Starting Your Raspberry Pi Camera Setup Remotely

When setting up your Raspberry Pi camera system, one of the most convenient features you can implement is remote starting and recording capabilities. This allows you to start recording from anywhere, at any time, using your smartphone or computer. In this article, we'll explore how to set up your Raspberry Pi camera to start recording remotely.

The PiZero's Power Draw

Before we dive into the specifics of setting up remote recording, let's talk about the power draw of the PiZero. This tiny board draws around 30-40mA when powered down, which is significantly more efficient than a standard Raspberry Pi. However, this still may be too much for battery-powered applications.

Using the DS3231 RTC

Fortunately, the DS3231 pin3 on your PiZero is open-drain, making it possible to use it as an alarm input. By pulling down Pin 3, you can trigger the board to wake up and start recording remotely.

The Raspberry Pi Driver and Wakeup Alarm

The stock Raspberry Pi driver supports a single wakeup alarm on the DS3231, which is great news for our remote recording setup. You can find more information about the gory details of setting this up online.

Using a PIC Microcontroller

If you're looking to add even more flexibility to your system, consider using a 16F628A PIC microcontroller with a DS3231 dongle. This will give you the ability to control your camera and start recording remotely with ease.

Starting Your PiZero Remotely

To get started with remote recording on your Raspberry Pi Zero, follow these steps:

1. Power down your PiZero.

2. Connect the DS3231 pin3 to ground using a wire or jumper.

3. Use a wide input shim to power your Pi from a CCTV power supply or LiPo battery.

4. Install the necessary software and drivers for your camera setup.

With these simple steps, you'll be able to start recording remotely using your smartphone or computer. No more need to physically access your Raspberry Pi camera system - simply wake it up and start capturing footage whenever you want!

Start recording from mixlr app remotly