INSTALL.rst

PiDashCam Installation Instructions

Hardware

• Raspberry Pi (I used a model 3)
• UPSPico (optional)
• PiCamera
• Adafruit Ultimate GPS
• Two momentary push buttons
• One LED
• One 1k 1/2 Watt resistor
• Connecting wire
• Case to suit

Connect up hardware as per the diagram

Base Software Installation

Note: All instructions assume you are using a Mac. 1. Start by burning a copy of Raspbian Jessie Lite to an SD card using Etcher (see instructions here) At completion, you will have the first partition of the SD card mounted as /Volumes/boot/ 1 1. In a Terminal session:

$ touch /Volumes/boot\ 1/ssh

Create the file /Volumes/boot/wpa_supplicant.conf with the contents:

network={
    ssid="your WiFi"
    psk="your password"
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

1. In Finder, eject the SD card and insert in Pi

2. Power up and find IP address of Pi

3. Use ssh to log in to the dashcam using the name “pi” and the password “raspberry”

4. immediately change the user password using the command passwd

5. Use sudo raspi-config to

   • change the hostname (e.g. to dashcam)
   • expand the file system (on the Advanced menu)
   • enable Camera and I2C (on the Interfaces menu)

6. Update the distribution with:

   sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
   

7. Reboot

Install and configure the UPS PIco Software (if used)

Follow `the installation guide for the UPSPIco <https://github.com/modmypi/PiModules/wiki/UPS-PIco-Installation>`__ to install its software and configure it appropriately.

Install and configure the GPS

I use the gpsd system daemon to connect to the GPS on the Pi’s serial port. Out of the box, the Pi uses the built-in serial port as a console, so this does need to be disabled. Proceed as follows (this for the Pi 3 only)

1. edit /boot/cmdline.txt to remove references to the serial console.

Remove any references to

console=serial0,115200,

console=ttyAMA0,115200,

console=serial0,115200 or

kbdboc=ttyAMA0,115200

2. Stop bluetooth using the serial port (Pi3 only). Edit the file /boot/config.txt and add the following:

   dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt
   

3. run:

   $ sudo systemctl disable hciuart
   $ sudo systemctl stop hciuart
   

3. install the daemon and client packages:

   $ sudo apt update
   $ sudo apt install gpsd gpsd-clients python-gps
   

4. Edit the file /etc/gps/gpsd and replace the line

   DEVICES="" with

   DEVICES=/dev/ttyAMA0" and the line

   GPSD_OPTIONS="" with

   GPSD_OPTIONS="-F /var/run/gpsd.sock"

5. Reboot, and it should all work. If you have the GPS connected correctly and it has a lock, then you should get real-time status by running the command cgps -s

Install PiDashCam

1. install the required python libraries:

   $ sudo apt install python python-picamera python-gps python-rpi.gpio python-pip
   $ sudo pip install keyboard
   

2. clone the git package from github:

   $ git clone https://www/github.com/garethhowell/pidashcam
   

3. Install the package:

   $ cd PiDashCam/code/scripts
   $ sudo pip install .
   

Run PiDashCam

I recommend that you run pidashcam in the foreground to begin with until you are sure everything is working.

1. To see the options:

   $ sudo /usr/local/bin/pi-dashcam -h
   

Most options have sensible defaults.

2. To run in the foreground:

   $ sudo /usr/local/sbin/pidashcam <options>
   

Log entries go to STDOUT

3. All configuration variables can be set in /etc/default/pidashcam.

   This file is only used when pidashcam is running under systemd

4. When you are happy:

   $ sudo systemctl enable pidashcam.service
   $ sudo systemctl start pidashcam
   

pidashcam will start automatically at boot.

5. You can view log files with:

   $ sudo journalctl -u pidashcam
   

6. You can stop pidashcam with:

   $ sudo systemctl stop pidashcam
   

Install Resilio Sync

Resilio Sync is a personal P2P environment that uses the BitTorrent protocol. It’s very similar in concept to Dropbox or OneDrive but the files stay totally within your control: there’s no cloud element.

More details on how I use resilio sync to move the videos from the Pi to a Mac in the house.

1. Before following the install guide linked to in the next step, you need to install a module that is missing from the jessie-lite distribution. If you don’t, you won’t be able to run resilio-sync in user mode.:

   $ sudo apt-get install libpam-systemd
   

2. Install the resilio sync package on your PC or Mac using the instructions on `the Resilio Sync website <https://help.resilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/206178924-Installing-Sync-package-on-Linux>`__. Remember to follow the instructions to run resilio-sync in user mode so you can sync folders in your home directory.

   Before you run systemctl --user enable resilio-sync, proceed as follows:

   edit /etc/resilio-sync/user_config.json and change the line:

   "listen" : "127.0.0.1:8888" to read

   "listen" : "0.0.0.0:8889" and then run:

   $ systemctl --user enable resilio-sync
   $ systemctl --user start resilio-sync
   

6. Open http:<ip-address>:8889 You will need to create an admin user login.
7. Create the sync connection
   • On the Mac, create a sync folder to receive the Videos and use the Resilio client to make it one and of a sync connection.
   • copy the Sync key for the folder
   • In the web browser, create the equivalent sync connection so that the folder /home/pi/PiDashCam/Videos syncs with your Mac.