IOT Project - Chris Nevers

This project allows users to setup camera enabled Raspberry Pis on their home network and stream their video from anywhere. The cameras will detect motion while streaming and store snapshots. These images can be viewed online. The images will then be deleted after a fixed number of days.

This project provides the web server and instructions needed to run the web application on your own machine (given the correct hardware).

Software Inventory

Node.js Web Server

• Utilizes the Express framework to create a Node.js web server

Motion

• Raspberry Pi Zeros use the motion package for streaming videos and taking pictures
• Provides an extensive configuration file to tweak with camera and storage settings

AWS Connected

• Pub/Sub to AWS Topics
  • Web page updates in real time when message is received
• Integrated with AWS IOT Button

MySQL Connected

• User Authentication
  • Tracks who is currently logged in
• Stores messages from AWS into DB

RPIO (Raspberry GPIO)

• Node.js package with an extensive API that allows access to the Pi's GPIO ports

Socket.io

• Allows custom event emit/listen functionality
• Sends data to the web interface in real time

Hardware Inventory

Raspberry Pi

• Serves as the central node in the project's toplogy. This pi runs the web application. All access from outside the local network gets tunneled through this pi and is forked appropriately. The breakout board with the LEDs are attached to this pi.

Rasperry Pi Zero (x2)

• These Pi's rock the cameras. Given their small size, they are convenient to place anywhere.

Cameras

• Camera video is streamed to a port on the Pi's localhost.

Green and Red LED Lights

• Lights on breakout board provide convenient indication of whether the server is up and running successfully or has encountered an error.

Value and Differentiation

The value of home security cannot be overstated. Many people have busy lifestyles that keep them away from their homes and families. Surveillance systems allow people to monitor their house while away.

This product differs from other similar products in that it is a very cheap alternative. Products such as Nest and Evercam can be very pricey. Part of that price is the inclusion of software that comes with the products. This project is released under an open source license and is therefore free to use and supplement with new features.

Installation

To run the web server:

First, install the necessary node packages:

npm install

Second, run with node (in the background):

node app.js &

Setting Up The Main Processing Pi

1. Append to the end /etc/rc.local:

    sudo python /var/www/create_initial_login_DB.py &
    (cd /home/pi/IoT-Project/ && sudo node app.js) &
    socat TCP-LISTEN:8081,fork TCP:192.168.1.196:8081 &
    socat TCP-LISTEN:8082,fork TCP:192.168.1.198:8081 &
   

The first command creates the DB Schema if necessary.

The second command runs the web server on boot.

The next commands are to fork the incoming connections to the Pi Zeroes so their live stream can be viewed outside of the local network.

2. Install sshfs to mount external Pi drives to this node:

    sudo apt-get install sshfs
   

3. Edit chrontab to clean files routinely, run crontab -e and append with:

    0 0 * * * /bin/sh /home/pi/IoT-Project/src/cronjob.sh
   

4. If using an AWS connection to pub/sub, create a directory named aws_keys at the project's top level. Paste the following files you've obtained from Amazon here. e.g:

    - certificate.pem.crt
    - private.pem.key
    - public.pem.key
    - root-CA.crt
   

It is important when adding new pi zeroes to add directories to the public/images folder. Make a new directory for each pi zero and name it in the following format: zero-<NUM> where NUM is 1 based and increases with additional cameras. E.G. zero-1.

The SSHFS commands can be found in app.js. It mounts the Pi Zeroes' /var/lib/motion/ directory to the main pi's public/images directories. It is important to add r/w/x permissions to the motion folder on the pi zero. The main pi will need permission to clean files from it.

You might need to manually run the sshfs command when first connecting a pi to establish a RSA key fingerprint.

In case you need to unmount these directories for any reason run: sudo umount zero-1

Adding a New Camera

1. Install Raspbian OS on Raspberry Pi Zero.

2. Enable ssh and camera from raspi-config.

3. Install motion package:

    sudo apt-get install motion
   

4. Activate camera driver:

    sudo modprobe bcm2835-v4l2
   

5. Activate camera driver after every reboot:

    sudo vi /etc/modules
   

   At the end of the file add: bcm2835-v4l2

6. Enable motion server to run automatically:

    sudo vi /etc/default/motion
   
    start_motion_daemon=yes
   

7. Edit motion config file:

    sudo vi /etc/motion/motion.conf
   
   
    # Allow motion to run the daemon we've set earlier
    daemon on
   
    # we want to be able to access the stream outside off the Pi's localhost
    stream_localhost off
   
    # disable pictures and movies saving
    output_pictures off 
   
    ffmpeg_output_movies off
   
    # set the framerate of the stream (100 for higher quality)
    framerate 1
   
    output_pictures : best
   
    minimum_motion_framerate 2
   
    picture_filename %v-%Y-%m-%d-H-%M-%S-%q
   
    minimum_frame_time 5
   
    width : 640
   
    height: 480
   

8. Reboot/run : sudo service motion start

9. In your home router page, forward a port to your main pi, e.g. 2500

10. Then on your main pi add the following to your /etc/rc.local file:

    socat TCP-LISTEN:2500,fork TCP:192.168.1.196:8081 &
    

    Where

    2500 - the port you forwarded in your router.

    192.168.1.196 - the ip address of the new pi

    8081 - the port that the motion server is streaming on. (8081 by default)

    This will forward all incoming connections from port 2500 on the main pi to your new pi.

SQL Schema

+--------------------+
| Tables_in_iotdevdb |
+--------------------+
| iotlog             |
| login              |
+--------------------+

iotlog table

+------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| ldate      | ltime    | devname          | logentry           |
+------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| 2018-05-03 | 08:56:34 | AWS_DEVICE_ID    | {"message": "Hello from AWS IoT console"} |
+------------+--------------------------------------------------+
+------------+--------------------------------------------------+

login table

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| L1            | L2                        | role | logged_in |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| administrator | 25f9e794323b453885f518... | a    |         0 |
| chris         | $2a$10$IQbVm2BZAHJchat... | a    |         1 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+