Construction WebCam

[llavalle]

I've set up a webcam in my shop to take pictures of the build. It's set up to take a picture every 5min if there is movement then upload it on my webserver.

The website is in french but the picture does not have a language

You can check it out here :

http://www.llavalle.ca/webcam



Click on the picture to get a full view then you can hit "F5" to refresh. I'll be working on the project on most week days from 7-9 PM EST and during the weekend.

As of this writing, the last picture was taken ~2h ago : I was back riveting the rudder stiffners on my -9 emp.

Happy watching

[Vlad]

Excellent idea Phillippe,
Couple years ago there were two RV webcams I was watching when I was building the empennage. They were operational for about four months and were very motivational. Hope your webcam will be on untill your plane is flying.

[llavalle]

Originally Posted by Vladyspassky

Hope your webcam will be on untill your plane is flying.

Unless something goes wrong (hardware failure, project on hold because of money / job loss), I hope to have it on all the way

[Vlad]

No force major please. You can always work as a building mechanic Our hospital is hiring. Keep the project rolling and camera ON

[Vlad]

Philippe,
Is it possible to set a webcam in the shop without having a website? I am total dummy in IT world but would like to have a toy like yours.

[llavalle]

Originally Posted by Vladyspassky

Philippe,
Is it possible to set a webcam in the shop without having a website? I am total dummy in IT world but would like to have a toy like yours.

Sure!
If all you want to do is take an image every x minutes or seconds, just plug a webcam to a laptop / regular computer and use a webcam software to take pictures.

If you don't have access to a computer for your shop, you can use a "IP Webcam". It's a self contained unit that plugs into your network and can be made avaiable over the internet.

I use my laptop's built in webcam with the following software : YawCam, it's a free, Java based application to control webcams.

It can save the pictures to the hard drive, upload them to a website's ftp server(what I'm doing) or simply made available with it own webserver.

If you want to share the webcam with others, you have 2 options
1-Buy webhosting and upload the file (like I'm doing)
2-Use the built in webserver.

If you want to use option #2, you'll have give your IP address to the other party.. Depending on you connection, the IP address can or cannot change after some time. In case you have a IP Address that changes (probably the case), you can create a "NO-IP" address. It's free and comes with a small software that you install on your computer that detect IP changes and updated the "NO-IP" address.

Let me know if you need more info, I can help you out! just send me a MP!

[Vlad]

Old iMac with 5 years old OS but thinking of buying new Apple soon. Looks like that software you mentioned works for PCs only. Is there some webcam software available for Mac?

I have strong wireless signal in my shop and my desktop will move there when it gets warmer.

[RV7Factory]

If you've got good wireless, then as Philippe said earlier the easiest solution might be a wireless network (IP) camera. No computer is needed, just plug it in and configure.

I've got a Panasonic (wired) network camera that's been running solid for two years now. It takes a picture every 30 seconds and uploads it to a web site. It will also stream live video, but you've got to open up a port on your router/firewall, and I didn't want to do that. More info here. I am not necessarily recommending any of these, just providing a link so that you know what's out there.

Have fun!

[Vlad]

Thanks Brad,
I will check it.

[Vlad]

Philippe your webcam indicates it's offline. Was couple of weeks like that. Is my computer faulty or yours doesn't transmit?