Skip to content

HardwareSetup.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
41 lines (25 loc) · 2.04 KB

HardwareSetup.md

File metadata and controls

41 lines (25 loc) · 2.04 KB

Hardware Setup

This document outlines the hardware setup and behavior of the smart doorbell system.

The smart doorbell system is designed for automatic, headless operation. Once powered and connected to Wi-Fi during initial setup, the device will boot up, connect to the network, and run its core services entirely on its own without user intervention. It automatically recovers from power loss and handles common exceptions like upload failures gracefully. This makes the system highly reliable and ideal for unattended, long-term use in real-world environments.

1. Initial Wi-Fi Configuration

Before deployment, the device must be connected to a Wi-Fi network.

  • Method: Connect a monitor via HDMI, and attach a USB keyboard and mouse to the Raspberry Pi.
  • On boot, access the desktop or terminal.
  • Use the GUI or the command line to configure the Wi-Fi (e.g., via raspi-config or nmcli).
  • Once connected, the network credentials will be saved for future automatic reconnection.

After initial setup, HDMI and input devices can be removed.

2. Power and Boot Behavior

The system is designed for fully automatic operation after the initial setup.

  • When powered on, it automatically boots, connects to Wi-Fi, and starts required services (e.g., myproject.service and autostart.sh).
  • No user interaction is needed after power-up.
  • The system is robust to power interruptions:
    • If unplugged or loses power, it will reboot and resume all operations once power is restored.

3. File Upload and Error Handling

Captured files (photos or videos) are uploaded to the cloud. If an upload fails:

  • The system retries up to 5 times automatically.
  • If all retries fail, the file is saved locally to the Record/ directory on the SD card.
  • These files can be manually retrieved later.

4. Manual Program Execution

To manually run the program (e.g., for debugging), you must first stop the automatic service to avoid conflicts, especially with the camera module.

sudo systemctl stop myproject.service