Needing Help to buy the right PI and Parts.

[Olrik_Wonderer]

I will keep my intro as short as possible because my post will seem long, but kool once you understand the idea. But about me, like to do new things, nerd wise, I am a doer, instead of a ask a million questions before pushing the first button, but this is really new and really kool. (Yes, I know I used the letter k in kool 3 times now. Do a word search and you will find the missing one.) This will be my first experience with PI. I know some about VB, C+ (Dark Basic), and DOS. I like getting my hands dirty learning something new, especially if it will help save a life. (Got you hooked now, keep reading, please, I used a nice word.)

Ok, her is the skinny on my post.

Situation:
Cars like to do burn outs at the end of my street, then come down my road and stop and do more burnouts.
Police say "We cain't do nutin about it unless we seezhit." (Yes, that is a phonetic quote, not a typing issue.)
This happens maybe 1 to 4 month apart. Hard to record them doing it if they are very sporadic at doing it.

Resolution:
Video record the jerks, in a public place where videoing people on the street is allowed (See, story below.), doing the crime.

Scene of the Crime:
T-intersection that is a public road. Car launch pad is within 15 feet of a telephone pole. Burnout marks indicate a full 180 degree burnout is done before coming down my road. (Ex. They are leaving my road sitting at a stop sign, but burn rubber and slide the car in a full 180 turn in the opposite direction and come back down my road they were exiting.) The tire screeching sound can be heard for at least 1/2 mile or more. But only a 10 second window before they pass my house, and miss out on a 10 gauge slug to the radiator.

Creative Solution:
Since the local doughnut breading ground glaze wranglers are not willing to do anything about a pedophilia guy, taking pictures from his driveway, of kids getting off the bus 3 blocks away, with a telephoto lens, hiding behind his mailbox, why can't I do the same thing? Every time I ask, the guy about the pictures he is taking, he gives me the finger and tells me it a public place he can do whatever he wants. So, it's a public place, why can't I get away with taking pictures or video of the rubber laying junkies doing the crime? I show the video, with date and time stamp, to the cops, with tag numbers, and they have their proof, no excuse to not drive down the road 5 or so miles and issue a ticket and do their job with success. Kind of like the dude on Street Vigilante, just video taping criminals instead of cops, not going to win a million dollars on America's Funniest Video, but saving my child or another kids life is far more valuable than a million dollars.

Vision of success:
Metal box records video of car tire screeching above a certain decibel level for initial level reached, plus 10 seconds after levels have returned to normal. Way to retrieve videos?(USB, SD Card, or Wireless.) I am initially thinking SD card removal, drop and drag videos to laptop HD and play for the boys in blue to watch or e-mail to them. Date and time stamp on video for proof of purchase on a new ticket and accompanying fines. HD quality would be preferred, to see those smiling faces behind the wheel and undeniably read a tag number clearly.

PI Parts needed:
......? ( Here is the problem)
From what little I have gotten to read, PI seems to be the answer to the problem. (Yes, the money problem too.)
1. PI version 2. (PI has)
2. Camera Add-On. (PI has)
3. SD Card to record the video too. (I think PI has...?)
4. A microphone to pickup a tire screeching decibel level. (???)
5. Power Supply. (??? Was thinking of running off of a 12 Volt security alarm battery from Lowes or a Battery Store. Not the car kind, the SLA kind.)
6. Metal Box to lock all of the components in, and labeled clearly as a video recording device. ( I have that, I like welding... )
(Yes, I have been called a nerd by the owner of the company I work for, so a nerd that can MIG weld is a rare thing.)
(Yes, I know MIG welding is no big whop, but I have stick welded before also, so at least give me that.)

So, what am I needing help on? As you can see above, I am a bit fuzzy on part # 3, and no clue about #4 or #5. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. It would be so awesome if I could order all of these parts #1-6 all in one whack here from the PI guys, and girls.Or alternate suggestions as to were I can order them, online or radio shack. (Ugg, I said a dirty word. Past experience.) Again this will be my first project, experience, hopefully success story with using PI. My budget, hopefully less than $500 dollars total. Do I plan on going commercial with this device, HECK NO!!!, this could possibly save lives and help others, I don't run a country into a trillion dollar debt. If someone asked me to make them one, I would only charge for parts, and any real cost to me, wire, solder, glue, Plexiglas insert window, hinges, locks, sheet metal, etc, the small stuff that adds up quick at Lowes. I hate charging for time because I like doing things the right way, not the rushed slap together barely glued on don't touch it because it might fall apart way. Again any help with these parts would be a great help. Oh and for those interested, I will do my best to keep a journal, of all the details so someone else could duplicate the same item down to the last 1/8th of an inch welding, to the length of wire to use, to code being used. If something like this could help someone else in the same situation, this would be what I want them to see and do.

