobile modem too so it could take periodic readings + photo and send them to a server. Any thoughts / suggestions?
I'm getting ready to build the same thing, except I'm skipping the camera and only sending weather data. Using WiFi, the ESP32 will serve a web page with the data. Solar powered with TP4056, and 2 18650's.
@@johntoe6127 That's great, I haven't started to think about the power side of things. Which weather data are you sending? As I mentioned I am concerned I don't have enough inputs.
@@caetzar My plan is to connect to WiFi. That's cheaper and less complicated than cellular. The ESP32 will then serve a web page with the weather data. I purchased an anemometer, and wind vane sensor from aliexpress $25+shipping. Search: 30m/s Weather Station Outdoor 3 Cup Anemometer Sensor Polycarbon Fiber Wind Speed Wind Direction Sensor Output RS485 4-20MA 0-5V (be sure and get the 0-5V kit). Power will be from a 6"x6" solar panel, into a TP4056 (protected board) and 2 18650 batteries in parallel. Output from TP4056 is to a small boost converter giving 5V that powers everything. I also include an INA219 in the + lead of the battery. This allows battery voltage, and solar charge current to be reported. So, bme280 provides temp, pressure, and humidity. Anemometer and wind vane, solar level, charge current and battery voltage will all be reported over the web page. Pole made from iron pipe, and top made from 2" PVC Pipe, which will provide case for ESP32, boost converter, INA219, TP4056, Batteries, and bme280. Programmed to sleep a lot in the middle of the night when the wind is calm, and there's no solar input.
@@caetzar I'm using a standard ESP32-DEV-KIT , so no problem with the number of inputs. Since you want video (which is really a good idea), I think I'd just add another ESP32 to handle all the weather data and battery/solar data. Dedicate the ESP-CAM to handling and serving the video. You can power both of them off of the solar/battery setup. You could let the ESP-CAM sleep all the time and have the ESP32-DEV-KIT wake it when video was requested (using one of the spare inputs).
And after all of that work somone comes and smashes your letter box or just steals it..... hahahaha.... A great idea and design! I just have one of my outside cameras cover the letterbox area and I can just have a quick look at the footage or look at the movement sensor logs to see if anyone accessed my letterbox.
Muy buen proyecto, espero que te funcione excelente sobre todo por las condiciones de clima en tu país. Cuéntanos más adelante acerca del funcionamiento de la batería conectada al ESP32-CAM. Gracias por tu vídeo y tu tiempo en realizarlo. Saludos!
Thanks. The battery is still going strong even though this yeah has seen the worst weather. The solar cell has gone a bit milky, I suspect the coating was meant for indoors and doesn't hold up too well to the high UV radiation of the outdoors but so far there is no noticable performance degradation.
Are you asking about the wifi range of the ESP32 module? It is not bad, currently reaching about maybe 15m to my router, through a brick wall and a tree. Although that is probably close to the maximum I can get in my current environment. Lot's of 2Ghz networks present around me.
1mA...Hmm that is light-sleep for the ESP? Deep sleep mode is 20 uA, the camera should be completely shut down. Also random Chinese solar charge controllers are not the most efficient at these low powers. A simple Zener diode circuit aka solar garden lamp circuit, to cut off at 3.9V and a solar cell that has a MPP close to that, is likely more efficient or simply rely on the one cell BMS board you are using already.
Yeah I'm sure it's not the most efficient. I can still see the MPPT pumping the battery at lower light levels though which I imagine a non-boost circuit wouldn't be able to do. And yes, 1mA is still a little on the high side. I haven't looked into the SD card too much which is responsible for about half of that when not in use. The camera seems to power down the sensor and memory but I think the processor is still somewhat awake. It has a software command for deep sleep, too, but I read there are problems waking it back up w/o a power cycle so didn't try that.
