Hi everyone,
There have been a few posts/support requests about drop cameras recently, and after the latest one I thought it could be worth putting together a summary of the major components you might want/need to make a simple (tethered) drop cam.
Components Spreadsheet
Software
If you’re using our camera (or other H264-encoded USB cameras) via a Raspberry Pi (3B and above) then BlueOS will allow you to easily configure the stream(s) from a browser on your computer. IP cameras should provide that kind of capability automatically.
On the surface computer you’ll need something capable of receiving the stream(s).
If you’re wanting to also control lights/a tilt mechanism, or interface with a depth or leak sensor, that will require some code on the Raspberry Pi, which could make those controls/values accessible on a web page.
Existing Projects/Discussion
BlueOS Extensions:
Already on the forum:
- this comment links to several projects
- this post discusses release mechanisms/options
- this comment provides an example connection diagram for a USB camera and Raspberry Pi setup
- Navigator libraries
You can also try a forum search for “drop cam” or similar terms.