Security Camera Setup

I’m in the market for a surveillance system to secure some buildings. This is a story on how we got there.

Bought this dome camera: Hikvision 4MP DS-2CD2142FWD-I HD WDR IP Network Dome 2.8mm Lens

Previously bought this Synology DS216J NAS.

Thinking about buying this thing…

Though I had to download this thing: Hikvision SADPTool.

Needed to do activation and set a password:

I didn’t think I was going to need this initially since the Synology Surveillance Center found a generic camera, but now that I can see you’re supposed to activate the things first. After you’ve activated the cameras, the Synology bit can actually make heads or tails of what’s connected.

 

Good news is that after figuring out how to turn it on, setting a password, trying to use H.264+ encoding, tweaking motion detection settings, we’re recording! We’ll see what else can go wrong next as we try to add more cameras and/or do something useful with them.

A beautiful view of the inside of the laundry closet:

Drivetrain – Prototype

A group of 5 mechanical engineering seniors all involved with Formula SAE happened to join forces and earn credit for making race car parts. A good candidate system was the drivetrain of the race car – connecting the power plant to the wheels. In the past, we had experienced difficulties in setting and maintaining proper chain tension, so our focus was on a new bit of hardware that eased those pains.

The first step for class was to construct a prototype to demonstrate the big idea of what we were trying to accomplish. We did so by building a mock rear box of our steel space frame chassis, and installing our freshly designed chain tensioning rig in there.

Spot the Differences

There are 10 differences in the two photos below. This picture was taken on a bustling Saturday on the Venice Beach boardwalk.

Original Image
Modified Image
Solution Image