A motion detecting system is one of the most useful inventions when it comes to home security. More and more homeowners now have these systems installed in order to prevent burglars from breaking into their homes. For those who do not want to spend some money to buy motion detectors and want to experiment on electronic devices, it would be interesting to know that a personal computer can now be transformed into a motion detection system.
What Will Be Needed
The main requirement will be a personal computer running on either Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. A web camera is also required for this set up and a free or open source webcam utility (such as Dorgem).
In the event that the personal computer becomes unavailable, you will also need to have a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) account in order to upload the captured images 'off-site'.
How to Set It Up
Assuming the web camera has already been in the computer, the next thing to do is download the camera utility (like Dorgem, which is a free utility). Once it has been downloaded, install it and follow the instructions in order to install it correctly. Once installation has been completed, launch the camera utility and select webcam from the selection on the drop-down menu for camera selection.
Click on the preview button in order to check the view the webcam has. Adjust the camera physically so that it is able to capture the area that will be monitored. To make adjustments on the camera settings (contrast, brightness and other settings), click on source. Click on OK when done with the adjustments.
On the options part of the camera utility, look for the options button and look for the option for motion detection. Check the box beside it and click ok.
For storing the recordings/captures, you will a need a profile. For this, open the camera utility's main window and look for a 'storage' option and click on it. If it asks for the storage type, click on 'File' and click on OK. To set up the storage settings, you will have to enter a name for the file and create a time interval. It would be a good idea to set a short time interval (in seconds). If there is an option asking for a filename, you can set the filename to whatever it is you prefer. This filename will be the default filename of the captures made by the webcam. Click on the OK when setting up of the storage settings is done and then close the camera utility's main window.
Testing the Improvised Motion Detector
After installation is done, test it by waving in front of your camera, or just any movement to check if it works. If the system has been set up correctly, images should be saved in the storage folder that you specified when you were setting it up. If it does not work, double check everything until you are sure that you have correctly done the basic steps to turn your personal computer into a motion detecting system.
This article discusses the basic way for one to make use of the personal computer as an equipment for motion detection, more details may be needed in order to transform it to an advanced motion detection system. However, it is still recommended to use a device that has been purposely designed for motion detection. You can visit SafeSecure24 or Strongman Security for more about a motion detecting system.
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