[BMS Doug]

I will keep my intro as short as possible because my post will seem long, but kool once you understand the idea. But about me, like to do new things, nerd wise, I am a doer, instead of a ask a million questions before pushing the first button, but this is really new and really kool. (Yes, I know I used the letter k in kool 3 times now. Do a word search and you will find the missing one.) This will be my first experience with PI. I know some about VB, C+ (Dark Basic), and DOS. I like getting my hands dirty learning something new, especially if it will help save a life. (Got you hooked now, keep reading, please, I used a nice word.)

Ok, her is the skinny on my post.

Situation:
Cars like to do burn outs at the end of my street, then come down my road and stop and do more burnouts.
Police say "We cain't do nutin about it unless we seezhit." (Yes, that is a phonetic quote, not a typing issue.)
This happens maybe 1 to 4 month apart. Hard to record them doing it if they are very sporadic at doing it.

Resolution:
Video record the jerks, in a public place where videoing people on the street is allowed (See, story below.), doing the crime.

Scene of the Crime:
T-intersection that is a public road. Car launch pad is within 15 feet of a telephone pole. Burnout marks indicate a full 180 degree burnout is done before coming down my road. (Ex. They are leaving my road sitting at a stop sign, but burn rubber and slide the car in a full 180 turn in the opposite direction and come back down my road they were exiting.) The tire screeching sound can be heard for at least 1/2 mile or more. But only a 10 second window before they pass my house, and miss out on a 10 gauge slug to the radiator.

Creative Solution:
Since the local doughnut breading ground glaze wranglers are not willing to do anything about a pedophilia guy, taking pictures from his driveway, of kids getting off the bus 3 blocks away, with a telephoto lens, hiding behind his mailbox, why can't I do the same thing? Every time I ask, the guy about the pictures he is taking, he gives me the finger and tells me it a public place he can do whatever he wants. So, it's a public place, why can't I get away with taking pictures or video of the rubber laying junkies doing the crime? I show the video, with date and time stamp, to the cops, with tag numbers, and they have their proof, no excuse to not drive down the road 5 or so miles and issue a ticket and do their job with success. Kind of like the dude on Street Vigilante, just video taping criminals instead of cops, not going to win a million dollars on America's Funniest Video, but saving my child or another kids life is far more valuable than a million dollars.

Vision of success:
Metal box records video of car tire screeching above a certain decibel level for initial level reached, plus 10 seconds after levels have returned to normal. Way to retrieve videos?(USB, SD Card, or Wireless.) I am initially thinking SD card removal, drop and drag videos to laptop HD and play for the boys in blue to watch or e-mail to them. Date and time stamp on video for proof of purchase on a new ticket and accompanying fines. HD quality would be preferred, to see those smiling faces behind the wheel and undeniably read a tag number clearly.

PI Parts needed:
......? ( Here is the problem)
From what little I have gotten to read, PI seems to be the answer to the problem. (Yes, the money problem too.)
1. PI version 2. (PI has)
2. Camera Add-On. (PI has)
3. SD Card to record the video too. (I think PI has...?)
4. A microphone to pickup a tire screeching decibel level. (???)
5. Power Supply. (??? Was thinking of running off of a 12 Volt security alarm battery from Lowes or a Battery Store. Not the car kind, the SLA kind.)
6. Metal Box to lock all of the components in, and labeled clearly as a video recording device. ( I have that, I like welding... )
(Yes, I have been called a nerd by the owner of the company I work for, so a nerd that can MIG weld is a rare thing.)
(Yes, I know MIG welding is no big whop, but I have stick welded before also, so at least give me that.)

So, what am I needing help on? As you can see above, I am a bit fuzzy on part # 3, and no clue about #4 or #5. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. It would be so awesome if I could order all of these parts #1-6 all in one whack here from the PI guys, and girls.Or alternate suggestions as to were I can order them, online or radio shack. (Ugg, I said a dirty word. Past experience.) Again this will be my first project, experience, hopefully success story with using PI. My budget, hopefully less than $500 dollars total. Do I plan on going commercial with this device, HECK NO!!!, this could possibly save lives and help others, I don't run a country into a trillion dollar debt. If someone asked me to make them one, I would only charge for parts, and any real cost to me, wire, solder, glue, Plexiglas insert window, hinges, locks, sheet metal, etc, the small stuff that adds up quick at Lowes. I hate charging for time because I like doing things the right way, not the rushed slap together barely glued on don't touch it because it might fall apart way. Again any help with these parts would be a great help. Oh and for those interested, I will do my best to keep a journal, of all the details so someone else could duplicate the same item down to the last 1/8th of an inch welding, to the length of wire to use, to code being used. If something like this could help someone else in the same situation, this would be what I want them to see and do.

An Interesting Project, I wish you luck.

The raspberry Pi does have a SD card slot, this is used to store the operating system and you can have a big enough card to store images or video on as well. Alternatively you could store the images to a USB memory stick (for ease of swapping out once you have images / video you want to look at). I'd recommend a separate storage media from your OS media as it will make your life easier in many ways. (If you are set on storing the images to SD card then a USB card reader would give a 2nd SD card capability).

I would ask the police first what the policy regarding CCTV is, you may need to post signs stating that recording is occurring.

What measures are you going to take to prevent the theft / vandalism of your Project?

Doug.

[Olrik_Wonderer]

As far as the cops, I was going to spay paint it black and label on the front in white "Video Device". Short and vague enough to pass. Anti theft and damage design? I looked more this morning on the way to work and noticed the Stop sign had better view point for tag info. I may just bolt it between tag and window height try and get the best of both worlds. But because I could bolt it to the stop sign that would make it much harder to take an easier for someone to notice if someone does try to take it. Did I mention welding, I was going to make a box out of 1/8 inch steel. They might dent it with allot of effort, but someone will drive by and notice before they get started.

[Richard-TX]

I think what you want is a webcam (USB) that has a bit of a telephoto lens on it. Plug the camera into the RPI's USB port, install the software, configure and go.

Do not label the case. Just paint it gray and chain it to a signpost. Traffic cams have no label. Why should yours?

Maybe something like this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-2-0-Clip-We ... 2a202082bb

$6.67 delivered.

I would have the pictures transmitted wirelessly to a computer inside your house.
If you want to bust someone for stealing your pi-cam make sure there is a serial number inside and out. Who knows, you might be able to bust them for grand theft. Grand Theft is defined as theft of something worth more than $100.

[Olrik_Wonderer]

I could do the SD Card for the OS and use a USB 64 gig Stick to record video. For a microphone, I was thinking of pulling the mic from a junked cordless phone and using that or buy something from... RadioShack. Then I could mount/hot glue it inside directly facing the crime scene. The one thing I don't want to do is record every car that drives by. It would fill up the memory stick in a day taking wasted video of cars turning in and out all the time. That's why I have not mentioned a motion detector setup. But keep the ideas and cements rolling, this is very good info. From what I am seeing I need to run a version of Linux to upload or change the program. I like Umbuntu, Mandrake was cool, DSM was nice for running from a CD on someone's machine to surf the web. I have an extra machine just for a Linux install, so I got that hardware covered.
So big question, Should I just go ahead and order PI version 2 and the camera add-on? What about power, I can get the 12. Volt SLA battery down the street. But I know there has to be something to get power to the board without throwing 30 Amps at the board and watching it go up in smoke. Anyone else did some type of power supply in this configuration?

[klricks]

The RPi does not have any audio input so you would have to get a USB soundcard device. OR possibly a circuit could be designed that could trigger a GPIO when loud noise is picked up. (Clap on )
I would however go for the motion video and forget the sound trigger.

I am skeptical that a video would result in a citation or fine. You would need a very clear image of the plate AND the driver.
The driver if identified might get a good talking to..... Then you'll find burnouts in your lawn......

Also you would most likely need a time stamp. Note that the RPi off Internet network does not keep time well. A RTC module might be needed.

I doubt you will be able to bolt something to a stop sign post or any other public fixture... light pole etc. It would most likely be removed by Public Works within hours. It's illegal here to even tape a garage sale poster to a sign post.

I don't believe you will be able to install such a device anywhere but on your own property.