USB Camera for Reef-PI

[Iranian45]

Is it possible to use a USB camera with reef-pi instead of the raspberry pi one? Specifically I have an extra playstation eye from the PS3 that I used to use on my

 

[Ranjib]

Is it possible to use a USB camera with reef-pi instead of the raspberry pi one? Specifically I have an extra playstation eye from the PS3 that I used to use on my

I dont think so. reef-pi does not really do much for camera/video streaming. It uses motion underneath for most of this and just renders the output in reef-pi webui. You can punt on reef-pi for the streaming work and just use the USB camera as it is with any of the popular streaming app.
Anything image/video related is very CPU intensive, so be careful with your Pi's usage. I encourage using dedicated Pi for something like this, or just use a normal IP camera,

 

[Andrewalex11]

You could probably snag a Raspberry Pi Zero W for under $10 on Adafruit to use as a standalone video streaming device

 

[Iranian45]

Anything image/video related is very CPU intensive, so be careful with your Pi's usage. I encourage using dedicated Pi for something like this, or just use a normal IP camera,

Since I VNC into the PI could I just open VLC Media player when I want to check on it? Or would that take to much CPU usage? I am heading on vacation for 8 days and wanted to make sure the pump and heaters were actually working while I am away. I have some people checking on the tank but I am paranoid.

 

[Ranjib]

Since I VNC into the PI could I just open VLC Media player when I want to check on it? Or would that take to much CPU usage? I am heading on vacation for 8 days and wanted to make sure the pump and heaters were actually working while I am away. I have some people checking on the tank but I am paranoid.

I think it will be fine if you do this on demand and not set it up as continuous streaming sumystem. It’s also wise to test it out upfront (i.e. run vlc streaming for 10min and see how much cpu /memory it consume )

 

[Iranian45]

@Ranjib memory usage increase around 30kb and CPU usage increase to nearly 50% from like 3 %. I ran it all night with the camera on and didnt see any issues.

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib memory usage increase around 30kb and CPU usage increase to nearly 50% from like 3 %. I ran it all night with the camera on and didnt see any issues.

Not that bad. Watch out for the sharp spikes. Your usage looks safe for streaming. You’ll get to know more once it’s running for couple of weeks

 

[Iranian45]

Thanks, I think I am going to just use it on demand as needed instead of leaving it up all the time.

 

[Ranjib]

Thanks, I think I am going to just use it on demand as needed instead of leaving it up all the time.

Wise decision :0)

 

[Ranjib]

Hey, checking back. How did this went? CPU profile was normal?

 

[Iranian45]

Hey, checking back. How did this went? CPU profile was normal?

Yes everything went well. I was able to watch my fish while I was away. It was really cool, and I didnt notice any hiccups in the operations. I dont have much to control yet though just lights and pumps.