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ESP32-CAM setup

2 min read

I have a few cheap ESP32-based cameras for home NVR.

  • Find esp32cam model

The cameras run ESPHome firmware and stream video into Frigate.

  • Find original guide for this…

ESPHome setup

The ESPHome configuration is as follows:

esphome:
  name: esp32-camera-outside-01
 
  platformio_options:
    build_flags: -DBOARD_HAS_PSRAM
    board_build.arduino.memory_type: qio_opi
    board_build.f_flash: 80000000L
    board_build.flash_mode: qio
 
esp32:
  board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
  framework:
    type: arduino
 
# Enable logging
logger:
 
# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
 
ota:
  platform: esphome
 
 
wifi:
  ssid: "MyWiFi-IoT"
  password: "wifi password goes here"
 
  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "esp32-co01-fallback"
    password: "different wifi password goes here"
 
captive_portal:
 
# Configuration for the ESP32 Camera
esp32_camera:
  id: espcam
  name: My Camera
  external_clock:
    pin: GPIO10
    frequency: 20MHz
  i2c_pins:
    sda: GPIO40
    scl: GPIO39
  data_pins: [GPIO15, GPIO17, GPIO18, GPIO16, GPIO14, GPIO12, GPIO11, GPIO48]
  vsync_pin: GPIO38
  href_pin: GPIO47
  pixel_clock_pin: GPIO13
  resolution: 800x600
  test_pattern: false
  
  # these are default true!  you'll have to disable them,
  # not enable them, if you want to flip your video
  vertical_flip: false
  horizontal_mirror: false
  
# Configuration for the ESP32 Camera Web Server
esp32_camera_web_server:
  - port: 8080
    mode: stream
  - port: 8081
    mode: snapshot
 
switch:
  - platform: restart
    name: "ESP32 Camera Restart"
 
sensor:
  - platform: uptime
    name: "ESP32 Camera Uptime Sensor"
    
  - platform: wifi_signal
    name: "ESP32 Camera WiFi Signal"
    update_interval: 60s

See also

  • esp32_camera options: https://esphome.io/components/esp32_camera/
    • I had to explicitly set test_pattern back to false after I used it to test… seems like some of these options may be “remembered” between builds, even if you do an explicit clean?

To build it:

$ esphome clean esp32cam-outside.yaml
$ esphome compile esp32cam-outside.yaml
$ esphome upload esp32cam-outside.yaml --device <ip-address>

You don’t need to specify --device if you have working mDNS, but I don’t, as the camera is on a different network than the device I’m using esphome on.

Frigate config

Frigate took some convincing and I have never been able to flip video on the go2rtc side, no matter what I try.

Still broken

This config still has issues when trying to view recorded video. I’m not sure why and have just accepted failure.

Only relevant snips to this camera are listed.

ffmpeg:
  hwaccel_args: preset-vaapi
  
gp2rtc:
  streams:
    esp32_cam_outside_01:
      - http://<ip address>:8080
      - "ffmpeg:esp_cam_outside_01#video=h264#hardware"
        
cameras:
  esp_cam_outside_01:
    enabled: true
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/esp_cam_outside_01
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect
            - record

frigate

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