iostream212
Active Member
My CCTV system setup has always been very basic, just a couple of networked cameras and a video encoder for my coax cameras. I setup a viewer app on my droid (IP Cam Viewer Pro) and added the cameras to my home automation touch screens. It was fine for the time, but eventually lost my favor. The problem was that when someone was at my door I had to:
1.) Grab my phone
2.) Unlock it
3.) Find the viewer app
4.) Open it
This ended up taking too long. I am sure other users have similar issues, like running to a dedicated monitor to view, or tuning the TV to a security feed. So I started thinking, what do I really want to happen? The answer to that is:
1.) Detect when someone is at the front door
2.) Unlock the phone
3.) Pull up that specific cameras feed
4.) Upon exit relock
I was able to accomplish exactly that and it has been rock solid ever since I pieced it together 4 months ago. At a high level this is how I did it (I am sure this is possible using different systems, but this is the path I chose): I use iSpy to detect the motion and trigger a scene in Elve, that sends a message to my phone via auto remote, which the phone receives and launches a task in tasker that unlocks the phone and opens the camera feed. The biggest issue in this puzzle was figuring out how to launch the camera in IP Cam Viewer Pro from tasker, so I’ll go into that in detail. If anyone wants more detail on the other steps just ask.
Below is the setup I have in tasker to launch the specified camera. Just replace "Front Door" in the 2nd 'Extra' field with the name of your camera.
1.) Grab my phone
2.) Unlock it
3.) Find the viewer app
4.) Open it
This ended up taking too long. I am sure other users have similar issues, like running to a dedicated monitor to view, or tuning the TV to a security feed. So I started thinking, what do I really want to happen? The answer to that is:
1.) Detect when someone is at the front door
2.) Unlock the phone
3.) Pull up that specific cameras feed
4.) Upon exit relock
I was able to accomplish exactly that and it has been rock solid ever since I pieced it together 4 months ago. At a high level this is how I did it (I am sure this is possible using different systems, but this is the path I chose): I use iSpy to detect the motion and trigger a scene in Elve, that sends a message to my phone via auto remote, which the phone receives and launches a task in tasker that unlocks the phone and opens the camera feed. The biggest issue in this puzzle was figuring out how to launch the camera in IP Cam Viewer Pro from tasker, so I’ll go into that in detail. If anyone wants more detail on the other steps just ask.
Below is the setup I have in tasker to launch the specified camera. Just replace "Front Door" in the 2nd 'Extra' field with the name of your camera.