How to Make a Surveillance Camera with Raspberry Pi?

Turn your Raspberry Pi into a motion-activated security camera with live streaming, recording, and cloud backup. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

🔧 Required Hardware

• Raspberry Pi (Pi 4/5 recommended for best performance)

• Raspberry Pi Camera Module (or USB webcam)

• MicroSD Card (16GB+ recommended)

• Power Supply (Official Pi PSU recommended)

• Optional:

  • PIR motion sensor (for hardware motion detection)

  • Infrared (IR) camera for night vision

  • Enclosure (for weatherproofing)

📌 Step 1: Install Raspberry Pi OS

1. Download Raspberry Pi Imager.

2. Flash Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit Lite recommended) to the SD card.

3. Enable SSH by creating an empty ssh file in the boot partition.

4. Boot the Pi and connect via SSH (ssh pi@<IP>).

📸 Step 2: Set Up the Camera

🔹 For Official Raspberry Pi Camera Module

1. Enable the camera:

   bash

    

   sudo raspi-config

   → Interface Options → Camera → Enable → Reboot.

2. Test the camera:

   bash

    

   libcamera-hello -t 0  # Preview camera feed

🔹 For USB Webcam

1. Check if detected:

   bash

    

   lsusb

2. Install fswebcam for testing:

   bash

    

   sudo apt install fswebcam
   fswebcam test.jpg  # Capture a test image

🎥 Step 3: Install Motion Detection Software

We’ll use MotionEyeOS (easy) or Motion (more customizable).

Option 1: MotionEyeOS (Simplest Setup)

1. Download MotionEyeOS for Raspberry Pi.

2. Flash it to the SD card using Balena Etcher.

3. Boot the Pi → Access via http://<Pi_IP> (default login: admin with no password).

4. Configure:

   • Add camera (Pi Camera or USB)

   • Set motion detection sensitivity

   • Enable recording & alerts

Option 2: Motion (Advanced Setup)

1. Install Motion:

   bash

    

   sudo apt install motion

2. Edit config:

   bash

    

   sudo nano /etc/motion/motion.conf

   • Enable daemon = on

   • Set stream_port = 8081

   • Adjust threshold for motion sensitivity

3. Start Motion:

   bash

    

   sudo systemctl start motion

4. Access stream at http://<Pi_IP>:8081.

🔔 Step 4: Enable Notifications (Optional)

📧 Email Alerts (MotionEyeOS or Motion)

1. In MotionEyeOS Web UI:

   • Go to Notifications → SMTP Email

   • Enter Gmail (or SMTP) details

2. For Motion (Manual Setup):

   bash

    

   sudo apt install ssmtp mailutils
   sudo nano /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf

   Add:

    

   [email protected]
   mailhub=smtp.gmail.com:587
   [email protected]
   AuthPass=your_app_password  # Use Gmail App Password
   UseSTARTTLS=YES

   Then edit /etc/motion/motion.conf:

    

   on_motion_detected echo "Motion detected!" | mail -s "Alert" [email protected]

📱 Telegram Alerts

1. Create a Telegram Bot via BotFather.

2. Install curl:

   bash

    

   sudo apt install curl

3. Add to motion.conf:

    

   on_motion_detected curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/sendMessage?chat_id=<CHAT_ID>&text=Motion%20Detected!"

☁️ Step 5: Cloud Backup (Optional)

📤 Upload to Google Drive

1. Install rclone:

   bash

    

   sudo apt install rclone
   rclone config

2. Set up Google Drive sync.

3. Add a cron job to upload recordings:

   bash

    

   crontab -e

   Add:

    

   * * * * * rclone copy /var/lib/motion/ remote:PiSurveillance

🔋 Step 6: Run on Startup (Auto-Launch)

For MotionEyeOS:

Already runs automatically.

For Motion:

sudo systemctl enable motion

🎉 Final Setup

• Access Live Feed: http://<Pi_IP> (MotionEyeOS) or http://<Pi_IP>:8081 (Motion)

• Recordings Stored In: /var/lib/motion (Motion) or /data/output (MotionEyeOS)

• Extend Functionality:

  • Add infrared LEDs for night vision

  • Use OpenCV for facial recognition

📌 Summary: Best Setup?