Unlocking the Power of ESP32-CAM - Full Guide

hey everyone and welcome back to my channel so in today's video we are not going to talk about the esp32 we are going to talk about the esp32 cam that comes with a camera module we can use it to take some images or videos also we have these pens that we can use to connect some sensors and create really cool projects we are going to see how to program it using the Arduino IDE but first of all let's talk about this microcontroller it comes with a few components like the SD card reader we can store some images using the SD card also we have this flashlight that we can control and this is the camera module it is called OV 2640 and if you look at the back of this microcontroller we have the option to add an external antenna but that's going to be the topic of another video this comes with a buil-in antenna which is used to add Wi-Fi capability to this microcontroller we can take a look at the pictures or the Real Time video using your smartphone or the computer you notice that this microcontroller doesn't come with the USB port so that we can program it and connect it to the computer basically you have to add another module like this one it is called ftdi we have to connect these pens to the pin of the esp32 cam then we can upload the code through this fddi but there is another option which is much much easier is by using this component it is called the esp32 cam MB MB stands for micro USB programmer that we use to program this kind of boards basically we can hook it up like this then we can use the USB port I'm going to connect it by the way if you want to buy any of these components you're going to find the links under the description it's an affiliate link so make sure to check them out if you don't have the esp32 cam micro USB programmer you can use the fddi and you have to connect it like this the RX of the ftdi goes to this pin which is labeled you u0t the TX goes to the u0r next we have to power up the esp32 cam by connecting the VCC to the 5V pen and the gnd D to the gnd D and finally we have to connect the pen io0 to the G and D once you do that you will be able to program the esp32 cam and as you can see I've connected all of the pins using these female to female jumper wires and here we have this female wire that connects the ground to the pen number zero we only use that when we upload the code later on we are going to remove this jumper wire then I will use the USB cable so it's the same one that we use with the Arduino Nano and connected the other side to the computer so that we can upload a sketch to this microcontroller if you already have the Arduino IDE installed on your machine you could go to this time and if you don't you can follow along by going to this link we can download it for Windows Linux or Mac OS for me I have a Windows 10 I'm going to click the first option on top you could also donate but I will hit just download then I'm going to put it under the downloads folder and double click on this executable file these steps are really simple I'm going to agree then we can hit next make sure to select anyone can use this IDE next again and agree and find the we hit install you see that these steps are fairly simple now we can run it by checking this option or we can open it up from the computer it is this program we can double click on it if you have already watched my video about using the esp32 microcontroller by default we couldn't program these kind of ports we have to add something that is called the boards manager URL by copying the URL from the description of this video which is this one and let's copy it using crl C then we can get back to the Arduino IDE we have to go to file and under preferences we have these additional BS manager URLs make sure to paste it for me I've already added the link of the esp32 package once you do that we can hit okay next we go to tools and under board we have the boards manager we use it to install the esp32 package just search for the name make sure it is by expressive systems and hit install I think it's going to take a little bit of time to install the whole package make sure to wait now we'll be able to select some esp32 boards from the selected board option you have to unplug the USB cable then plug it again you see that we didn't have another comp Port which means our computer can't recognize the device from the USB cable we have to install some drivers you could go to this link silicon labs and install the drivers that we need under downloads for me I'm going to select it windows then hit save next we have to extract it using varar and as you can see we have this 64 executable file we can double click on it then we can hit next I agree and accept then finish if you are using the esp32 cam micro USB programmer you have to install this driver it is called ch340 I'm going to download it for Windows the same thing we have to extract it using right click and extract it here or to the folder then let's open it up and double click on it make sure to hit yes and install it once it's done you will be able to select the port and if you get back to the Arduino IDE you will see that we have another Port which is com 9 but it could be any any number so let's press it and search for the board that we are using it is an esp32 cam in fact it is called AI thinker esp32 cam now we are ready to upload any kind of sketch using the upload button luckily the esp32 package comes with a few sketches that we can use actually it is one sketch under file examples we have esp32 for the camera we have this one it is called camera web server before we upload it I want to talk about the basics of this sketch and how it works the esp32 cam will be connected to a network of course using the Sid and the password we're going to provide this two information from the code then we could use all of the devices like your smartphone or the computer that are connected to the same network to get access to the pictures or the video that is created by the esp32 cam web server to do so we type in and the IP address of the esp32 camera if you don't know each device in this network has some kind of address it is called the IP address we use it for communication between these devices anyways let's get back to the code we will only set few parameters like the camera module that you are using for me it is called AI thinker make sure to comment this line and selected the one that you use let's uncomment this line of code next we have the wi credentials I'm going to use the password and the name of the network I have a network that is called our Network then the password finally we can upload our sketch using this button if you are asking how we can get the IP address you could go to the settings of the router you will see all of the connected devices including the es32 cam and the second option is to use the serial monitor basically it is printed using serial.print we can open it up it is this option make sure to select the same Bo rate which is 115200 as I said we need to disconnect these two pens then we can hit reset this is the reset button now we have some messages Wi-Fi is connected and the camera is ready this is the IP address that we need I'm going to copy it of course we need to be connected to the same network for me it is called our Network then you could open up any kind of browser that you have like Google Chrome and we can paste the IP address and this is the page that is created by the web server on the esp32 cam we have different settings at the bottom we can get one image by pressing the button and there you go or we can start streaming let's click on it and there you go now we have the video I hope you like this one if you have any question or comment make sure to write it under the comment section down below and they will see you in the next one but before that I want to change some settings on top we have the resolution we can try a bigger one also we can change the contrast as well as the brightness I highly recommend you to play around with these settings in our next videos we are going to use this microcontroller for a lot of projects that's why don't forget to hit the Subscribe button that helps me a lot and they will see you in the next one

Channel: Enjoy Mechatronics

Views: 28,524

Keywords: ESP32CAM, ArduinoIDE, IoT, Camera Projects, EmbeddedSystems, DIYTech, Coding, HardwareHacking, Arduino Programming, diy security camera, esp32, esp32-cam, esp32 cam security camera, esp32 camera, wifi security camera, wifi camera, ov2640, ov5640, esp32 cam projects, esp32 cam arduino, esp32 cam module, esp32 cam with arduino, esp32 cctv camera, esp32 cam live streaming, diy security camera esp32, arduino based camera, diy wifi security camera, arduino camera, esp32cam, esp32 cam, ftdi

Id: R_GY0zbM1bM

Length: 9min 27sec (567 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 29 2023