esp-idf-mqtt-camera

Take a picture and Publish it via MQTT.
This project use this Camera Driver.

Hardware requirements

ESP32 development board with OV2640 camera.
If you use other camera, edit sdkconfig.default.
From the left:

• Aithinker ESP32-CAM
• Freenove ESP32-WROVER CAM
• UICPAL ESPS3 CAM
• Freenove ESP32S3-WROVER CAM (Clone)

Software requirements

ESP-IDF V5.0 or later.
ESP-IDF V4.4 release branch reached EOL in July 2024.

Installation

For AiThinker ESP32-CAM, You have to use a USB-TTL converter.

ESP-32	USB-TTL
U0TXD	RXD
U0RXD	TXD
GPIO0	GND
5V	5V
GND	GND

git clone https://github.com/nopnop2002/esp-idf-mqtt-camera
cd esp-idf-mqtt-camera
idf.py set-target {esp32/esp32s3}
idf.py menuconfig
idf.py flash monitor

Start firmware

For AiThinker ESP32-CAM, Change GPIO0 to open and press the RESET button.

Configuration

Set the following items using menuconfig.

Wifi Setting

You can connect using the mDNS hostname instead of the IP address.

You can use static IP.

MQTT Server Setting

MQTT broker is specified by one of the following.

• IP address
  192.168.10.20
• mDNS host name
  mqtt-broker.local
• Fully Qualified Domain Name
  broker.emqx.io

jpeg files are sent as multiple messages.
When using a public broker like broker.emqx.io, some messages may be missing.
You can download the MQTT broker from here.

Select Board

Select Frame Size

Large frame sizes take longer to take a picture.

Select Shutter

You can choose one of the following shutter methods

• Shutter is the Enter key on the keyboard
  For operation check.
  When using the USB port provided by the USB Serial/JTAG Controller Console, you need to enable the following line in sdkconfig.

   CONFIG_ESP_CONSOLE_USB_SERIAL_JTAG=y
  

  

• Shutter is a GPIO toggle

  • Initial Sate is PULLDOWN
    The shutter is prepared when it is turned from OFF to ON, and a picture is taken when it is turned from ON to OFF.

  • Initial Sate is PULLUP
    The shutter is prepared when it is turned from ON to OFF, and a picture is taken when it is turned from OFF to ON.

  I confirmed that the following GPIO can be used.

  GPIO	PullDown	PullUp
  GPIO12	OK	NG
  GPIO13	OK	OK
  GPIO14	OK	OK
  GPIO15	OK	OK
  GPIO16	NG	NG

  

• Shutter is TCP Socket
  ESP32 acts as a TCP server and listens for requests from TCP clients.
  You can use tcp_send.py as shutter.
  python3 ./tcp_send.py

• Shutter is UDP Socket
  ESP32 acts as a UDP listener and listens for requests from UDP clients.
  You can use this command as shutter.
  echo -n "take" | socat - UDP-DATAGRAM:255.255.255.255:49876,broadcast
  You can use udp_send.py as shutter.
  Requires netifaces.
  python3 ./udp_send.py
  
  You can use these devices as shutters.
  
  Click here for details.

• Shutter is MQTT Publish
  ESP32 acts as an MQTT subscriber and listens to requests from MQTT publishes.
  You can use mosquitto_pub as shutter.

   mosquitto_pub -h your_broker -p 1883 -t "/take/picture" -m ""
  

  

Flash Light

ESP32-CAM by AI-Thinker have flash light on GPIO4.

PSRAM

When using ESP32S3, you need to set the PSRAM type according to the hardware.
ESP32S3-WROVER CAM has Octal Mode PSRAM.
UICPAL ESPS3 CAM has Quad Mode PSRAM.

View pictures using opencv-python

You can use subscribe.py as image viewer.

python3 -m pip install -U wheel
python3 -m pip install 'paho-mqtt>=1.0.0,<2.0.0'
python3 -m pip install opencv-python

python3 ./subscribe.py --help
usage: subscribe.py [-h] [--host HOST] [--port PORT] [--topic TOPIC] [--output OUTPUT]

options:
  -h, --help       show this help message and exit
  --host HOST      mqtt broker
  --port PORT      mqtt port
  --topic TOPIC    mqtt topic
  --output OUTPUT  output file name

Close the image window with the ESC key.

Save pictures using node.js

You can use saveFile.js to save pictures.

npm install mqtt
npm saveFile.js

Take & view pictures using flask

Read this.

Take & view pictures using android

Read this.

Built-in WEB Server

ESP32 works as a web server.
You can check the photos taken using the built-in WEB server.
Enter the ESP32's IP address and port number in the address bar of your browser.
You can connect using mDNS hostname instead of IP address.

MQTT client Example

Example code in various languages.
https://github.com/emqx/MQTT-Client-Examples

References

https://github.com/nopnop2002/esp-idf-mqtt-broker

https://github.com/nopnop2002/esp-idf-mqtt-image-viewer

https://github.com/nopnop2002/esp-idf-mqtt-image-client