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| Battery-Powered WiFi Netcam Image from Toms Blog at McLaren Labs |
Remember that sometime ago, I wrote a post Technology: How to Use Your Extra Smartphones / Tablets As Webcam? In that post I successfully tested using an old Android phone as IP Cam. Now, it is time to use that for something even cooler!!!
I have always liked the idea of having an IP cam in the car. This is very useful (if possible) because if there is a police nearby wanting to give you a ticket, you can use your app to honk him, open the pano roof, this and that to signal that you are in fact nearby, while at the same time, you run like crazy back to the car trying to save yourself another HK$480 fine.
Or maybe you just feel it is cool to be able to look around the environment from inside your car and get a comfort feeling that your car is still around while you are away on a business trip.
My first idea was to connect a IP cam which can get its power from the USB port in the Model S while the car is 'off', but soon I found out that this is not possible. So to make it work, the power supply for the IP cam must come from somewhere.
Then I found this, Do It Yourself: Battery-Powered WiFi Netcam | Toms Blog at McLaren Labs. A rather easy DIY battery-powered WiFi Netcam/IP cam. Do read the article for specific details, but this part of the problem about power supply is solved, and you get the turns and rotations which can be controlled using apps or browsers on any computers or smartphones.
What's missing now is the connection between the IP cam and your phone -- you need a modem connected to LAN. Since the cam itself has only a limited range for its WiFi capability, you will not be able to connect the IP cam with a modem unless your car (with the IP cam inside it) sits nearby the modem. So, to provide a 'modem' that moves with your car going anywhere you go, you need a smartphone with at least 3G enabled on WiFi hotspot.
So, here goes the route of connection.
Battery-powered WiFi IP cam <--> WiFi hotspot on 3/4G smartphone as server <--> Smartphone / PC at home or office
How do make such connections? Well, here's a tutorial by Zedomax, who gets High On Android everyday!
I have tried all steps except for the battery-powering the IP cam, if you have tried all the steps and you like this idea, do leave a message and let me know!
Resources:
Technology: How to Use Your Extra Smartphones / Tablets As Webcam? @Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014_05_02_archive.html
Concept: In-Car Surveillance IP Cam Combo @TMC
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/34413-All-Model-S-Mods-Go-Here/page6?p=825636#post825636
How to Recycle Android into Security Camera Liveview! +YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwdWMTICnYQ
