MQTT Camera for Node-RED

[mpxd]

This is how you add an INSTAR Full HD MQTT camera to Node-RED.

MQTT Broker

You start by configuring the MQTT broker inside the cameras webUI under Network/MQTT. Here you can set:

• MQTT Server Address: Leave at 127.0.0.1 to use the internal broker
• MQTT Server Port: Default 1883, adjust if needed
• Username /Password: Set your own login
• TLS Certificate: Download the client cert for Node-RED

MQTT Interface

The complete MQTT API is documented here. It basically mirrors the cameras webUI. E.g. to switch the motion detection areas you have to navigate the webUI to Alarm / Areas. The MQTT topic to switch Area 1 on or off is alarm/area1/enable. The payload of this topic is:

• {“val”:”0”} /switch off
• {“val”:”1”} /switch on

Since we can have more than one camera on our network, we also need to add an ID for the camera we want to contact. This ID always starts with instar followed by local (to contact the camera that runs the MQTT broker), all (to send the message to all INSTAR cameras on the MQTT network) or the LAN MAC address of a camera to target it specifically:

• instar/local/alarm/area1/enable
• instar/all/alarm/area1/enable
• instar/000389888811/alarm/area1/enable

And one more thing – every of those, so called COMMAND Topics, also has a corresponding STATE Topic:

• instar/local/alarm/area1/enable
• instar/local/status/alarm/area1/enable

We use the first one to update / switch something on our camera and – once this happened successfully – receive a state update to set the state of our Node-RED dashboard switch.

Node-RED Flows

You can download Flows directly from the manufactures web site that cover all function that can be accessed through the camera's webUI:

• Alarm Menu
• Features Menu
• Multimedia Menu
• Network Menu
• System Menu
• Recording Task Menu

These flows are written for a camera with the MQTT ID 000389888811. Before importing them make sure to search&replace the ID with your cameras MQTT ID:

[{"id":"3f3920c6.12909","type":"mqtt in","topic":"instar/000389888811/status/#","qos":"1","datatype":"auto","broker" ...

After importing a flow delete all functions that you don't plan on using - adding the complete set slowed down my RasPi 3 significantly...

Now double-click the first MQTT node and add your camera as the MQTT broker:

Add your cameras IP address, the MQTT (TLS) port and upload the certificate that you can download from the MQTT menu of your camera:

Under Security add the login information that you set in your cameras MQTT menu:

Make sure that this MQTT Broker is used by all MQTT nodes and deploy your changes. Node-RED should connect automatically. Switch to the dashboard UI to start configuring your camera and see the MQTT in action:

[Colin]

@mpxd

start by configuring the MQTT broker inside the cameras webUI

Does that mean that a broker is provided which runs inside the camera itself?

[mpxd]

Hi Colin,

yes - this firmware is currently available in an open beta and uses a Mosquitto MQTT broker. I wanted to continue to write a few example automation and post them here while I am testing the new feature. It is already running stable for me.

EDIT: You can also configure it as a client using your existing broker.

[wb666greene]

I took a quick look, but didn't see support for getting image buffers via MQTT, is that possible?

[mpxd]

This is the first stage of the MQTT API and currently it is covering the complete HTTP API (CGI commands) as well as a back-channel when a function is triggered through HTTP (when you click on a button in the camera webUI or your smartphone app you also receive a MQTT state update).

The second stage will add camera events to MQTT - motion detection, day/night mode switch, user logins, etc. Adding a camera snapshot (base64 encoded) is considered but not tested yet. It might be a snapshot in an fixed interval - or if this causes too much "spam", a STATE update that has to be manually triggered by a COMMAND topic. I will post an update when I hear something new.

[mpxd]

Day Night Position

My pan&tilt camera should use one preset position during the day, keeping an eye on my front door when I am at work. But use the second preset position to watch my car in the carport when I am at home.

I need to configure different motion detection areas (different areas of interest for the software-based motion detection) for both preset positions.

Modules Used

• node-red-contrib-bigtimer

With Bigtimer I can define an absolute time or a time of the day like sunrise, dawn, etc. to trigger my sequence.

Node-RED Flow

[{"id":"62981cf.a3f02e4","type":"bigtimer","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","outtopic":"","outpayload1":"","outpayload2":"","name":"Night Mode","comment":"","lat":"50.246429","lon":"8.187955","starttime":"5003","endtime":"5004","starttime2":"0","endtime2":"0","startoff":0,"endoff":0,"startoff2":0,"endoff2":0,"offs":0,"outtext1":"","outtext2":"","timeout":1440,"sun":true,"mon":true,"tue":true,"wed":true,"thu":true,"fri":true,"sat":true,"jan":true,"feb":true,"mar":true,"apr":true,"may":true,"jun":true,"jul":true,"aug":true,"sep":true,"oct":true,"nov":true,"dec":true,"day1":0,"month1":0,"day2":0,"month2":0,"day3":0,"month3":0,"day4":0,"month4":0,"day5":0,"month5":0,"day6":0,"month6":0,"d1":0,"w1":0,"d2":0,"w2":0,"d3":0,"w3":0,"d4":0,"w4":0,"d5":0,"w5":0,"d6":0,"w6":0,"xday1":0,"xmonth1":0,"xday2":0,"xmonth2":0,"xday3":0,"xmonth3":0,"xday4":0,"xmonth4":0,"xday5":0,"xmonth5":0,"xday6":0,"xmonth6":0,"xd1":0,"xw1":0,"xd2":0,"xw2":0,"xd3":0,"xw3":0,"xd4":0,"xw4":0,"xd5":0,"xw5":0,"xd6":0,"xw6":0,"suspend":false,"random":false,"repeat":true,"atstart":true,"odd":false,"even":false,"x":94,"y":117,"wires":[[],["40aed8b1.7591d8"],[]]},{"id":"c2c46eb9.3ac67","type":"mqtt out","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"alarm/area1/enable","topic":"instar/000389888811/alarm/area1/enable","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"9e4e460d.640f18","x":859,"y":34,"wires":[]},{"id":"1393d9eb.5064b6","type":"mqtt out","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"alarm/area2/enable","topic":"instar/000389888811/alarm/area2/enable","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"9e4e460d.640f18","x":858,"y":70,"wires":[]},{"id":"313c1cbb.9558a4","type":"mqtt out","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"alarm/area3/enable","topic":"instar/000389888811/alarm/area3/enable","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"9e4e460d.640f18","x":856,"y":150,"wires":[]},{"id":"7348cff6.e3524","type":"mqtt out","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"alarm/area4/enable","topic":"instar/000389888811/alarm/area4/enable","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"9e4e460d.640f18","x":855,"y":187,"wires":[]},{"id":"bcbbf407.4c1848","type":"switch","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"Night Mode","property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"0","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"1","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","repair":false,"outputs":2,"x":414,"y":117,"wires":[["ec82fd13.5d63d","3290a0a9.685c8"],["e0c0c11d.0172","d0dacd0b.b558e"]]},{"id":"ec82fd13.5d63d","type":"change","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"Off","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"0\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":555,"y":50,"wires":[["c2c46eb9.3ac67","1393d9eb.5064b6","e2b989ad.077938"]]},{"id":"3290a0a9.685c8","type":"change","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"On","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"1\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":555,"y":90,"wires":[["313c1cbb.9558a4","7348cff6.e3524"]]},{"id":"e2b989ad.077938","type":"mqtt out","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"features/ptz/preset","topic":"instar/000389888811/features/ptz/preset","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"9e4e460d.640f18","x":858,"y":109,"wires":[]},{"id":"40aed8b1.7591d8","type":"rbe","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"find change","func":"rbe","gap":"","start":"","inout":"out","property":"payload","x":255,"y":117,"wires":[["bcbbf407.4c1848"]]},{"id":"d0dacd0b.b558e","type":"change","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"Off","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"0\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":553,"y":132,"wires":[["e2b989ad.077938","313c1cbb.9558a4","7348cff6.e3524"]]},{"id":"e0c0c11d.0172","type":"change","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"On","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"1\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":551,"y":172,"wires":[["1393d9eb.5064b6","c2c46eb9.3ac67"]]},{"id":"9e4e460d.640f18","type":"mqtt-broker","z":"","name":"IN-9010FHD","broker":"192.168.2.165","port":"8883","tls":"ccad131e.c9943","clientid":"","usetls":true,"compatmode":true,"keepalive":"60","cleansession":true,"birthTopic":"","birthQos":"0","birthPayload":"","closeTopic":"","closeQos":"0","closePayload":"","willTopic":"","willQos":"0","willPayload":""},{"id":"ccad131e.c9943","type":"tls-config","z":"","name":"9010pcert.pem","cert":"","key":"","ca":"","certname":"9010pcert.pem","keyname":"","caname":"","servername":"","verifyservercert":true}]

* this flow is written for a camera with the MQTT ID 000389888811. Search&replace all instances of this with your cameras ID before importing

The Bigtimer node sets both an ON and an OFF time for the Night Mode. It emits the current state once a minute and I am using an RBE node to filter out messages that do not reflect a state change. Next, I have Switch node to fork the sequence depending on whether the payload is ON ("1") or OFF ("0"), change the payload to {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"} and send them to the INSTAR MQTT topics that I want to update:

• alarm/area1/enable
• alarm/area2/enable
• alarm/area3/enable
• alarm/area4/enable

To activate areas 1 and 2 during the day and areas 3 and 4 during the night. And last we also need the preset position topic to have our camera pan between position 1 and 2:

• features/ptz/preset

[mpxd]

Silent Mode

Deactivate the Email and Push Notification as well as the video recording to SD card when I am at home.

Modules Used

• node-red-contrib-bigtimer

With Bigtimer I can define an absolute time or a time of the day like sunrise, dawn, etc. to trigger my sequence.

Node-RED Flow

[{"id":"7e3f05bf.a1fe0c","type":"bigtimer","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","outtopic":"","outpayload1":"","outpayload2":"","name":"Alarm","comment":"","lat":"50.246429","lon":"8.187955","starttime":"465","endtime":"1050","starttime2":"0","endtime2":"0","startoff":0,"endoff":0,"startoff2":0,"endoff2":0,"offs":0,"outtext1":"","outtext2":"","timeout":1440,"sun":false,"mon":true,"tue":true,"wed":true,"thu":true,"fri":true,"sat":false,"jan":true,"feb":true,"mar":true,"apr":true,"may":true,"jun":true,"jul":true,"aug":true,"sep":true,"oct":true,"nov":true,"dec":true,"day1":0,"month1":0,"day2":0,"month2":0,"day3":0,"month3":0,"day4":0,"month4":0,"day5":0,"month5":0,"day6":0,"month6":0,"d1":0,"w1":0,"d2":0,"w2":0,"d3":0,"w3":0,"d4":0,"w4":0,"d5":0,"w5":0,"d6":0,"w6":0,"xday1":0,"xmonth1":0,"xday2":0,"xmonth2":0,"xday3":0,"xmonth3":0,"xday4":0,"xmonth4":0,"xday5":0,"xmonth5":0,"xday6":0,"xmonth6":0,"xd1":0,"xw1":0,"xd2":0,"xw2":0,"xd3":0,"xw3":0,"xd4":0,"xw4":0,"xd5":0,"xw5":0,"xd6":0,"xw6":0,"suspend":false,"random":false,"repeat":true,"atstart":false,"odd":false,"even":false,"x":70,"y":349,"wires":[[],["b42b0d62.71547"],[]]},{"id":"66020c21.581484","type":"mqtt out","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"alarm/actions/email","topic":"instar/000389888811/alarm/actions/email","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"9e4e460d.640f18","x":741,"y":294,"wires":[]},{"id":"277f221d.786c2e","type":"mqtt out","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"alarm/actions/video2sd","topic":"instar/000389888811/alarm/actions/video2sd","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"9e4e460d.640f18","x":759,"y":341,"wires":[]},{"id":"ff382bc7.4c2aa8","type":"mqtt out","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"alarm/push/enable","topic":"instar/000389888811/alarm/push/enable","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"9e4e460d.640f18","x":735,"y":391,"wires":[]},{"id":"b42b0d62.71547","type":"rbe","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"find change","func":"rbe","gap":"","start":"","inout":"out","property":"payload","x":208,"y":349,"wires":[["925e7035.52039"]]},{"id":"925e7035.52039","type":"switch","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"Alarm","property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"1","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"0","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","repair":false,"outputs":2,"x":344,"y":349,"wires":[["7d02bcb7.72a334"],["2063439f.5f8e0c"]]},{"id":"7d02bcb7.72a334","type":"change","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"Armed","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"on\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":471,"y":330,"wires":[["66020c21.581484","277f221d.786c2e","ff382bc7.4c2aa8"]]},{"id":"2063439f.5f8e0c","type":"change","z":"f6bbaaa5.59a388","name":"Deactivated","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"off\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":490,"y":368,"wires":[["66020c21.581484","277f221d.786c2e","ff382bc7.4c2aa8"]]},{"id":"9e4e460d.640f18","type":"mqtt-broker","z":"","name":"IN-9010FHD","broker":"192.168.2.165","port":"8883","tls":"ccad131e.c9943","clientid":"","usetls":true,"compatmode":true,"keepalive":"60","cleansession":true,"birthTopic":"","birthQos":"0","birthPayload":"","closeTopic":"","closeQos":"0","closePayload":"","willTopic":"","willQos":"0","willPayload":""},{"id":"ccad131e.c9943","type":"tls-config","z":"","name":"9010pcert.pem","cert":"","key":"","ca":"","certname":"9010pcert.pem","keyname":"","caname":"","servername":"","verifyservercert":true}]

** this flow is written for a camera with the MQTT ID 000389888811. Search&replace all instances of this with your cameras ID before importing*

This flow is very similar to the one above. It uses Bitgtimer to activate the alarm functions during my normal working hours from Monday to Friday using the INSTAR MQTT topics:

• alarm/actions/email
• alarm/actions/video2sd
• alarm/push/enable

With the payloads {"val":"on"} and {"val":"off"}.

[mpxd]

Alarm Recording as long as there is Movement

The internal alarm recording has a 3s pre-recording + a fixed recording length of 15-60s (adjustable from the webUI). I want to use Node-RED to make sure that the recording time always last as long as there is movement in front of the camera instead of having a fixed recording time.

Modules Used

• node-red-contrib-stoptimer2

Stoptimer2 allows me to define a delay that is automatically reset when a new trigger arrives. I want to use a Node-RED webhook that is contacted by the cameras HTTP alarmserver. This webhook triggers an update of the MQTT topic that starts the video recording. And it also triggers the stoptimer node that delays the update of the stop recording MQTT topic. Stoptimer will prevent the stop command as long as the camers alarmserver keeps contacting the Node-RED webhook.

Node-RED Flow

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** this flow is written for a camera with the MQTT ID 000389888811. Search&replace all instances of this with your cameras ID before importing*

The INSTAR MQTT topics for starting and stopping the recording on the internal SD card are:

• features/manualrec/start
• features/manualrec/stop

The webhook can be contacted under [Node-RED IP]:[Node-RED Port]/alarm-recording/

Prerequisite

The alarmserver interval has to be lowered to a suitable value, e.g. 5s or 10s. This can only be done from the hidden dev menu on your camera. Open your cameras webUI and go to System/System Log and press and hold the 3 keys d, e and v to access the menu. The default delay between alarmserver triggers is set to 60s which would only work if you set the stoptimer delay to a value <60s.

[mpxd]

Activate Nightvision when PIR detects Motion

All IP cameras tend to run their IR LEDs all night to enable software-based motion detection. This causes a couple of problems besides the electric bill increase. There are cameras that have "invisible" IR LEDs usually working at 940nm - invisible to the human eye. But the reach of this wavelength, especially outdoors, is fairly limited. This is why most cameras employ night vision LEDs with a peak emission around 850nm. This emission is usually wide enough to reach into the higher limit of wavelengths that our eye registers (around 700nm) - meaning those LEDs project a red light that is visible over large distances.

Another disadvantage of having those LEDs on all night is the heat they generate. The high temperatures and the quick cooldown every morning, when the LEDs are switched off, reduces the lifetime of the electronics inside your camera.

And last but not least the IR light attracts insects that keep flying in front of your camera triggering false alerts during the night. And once you have flying insects you quickly end up with spider webs in front of your camera that can cause false alerts day and night.

The solution is the use of the internal passive-infrared sensor (PIR) to detect moving objects, who's temperature differs from the background. Once detected the PIR should trigger the INSTAR HTTP alarmserver to contact a webhook in Node-RED. And then have Node-RED activate the IR-LEDs for the time of the alarm recording.

Modules Used

This time I don't need any special nodes. The setup is almost identical to the setup above. Only that I use the regular delay node now instead of the Stoptimer2. Once the webhook is contacted an MQTT node updates the IR-LED topic to switch on nightvision. Also triggered is a delay node with a fixed delay time - in my case 15s - and another MQTT node after that, that deactivates the IR LEDs after the alarm recording on my camera stopped.

Node-RED Flow

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* this flow is written for a camera with the MQTT ID 000389888811. Search&replace all instances of this with your cameras ID before importing

The INSTAR MQTT topic for switching the IR LEDs from deactivated to automatic is:

• features/features/nightvision/autoled

The webhook can be contacted under [Node-RED IP]:[Node-RED Port]/activate-ir/

[mpxd]

Pan&Tilt Tour with dynamic Privacy Masks

I want to create a PT tour in Node-RED and automatically adjust the motion detection areas as well as privacy masks depending on the position the camera is pointing at. This way I am certain that the camera's internal motion detection is always looking at the correct areas. Also, I can make sure that I am not recording my neighbors on their part of the lawn. The motion detection is deactivated while the camera is moving. Once the camera is in place, the detection area and privacy mask have to be changed according to the position the camera moved to.

Modules Used

All that is needed for this flow comes with Node-RED already. We need an Inject node that injects a trigger at an interval on specific days of the week and during an adjustable time window. The injection will activate alarm area 1 and privacy area 1 while deactivating both areas 2 and moving to preset position 1. The injection node also triggers a Delay node that will reverse those actions while moving the camera into preset position 2.

Node-RED Flow

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** this flow is written for a camera with the MQTT ID 000389888811. Search&replace all instances of this with your cameras ID before importing*

The INSTAR MQTT topics used to switch the alarm and privacy areas are:

• alarm/area1/enable

• alarm/area2/enable

• multimedia/privacy/region1/enable

• multimedia/privacy/region2/enable

To go to a preset position send an update to:

• features/ptz/preset

Note: The accuracy of those preset positions deteriorates over time when the camera is in constant motion. You can activate a daily restart in your cameras system settings to trigger a recalibration. Or plan an MQTT update to system/reboot to reboot your camera from Node-RED.

[wb666greene]

@mpxd

And last but not least the IR light attracts insects that keep flying in front of your camera triggering false alerts during the night. And once you have flying insects you quickly end up with spider webs in front of your camera that can cause false alerts day and night.

This is precisely why I've added AI to my security cameras. It detects the presence of "persons" and basically nothing else. Not perfect yet, but close enough that if it alerts, I drop what I'm doing and look!

My experience with PIR sensors is they false alert in basically the same situations as "video motion" detection" algorithms do -- bright days with fast moving clouds, bright days with strong winds, and as the sun rises and sets.

IMHO only if your cameras are inside or otherwise "protected" locations does the "traditional" methods come close to meeting my false positive requirements.

[mpxd]

Most PIR sensors you can buy specifically state that you shouldn't use them in bright sunlight. Especially if you have scrubs in front of your camera, all the leaves warm up to different temperatures moving in the wind - you end up with a constant trigger. The same is true for trees throwing moving shadows on the ground below. What you can do is:

1. Deactivate the PIR during time windows where the camera is exposed to strong, direct sunshine (autumn/winter is often fine - it is summer where you run into problems). And use the motion detection areas where you don't have a constant movement or light changes in the image. I heard someone has used the light meter from his weather station to determine the strength of the sunlight and switch of the PIR when the sun gets to strong.

2. Use an external PIR sensor (either wired to your cameras alarm input or connect through a zigbee/zwave gateway to Node-RED) and position it somewhere, where it is less affected by the sun, but still gives you an early enough warning that someone is approaching.

3. Reposition your camera - as you said, the PIR works perfectly in "protected" areas.

I have also been looking into Node-RED projects that us Tensorflow/YOLO to do some object recognition. Do you have experience with one of them that works for you? Do you mind to share your setup - it is very interesting. If this is effective and easy to set up, this would be the ideal solution.

[wb666greene]

YOLO is supposed to be "best" but it doesn't seem to run well on IOT class hardware and the readily available AI "co-processors" Google Coral TPU, Intel Movidius NCS.NCS2 (an improved model is in the pipeline), etc. aren't yet good enough for it as far as I can tell.

I'm using the Google Coral TPU and MobilenetSSD-v2_coco AI and getting very good results. I have 15 outdoor facing cameras 6 4K UHD and 9 1080p using an i7-4500U I'm getting about 38 fps AI inferences for multiday runs. Each camera rtsp stream is set for 3 fps which means processing every frame would be 45 fps. I'm currently in the process of finishing up the "permanent" installation for 24/7 use after a successful week of testing.

An early version of my code is here: https://github.com/wb666greene/AI_enhanced_video_security
But this is before I added the Coral TPU and MoblenetSSD-v2. I plan to update my GitHub soon, I just need to find time to write some description and instructions.

Some recent test results on Pi4B and Jetson Nano:
5DEC2019wbk some Pi4B tests with rtsp cameras, 3fps per stream:
4 UHD (4K) : ~2.8 fps (obvious Pi4 can't handle this)
4 HD (1080p): ~11.8 fps (basically processing every frame)
2 UHD 2 HD : ~6.7 fps (Pi4B struggles with 4K streams)
5 HD : ~14.7 fps (basically processing every frame)
6 HD : ~15.0 fps, -d 0 (no display) ~16.7 fps

6DEC2019wbk Some UHD tests on Jetson Nano
5 UHD (4K) : ~14.6 fps (effectively processing every frame!)
5 UHD 3 HD : ~10.3 fps, jumps to ~19.1 fps if -d 0 option used (no live image display)
4 UHD 4 HD : ~16.3 fps, ~22.5 fps with -d 0 option
5 UHD 10 HD (1080p): ~4.4 fps, ~7.6 fps with -d 0 option (totally overloaded, get ~39 fps with running on i7-4500U MiniPC)

Basically a Python program runs the AI and a node-red flow handles the control and sending of notifications.

Here is the flow I use for testing the IOT class hardware (Pi4B, Jetson Nano, etc.).

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12","value":"12","type":"str"},{"label":"Cam 13","value":"13","type":"str"},{"label":"Cam 14","value":"14","type":"str"}],"payload":"","topic":"ViewCamera","x":390,"y":920,"wires":[["523d28b6.3838f8"]]},{"id":"523d28b6.3838f8","type":"mqtt out","z":"f0607957.14d578","name":"Alarm/ViewCamera","topic":"Alarm/ViewCamera","qos":"2","retain":"true","broker":"a12f6f63.c32c7","x":590,"y":920,"wires":[]},{"id":"baf1818c.b3147","type":"mqtt in","z":"f0607957.14d578","name":"ImageBuffer/","topic":"ImageBuffer/#","qos":"0","broker":"a12f6f63.c32c7","x":115,"y":745,"wires":[["8c69bf5d.522ad","a2450f33.4037"]]},{"id":"98eac8e0.b34058","type":"debug","z":"f0607957.14d578","name":"Audio","active":false,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"true","x":655,"y":465,"wires":[]},{"id":"9ff33b90.794b88","type":"comment","z":"f0607957.14d578","name":"Flow Docuentation","info":"## **MQTT Input Topics from Python AI code:**\n   - The Python AI code \"publishes\" these topics.\n   - Other systems cam subscribe to these topics.\n1. **AI/Detection**:  Buffer with topic containing camera info of most recent AI detection image.\n2. **ImageBuffer**: MQTT buffer of current image from UI selected camera, used by \"Dashboard\" web page.  Depending on **Alarm/MODE** and **Alarm/UImode** either live images or only the last detection will be sent.\n3. **AmAlive**: \"watchdog\" timer, can trigger restart of Python code, or system if necessary.\n4. **AI/Status**: AI Startup, Shutdown, and \"Will\" status messages.\n\n## **MQTT Outputs to control Python AI code:**\n   - These modes affect the flow operation as well as what the PythonAI code does\n   - The Python AI code \"subscribes\" to these topics from broker set by -mqtt command line arguement, defaults to localhost.\n1. **Alarm/MODE**: payload Idle, Audio, or Notify: sets mode, affects flow and Python AI code.  \n2. **Alarm/UImode**: payload 0, 1, 2: 0-Disable, 1-Live, 2-Detections sending of ImageBuffer to Dashboard \n3. **Alarm/ViewCamera**: payload N: Select camera N to be viewed on \"Dashboard\" UI webpage.\n   - The Python code subscribes to broker set by -camMQTT command line arguement, defaults to localhost.\n4. **MQTTcam/N**: payload jpeg image: fed to AI as input from camera N\n \n## **Espeak**: MQTT Input Iopic lets node-red host be remote speaker for others if so equipped.\n   - Payload is text to speak: \"' This is only a test. '\" note quotes within quotes\n\n# **Dashboard UI** Controls\n1. **AI Mode**: payload: Idle Audio Notify, sets **Alarm/MODE** for the Python AI code.\n2. **Set UI View**: payload 0, 1, 2: sets **Alarm/UImode** viewing mode.\n   - 0 **Disable**: Don't show images on Dasboard webpage.\n   - 1 **Live**: display real-time images from selected camera.\n   - 2 **Detections**: Only show frames with AI detections.\n   - 3 **All Detections**: Display the most recent detection from any camera, select camera is ignored.\n3. **Select Camera**: sets **AlarmViewCamera** to choose the camera to display on the Dashboard webpage.\n\n# **System Controls**\n  - These generally are only useful if the node-red controller is running on the Python AI host.\n  - Ideal for controlling a \"headless\" host remotely with a web browser.\n1. **Rebbot**\n2. **Shutdown**\n\n# **General Setup**:\n  - Edit **Email Notification** for the username@gmail.com and password for Emailed notifications.\n    - gmail account must have \"less secure access\" enabled in account settings for this node to work.\n  - Edit Espeak \"Cam Num\" strings to something more useful, pay attension to the single quotes within the double quotes!\n\n# **Setup**: Only if viewer/controller is running on the Python AI Linux host.\n1. Wire **Daily Cleanup** to **disk cleanup**, edit exec command and script as necessary.\n2. Wire **Launch AI** and **watchdog** to **Autostart**, edit exec command and script as necessary.\n","x":140,"y":25,"wires":[]},{"id":"c2061c74.31138","type":"rbe","z":"f0607957.14d578","name":"loop breaker","func":"rbe","gap":"","start":"","inout":"out","property":"payload","x":455,"y":260,"wires":[["5738cf5c.29578","8b98ffdb.f2563"]]},{"id":"86befae8.562ff8","type":"mqtt in","z":"f0607957.14d578","name":"Get 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AI Mode","tab":"cbe60e1a.85145","order":1,"disp":true,"width":"4","collapse":false},{"id":"ce7f592b.fc44c8","type":"ui_group","z":"","name":"Camera Viewer","tab":"cbe60e1a.85145","order":2,"disp":true,"width":"13","collapse":false},{"id":"1f34e858.de7018","type":"ui_group","z":"","name":"System Controls","tab":"cbe60e1a.85145","order":3,"disp":true,"width":"5","collapse":true},{"id":"313c03c1.be782c","type":"mqtt-broker","z":"","name":"localhost:1883","broker":"localhost","port":"1883","clientid":"","usetls":false,"compatmode":true,"keepalive":"60","cleansession":true,"birthTopic":"","birthQos":"0","birthRetain":"false","birthPayload":"","closeTopic":"","closePayload":"","willTopic":"","willQos":"0","willRetain":"false","willPayload":""},{"id":"f7f213b3.fdec4","type":"mqtt-broker","z":null,"name":"localhost:1883","broker":"localhost","port":"1883","clientid":"","usetls":false,"compatmode":true,"keepalive":"60","cleansession":true,"birthTopic":"","birthQos":"0","birthRetain":"false","birthPayload":"","closeTopic":"","closePayload":"","willTopic":"","willQos":"0","willRetain":"false","willPayload":""},{"id":"cbe60e1a.85145","type":"ui_tab","z":"","name":"AI Controller","icon":"dashboard","disabled":false,"hidden":false}]

I'm perfectly willing to help you get it running, and in the process we can develop instructions to make it more accessible. Post an issue to my GitHub and I'll either zip my code up and send it to you, or post the upgraded code.

I've scratched my itch with it and think it would be more generally useful with good instructions on setting it up. You can add it to an existing system for ~$200 for ~6-8 cameras.

My initial goal was to make it an add-on to my Lorex security DVR, but in many ways it works better talking directly to netcams, but if you want/need 24/7 recordings adding it to a security DVR/NVR is better than re-inventing the recorder, they are available at very reasonable prices and solve the 24/7 or scheduled recording problem pretty completely, but I've not much good to say about them beyond this.

[mpxd]

wb666greene I had a look at your repo on Github - but I did not yet find the time to get it to work with my cameras. But it is very interesting. It is on my list!

The INSTAR MQTT service is now regularly available via the System/Update menu and some improvements/bugfixes have been added:

• Further MQTT Topics added (e.g. for step-by-step control of the camera's P&T)
• User logins are now excluded from MQTT state topics (can only be set via command topic)
• All special characters, which are allowed for the camera login, can now also be used for MQTT.
• The ports used for the MQTT service were changed to the default 1883/8883
• In the beta version, no distinction was made between "local" and "all" in topics. The first now only addresses the camera on which the broker is running and the latter addresses all cameras in the MQTT network
• The use of own SSL certificates for the MQTT service was simplified. We already have a Guide for self-signed Certs online, for CA Certs (Let's Encrypt) will follow shortly.

There is now also a guide for using SSL to connect the INSTAR MQTT service with Node-RED.

[mpxd]

MQTT Alarmserver to track Moving Objects

You can use INSTAR MQTT Alarmserver to notify Node-RED about detected movements. You can start by selecting two areas you want to use to trigger a pan or tilt movement of your camera:

We now want to tell Node-RED to move our camera to the left, when the left motion detection area (Area 1) is triggered, and to the right, in case of the right detection area (Area 4).

To make sure that our camera does not "get lost" following shadows or light reflections, we will first set preset position 1 in a sensible center position:

And tell our camera to return to this position (Park Position) after a reasonable amount of time:

Node-RED now needs a Subscription to the MQTT Status Topic status/alarm/triggered. When we receive a payload of {"val":"1"} we now know that the left area was triggered and we have to move to left. The same way a payload of {"val":"4"} means that we have to move one step to the right. The complete Node-RED Flow looks like this (see JSON export at the end of this post):

And here is the flow in action:

[{"id":"b3f2131d.c323e","type":"mqtt in","z":"c025b147.f6afb","name":"Alarm Server","topic":"instar/local/status/alarm/triggered","qos":"1","datatype":"auto","broker":"996228fe.ababc8","x":90,"y":620,"wires":[["7e41db00.f5ed94"]]},{"id":"7e41db00.f5ed94","type":"json","z":"c025b147.f6afb","name":"","property":"payload","action":"","pretty":false,"x":230,"y":620,"wires":[["da03fe2f.869de"]]},{"id":"da03fe2f.869de","type":"switch","z":"c025b147.f6afb","name":"","property":"payload.val","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"1","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"4","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","repair":false,"outputs":2,"x":347,"y":620,"wires":[["682bc199.6b418"],["ec0056bc.645fa8"]]},{"id":"682bc199.6b418","type":"change","z":"c025b147.f6afb","name":"Area 1 => Move Left","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"left\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":520,"y":600,"wires":[["5bbe46a4.047128"]]},{"id":"ec0056bc.645fa8","type":"change","z":"c025b147.f6afb","name":"Area 4 => Move Right","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"right\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":520,"y":640,"wires":[["5bbe46a4.047128"]]},{"id":"5bbe46a4.047128","type":"mqtt out","z":"c025b147.f6afb","name":"features/ptz/movestep","topic":"instar/local/features/ptz/movestep","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"996228fe.ababc8","x":740,"y":620,"wires":[]},{"id":"996228fe.ababc8","type":"mqtt-broker","z":"","name":"INSTAR MQTT","broker":"192.168.2.117","port":"1883","clientid":"iored","usetls":false,"compatmode":false,"keepalive":"60","cleansession":true,"birthTopic":"","birthQos":"0","birthPayload":"","closeTopic":"","closeQos":"0","closePayload":"","willTopic":"","willQos":"0","willPayload":""}]

[mpxd]

I have been asked to look into a way to connect ioBroker through Node-RED with the MQTT API of an INSTAR camera.

You can do this directly in ioBroker without Node-RED. But there is an issue with the default visualization. I am able to update command topics by clicking on switches. But I cannot set their state through a status topic. So every time you use different software to change settings on your camera you lose the state in ioBroker. Node-RED to the rescue.

I came up with this flow and it works fine:

1. MQTT status update comes in and updates a data point inside ioBroker.
2. User clicks the UI switch in ioBroker, the data point is updated and the update is pushed out through the MQTT command topic.

This solves the problem but does not look very elegant. Maybe someone has an idea of how to simplify this?

JSON Code:

[{"id":"2176a895.28b458","type":"ioBroker out","z":"ea9c7d05.de4d9","name":"alarmarea1","topic":"vis.0.instar.10D1DC218F96.alarmarea1","ack":"false","autoCreate":"false","x":670,"y":260,"wires":[]},{"id":"75e42488.57000c","type":"mqtt in","z":"ea9c7d05.de4d9","name":"status/alarm/area1/enable","topic":"instar/10D1DC218F96/status/alarm/area1/enable","qos":"1","datatype":"auto","broker":"1ad1b914.d593b7","x":127,"y":260,"wires":[["13f9e8d1.d478a7"]]},{"id":"13f9e8d1.d478a7","type":"rbe","z":"ea9c7d05.de4d9","name":"","func":"rbe","gap":"","start":"","inout":"out","property":"payload","x":304,"y":260,"wires":[["cf8d3b2e.86faa8"]]},{"id":"300ed552.b1fc2a","type":"ioBroker in","z":"ea9c7d05.de4d9","name":"alarmarea1","topic":"vis.0.instar.10D1DC218F96.alarmarea1","payloadType":"value","onlyack":"","func":"all","gap":"","x":75,"y":309,"wires":[["70f802ac.1d253c"]]},{"id":"5e059f9e.9613a","type":"mqtt out","z":"ea9c7d05.de4d9","name":"alarm/area1/enable","topic":"instar/10D1DC218F96/alarm/area1/enable","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"1ad1b914.d593b7","x":492,"y":309,"wires":[]},{"id":"70f802ac.1d253c","type":"rbe","z":"ea9c7d05.de4d9","name":"","func":"rbe","gap":"","start":"","inout":"out","property":"payload","x":199,"y":309,"wires":[["abc6876d.85f1e8"]]},{"id":"abc6876d.85f1e8","type":"function","z":"ea9c7d05.de4d9","name":"Payload","func":"var trigger = '{\"val\":\"' + msg.payload + '\"}';\nmsg.payload = trigger;\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"noerr":0,"x":326,"y":309,"wires":[["5e059f9e.9613a"]]},{"id":"48089997.90ade8","type":"change","z":"ea9c7d05.de4d9","name":"Val","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"payload.val","tot":"msg"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":534,"y":260,"wires":[["2176a895.28b458"]]},{"id":"cf8d3b2e.86faa8","type":"json","z":"ea9c7d05.de4d9","name":"","property":"payload","action":"","pretty":false,"x":419,"y":260,"wires":[["48089997.90ade8"]]},{"id":"1ad1b914.d593b7","type":"mqtt-broker","z":"","name":"","broker":"192.168.2.117","port":"1883","clientid":"","usetls":false,"compatmode":false,"keepalive":"60","cleansession":true,"birthTopic":"","birthQos":"0","birthPayload":"","closeTopic":"","closeQos":"0","closePayload":"","willTopic":"","willQos":"0","willPayload":""}]

[mpxd]

I wanted to added something - but I am unable to edit the post above.

This example used a webhook in Node-RED to trigger a flow that keeps the video recording running as long as there is movement detected in front of your camera.

You can of course replace the webhook with the MQTT alarm server topic status/alarm/triggered:

The first flow starts a video recording and keeps it running for the time that your camera keeps triggering alert. And the second flow moves your camera into an alarm position and makes sure that it stays there until the alert is over.

[{"id":"97187d7.8e4048","type":"change","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","name":"Off","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"off\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":382,"y":81,"wires":[["c75f7959.e8ed88"]]},{"id":"6152fa88.5894a4","type":"change","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","name":"On","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"60\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":209,"y":35,"wires":[["7d20b73f.057588"]]},{"id":"c75f7959.e8ed88","type":"mqtt out","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","name":"/features/manualrec/stop","topic":"instar/local/features/manualrec/stop","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"6f1cf632.979988","x":558,"y":81,"wires":[]},{"id":"7d20b73f.057588","type":"mqtt out","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","name":"features/manualrec/start","topic":"instar/local/features/manualrec/start","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"6f1cf632.979988","x":389,"y":35,"wires":[]},{"id":"3c45400c.9263","type":"stoptimer2","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","duration":"5","durationType":"num","units":"Second","payloadtype":"num","payloadval":"0","name":"","x":235,"y":87,"wires":[["97187d7.8e4048"],[]]},{"id":"36b16289.f7ecce","type":"mqtt in","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","name":"Alarm Server","topic":"instar/local/status/alarm/triggered","qos":"1","datatype":"auto","broker":"6f1cf632.979988","x":75,"y":57,"wires":[["6152fa88.5894a4","3c45400c.9263"]]},{"id":"ffc691d5.f9282","type":"change","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","name":"Off","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"0\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":388,"y":213,"wires":[["7ed79cc0.a20144"]]},{"id":"a8077a3e.5ba3f8","type":"change","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","name":"On","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"{\"val\":\"1\"}","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":217,"y":169,"wires":[["7ed79cc0.a20144"]]},{"id":"7ed79cc0.a20144","type":"mqtt out","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","name":"features/ptz/preset","topic":"instar/local/features/ptz/preset","qos":"1","retain":"false","broker":"6f1cf632.979988","x":393,"y":169,"wires":[]},{"id":"829ee295.90a02","type":"stoptimer2","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","duration":"5","durationType":"num","units":"Second","payloadtype":"num","payloadval":"0","name":"","x":241,"y":219,"wires":[["ffc691d5.f9282"],[]]},{"id":"27b53bb8.d0c284","type":"mqtt in","z":"f915c95a.f48d08","name":"Alarm Server","topic":"instar/local/status/alarm/triggered","qos":"1","datatype":"auto","broker":"6f1cf632.979988","x":80,"y":184,"wires":[["a8077a3e.5ba3f8","829ee295.90a02"]]},{"id":"6f1cf632.979988","type":"mqtt-broker","z":"","name":"IN-8015FHD White","broker":"192.168.2.117","port":"8883","tls":"56befee0.6df6c","clientid":"","usetls":true,"compatmode":true,"keepalive":"60","cleansession":true,"birthTopic":"","birthQos":"0","birthPayload":"","closeTopic":"","closeQos":"0","closePayload":"","willTopic":"","willQos":"0","willPayload":""},{"id":"56befee0.6df6c","type":"tls-config","z":"","name":"pcert.pem","cert":"","key":"","ca":"","certname":"pcert.pem","keyname":"","caname":"","servername":"","verifyservercert":true}]

[mpxd]

The MQTT Service has been updated and the update can be downloaded and installed from the camera webUI. The most requested new features that were added are:

1. MQTT topic prefix and device ID can now be set in the webUI
2. The MQTT Alarmserver now returns to an idle state 5s after a trigger event (payload 0)
3. The camera now adds a last will that will be published by your broker if the connection between your camera and the broker is severed for more than 60s.

Changelog:

INSTAR Full HD WebUI Update

What's new in version 3.1 (347) ?

• MQTT adapter was revised
  • MQTT prefix and camera ID can now be set by the user
  • After the alarm is triggered (after 5s), the alarm server automatically returns to an idle state (with payload 0).
  • The camera now leaves a Last-Will Topic with your MQTT broker. Should the camera lose connection to the broker, the broker will send the LWT to all subscribers.
  • The device ID with which the camera registers with the broker was previously generated randomly. As a result, certain smarthome systems have detected the camera as a new device after each reboot. The Device ID is set equal to the Camera ID (settable in the MQTT menu).
  • General bug fixes and improvements
• Alexa Support - INSTAR Cloud Skill now available with which you can play recordings from your cloud account as well as directly accessing your individual cameras and have Alexa control your camera.
• IFTTT Support - On the IFTTT Platform, we provided an INSTAR Applet. The INSTAR Applets provides a way for you to control some settings of your INSTAR Camera as well as your INSTAR Cloud account through IFTTT scripts.
• In order to use Alexa and IFTTT you have to create a free INSTAR Cloud account. Sign-up NOW and enjoy all paid features for 30 days without any costs.
• For Alexa and IFTTT a new sub-category called Smarthome has been added to your cameras webUI. Alarm server and MQTT settings have been moved to Smarthome.
• General bug fixes and improvements