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The comments here are interesting, as I'm helping with a project developing the software stack for mini servers we hope to sell that are preconfigured with Home Assistant (home automation) and Frigate NVR (camera control and recording) with local storage, local control, and no cloud component.
The hardware we're using for prototyping are off-lease Dell 7050 Micros running Proxmox, with 500gb Crucial MX500 ssds and an NVME Coral TPU that Frigate uses for object detection, which reduces CPU usage. 500gb is enough, because Frigate can be set to auto delete recorded clips after a set period of time, and clips can easily be saved.
Frigate can be installed via docker or as an add-on to Home Assistant. If you want to use Home Assistant, you can install Home Assistant OS directly on the SSD via these instructions.
We're using Amcrest WiFi cameras (IP4M-1041B) that connect to an on-board WiFi network controlled by an OpenWRT VM that uses the WiFi card in the system (not the ones that come with the Dells). Everything on our systems is locked down by an Opnsense firewall vm, so it should be safe to use even in an existing unsecured network.
Personally, for my own system, I've been running 4 Amcrest ethernet turret cameras (IP5M-T1179EW) for about 4 years now with no problems. You just need a cheap PoE switch (mine was $20) and then run some cables.
To use Frigate, the cameras must support both ONVIF and RTSP. Pro tip: the Amcrest Smart Home line of cameras won't work - you need a camera with a built-in web server for direct configuration.
For remote access, you could set up Wireguard (via an official Home Assistant add-on), or you could pay Nabu Casa (Home Assistant's parent company) $65/year (or 75 EUR), enter your credentials in the Home Assistant app and you're good to go, while helping fund future Home Assistant development.
Kudos to the guy sharing his expertise for free while working on something similar they're trying to profit from
Thanks! Since our entire software stack is open source, and since open source software has been so transformative for our lives in general, it's a priority for us to give back where we can.
The profit will come from labor involved in assembling the hardware, pre-configuring the software for each customer, and providing personalized support via a set of subscription support plans at various prices, including individual one-offs.
We'll be dedicating a set amount of time every day to read support forums for the software we use (and places like Lemmy) and provide help where we can.
That is a really cool concept, I'd wish more tech companies would do that.
Very refreshing to see.
You are my kind of admin, so, any suggestions on hardware that use starlight sensors? Or anything comparable in low light with color?
Good question! starlight/night color cameras generally just have larger CMOS sensors to capture more light, OR they integrate an LED "spotlight" into the camera housing to increase the amount of light available to the sensor, and if that's not enough, the IR will kick in. Sometimes the sensor IS actually larger, and sometimes it isn't.
We've standardized on Amcrest cameras, and while we haven't actually tested it, Amcrest does have a "night color" outdoor turret camera that appears to support both ONVIF and RTSP, for the same price as the "regular" turret camera. The model number is IP5M-T1277EW-AI.
If it's like other similar Amcrest cameras, you can likely disable the AI stuff via the built-in configuration, especially if you have Frigate doing that for you.
Personally, I prefer a solution that uses a regular IP camera and a separate smart light (or regular light on a smart plug) that kicks on when motion or a tagged object is detected, which will then cause the camera to switch from black and white IR to color, usually in about a second. The separate light will give you a much better image than anything you'll get from a built-in LED or slightly larger sensor, in my opinion.
Home Assistant and Frigate make it easy to set up this kind of automation, and the "regular" Amcrest cameras have pretty good IR, so Frigate has no problem running detection on those feeds. The automation is basically "if a cat is detected on the garage camera, turn on the garage lights for x minutes".
Hope that helps!
Thanks, I'm currently using some RTSP modded WyzeV3s with HA and some custom ffmpeg scripts. Just wondering about other options.
What is the name or your project? I'm interested in being a customer. When do you hope to have the first product released?
We are not quite ready to roll everything out yet -it'll probably be another 2 or 3 months, but I'd be happy to shoot you a message when we go live if you'd like.
Yes please, add me to your waiting list
Done! Thanks for the interest!
I'd appreciate a message when you go live! People like you are amazing.
Will do! And thanks, that means a lot!
I'm interested as well - family members have been looking for a while, and they keep finding products that I deem as... low-quality, for one reason or another, and my requirements are basically aligned with what you are building.
Please let me know when your solution goes live :D
I will definitely add you to the list. And yeah, an older family member living far away who fell is the reason we started this project. We wanted to be able keep an eye on her (and allow other family members to do the same), but there wasn't anything available that met our requirements, either price or privacy-wise, so we built something and preconfigured it, including a Lubuntu VM with a Mesh Central agent installed that we could use for remote access and troubleshooting for the entire system. This has been super useful, and is the basis of our support model.
If a support package is purchased, we'll ship the device with a support VM installed that is shut down at all times EXCEPT when a specific (included) USB key is inserted into a specific USB port (the only USB-C port, located on the front of the device). This starts the support VM, at which point we would be able to remote in to check the system and fix any issues. The VM shuts down again when the USB key is removed, or after a set period of time, like an hour. This will allow us to ship the device and/or cameras to an older or non-tech savvy person and WE can provide them with support so YOU don't have to.