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Home Hacking Projects for Geeks
book

Home Hacking Projects for Geeks

by Eric Faulkner, Tony Northrup
December 2004
Beginner content levelBeginner
336 pages
14h 32m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Home Hacking Projects for Geeks
73
Chapter 3, Remotely Monitor a Pet
Extensions
One of the nice things about using a script for a project like this is that
it’s easy to modify and extend. Some of the things you might want to do
include:
Save both a JPEG snapshot and a few seconds of video. You could even
capture video until you receive the “off” signal from the motion detec-
tor indicating that movement is no longer being detected.
Have the script send an email to your pager if no motion is detected
around feeding time.
Archive pictures older than a week by shrinking them to 320
×240 and
increasing the JPEG compression.
Organize the pictures for constant use by creating separate folders for
months and years.
If you check this book’s web site at http://www.homehacking.com, you’ll
probably discover that I’ve updated the script with some of these improve-
ments.
Exhibit A: Bill of Materials
Most parts are available from home automation web sites such as http://
www.smarthome.com. X10 wireless cameras are available only from http://
www.x10.com.
Item Quantity Approximate cost Part number
Serial Powerlinc computer
interface
1 $35 and up CM11A
X10 motion detector 3 $20 and up MS14A-C or
MS13A
X10 wireless cameras 3 $170 for all of
these items
XCam2
X10 wireless transceiver 1 4005X or 400s
Wireless video receiver 1 VR36A
Composite video input card 1 About $40 WinTV-GO-FM,
00191
X1
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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596004052Catalog PageErrata