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cat cam?


tanda333

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My little brother did a similar hack.  He bought a wireless camera and battery back and mounted (AKA: duck taped) the rig to his RC truck.  It reminds me of home alone (it was one of them).  But it's fun....what if you could stream the video to the webs and hack the controller so you could drive the truck via the web...hmm.  :-D

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PETA are hypocrites anyway, they kill thousands of animals and rehome a much smaller percentage of animals they take in than other animal charities (not to mention supporting criminals). And here's a lovely quote from Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA: "Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it.".

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PETA are hypocrites anyway, they kill thousands of animals and rehome a much smaller percentage of animals they take in than other animal charities (not to mention supporting criminals). And here's a lovely quote from Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA: "Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it.".

the problem with PETA is that they claim to be more moral but then they do things to make them hated... not the best way to win supporters

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thx, i didn't actually know that you could buy wireless cams... i was worried that a solution would involve small laptop + normal webcam, but this makes it easy.

the idea actually came out when i was watching the stream of the set, and Darren and co. went out for taco bell, (while most were drunk, but not the drivers) we were bored and had been previously been asking to see Kerby.... but no such luck, then i said something about a cat cam....and everybody thought it would be cool.

another couple of ideas that came up while waiting for them to get back from taco bell:

allow admins in setcam page chat to control tilt and pan

and show multiple camerasfor multiple views, on one screen.

the problem with these two would be that they would require not using gabbly and ustream, and massacring together your own code...

also... if you were to use battery operated web cam, mod it to make lots of  battery packs (however many batteries are needed to provide the right voltage) and run them in parallel, thus voltage with stay the same, but system should last longer... (i think, I'm not a professional so correct me if I'm wrong, but parallel rigs add current, not voltage.... and should distribute the load across the multiple packs, thus lasting longer. i have seen a couple of clocks set up this way) unless increasing current will damage circuitry, which i have never heard of... to my best knowledge, voltage can damage circuitry and current cant, current damages ppl....

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Well, actually when you connect the batteries in parallel the current stays the same (since the resistance of the camera stays the same and I=V/R), which is a good thing. The amount of current it would be possible to draw does go up, but that's not the same thing. If current did actually increase proportional to the number of parallel batteries of cells then you wouldn't get any benefit in running time at all.

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Yeah basically right now the proof of concept hack comprises of a 2.4GHz micro wireless camera (that also does audio) and 9v battery mounted to a kitty collar and a server with a video capture card broadcasting to uStream. The cost (not including PC) is about $100.

The main problem right now is the "Ok, so duh, you can mount a wireless micro cam on a cat, big deal" factor. It's going to need something else to make it truly segment worth. If I can't figure out what that is I'll have to abandon the project.

And no, mounting GPS to the cat isn't an option.

Suggestions please as I'd really like to make this a segment and show it off mid-summer.

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Yeah basically right now the proof of concept hack comprises of a 2.4GHz micro wireless camera (that also does audio) and 9v battery mounted to a kitty collar and a server with a video capture card broadcasting to uStream. The cost (not including PC) is about $100.

The main problem right now is the "Ok, so duh, you can mount a wireless micro cam on a cat, big deal" factor. It's going to need something else to make it truly segment worth. If I can't figure out what that is I'll have to abandon the project.

And no, mounting GPS to the cat isn't an option.

Suggestions please as I'd really like to make this a segment and show it off mid-summer.

Why no GPS? Some sort of tracking device maybe with a program to log its daily track record around your neighborhood would be cool, like plotting it on Google Maps or Google Earth(unless it is always indoors of course). Strictly for others, not so much to post your cats movements or where you live of course. They make tiny gps devices that I am sure would not be a burden on a cat or dog for that matter (weight wise, anyway). Figuring out how to record it would be the hack part. Some sort of way to record it and then upload the stats back to main system along with the video feed.

What exactly do you want from this camera setup though. Is this something your going to keep on all the time to show the Hak5 community? Or is it just so others can build one for themselves, etc. I think that will determine what you will need to accomplish for the segment. I mean, I don't want the cat wlking into the bathroom while one of you guys are taking a number two or something. That kind of stuff doesn't need to be seen...by anyone...but I think maybe if people could "log onto their cat" like from remote sites and see exactly what the cat is doing or where they are. Maybe have it so that if the camera or a sensor picks up certian objects, like when the cat is near the litter box, it turns on a light for the cat so he can see in the dark when he needs to do his business, or have a food dispensor feed the cat when it senses the cat is near the food bowl, etc..

Even if its just a Mod segment on how to build the collar and what parts to use, I think that would be interesting to see and then see it maybe out in the real world, like take your cat or a dog to a park and walk them around and send the video back to a laptop or whatever nearby. Homeland Security at its finest. ;)

The whole netstumbler thing and war hopping has been done, so no need to go that route, but video from a cat's perspective or any small animal on the move is a pretty cool concept in itself.

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I mean, I don't want the cat wlking into the bathroom while one of you guys are taking a number two or something. That kind of stuff doesn't need to be seen...by anyone...but I think maybe if people could "log onto their cat" like from remote sites and see exactly what the cat is doing or where they are.

Why wouldn't you want that!? Anyway I would hope they close the bathroom door when doing that sort of thing out of consideration for their house mates, but then again I did hear they are all actually part of a polyamorous commune, so maybe they don't.

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Hmm..is it me or do Horza and Sparda seem to be one and the same now? How can you fairly keep track of things, especially if they use the same avatar and name, who is to say who said what and what is there to keep them from posting things as the other person when they obviously don't always share the same views or opinions. What's to stop me from posing as someone else and giving them a bad rep?

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I'm Spartacus! Er.. Spardacus.. er.. Sparda.
Um...Horza, you wish you were sparda...
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Well Kerby (With an E not I, short for Kerberos) is 1. a female and 2. an indoor kitty.

The Kerby POV might be a lot of fun since he new housemate, Buffy, is constantly picking fights with her. Talk about FPS! If only we could mount a nerf gun to her back...

But seriously the weight is an issue and indoors the GPS wouldnt be too useful. The main idea is to get a AV feed from the cat and broadcast it using something Ustream or shoutcast.

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Cat cam +

RFID

Make it so when kittie gets close to the cat food, cat food gets dispensed, track the amount of food, and set notices to refill dispenser. You could also put it on the litter box, track number of times, as well as notices to clean the litter box.

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Cat cam +

RFID

Make it so when kittie gets close to the cat food, cat food gets dispensed, track the amount of food, and set notices to refill dispenser. You could also put it on the litter box, track number of times, as well as notices to clean the litter box.

Thats sort of what I was saying, but didn't think to use an RFID tag.

You could place them all over the house and keep track of where the cat is the most and at what times of day, etc. but I am sure there is a use for something we're not even thinking of.

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