Software

Home Automation (MQTTv5)

This guide uses the MQTTv5 API. For Full HD cameras please replace the MQTT topics with the MQTTv3 API. If you don't use MQTT in your smarthome system please refer to our HTTP API (CGI) documentation - the CGI version of this guide can be found here.

Athom Homey Smarthome

• Home Automation MQTTv5
  • Athom Homey Smarthome
• Introduction
• How does it work
  • Use external Sensors
  • Activate night vision only when motion is detected
  • Approach different positions according to a schedule
  • Use different Detection Areas for each Position
  • Use different sensitivities for day and night
  • Turn off all Cameras when you arrive home
  • Use external Sensors to turn your Camera when Motion is detected
  • Use external Sensors to trigger Alarm Recordings
  • Interconnect your Cameras
  • Scan for Noise Sources
  • Manually disable all alarm functions for all your cameras
  • Switch between PIR and Software Motion Detection

Mike Polinowski

INSTAR MQTT

Firmware Update

Full HD Series

May 10th, 2021

Make your camera the heart of your smart home

Using the MQTT interface of your INSTAR Full HD cameras you can connect them to an existing smarthome system (Home Assistant, OpenHAB, Node-RED, Athom Homey, Homematic, ioBroker, Loxone, homee) can be added. Or even make it the main broker for your MQTT sensors. MQTT allows you to automate ALL functions of your camera and link them to other services in your smarthome.

Mike Polinowski

IFTTT Applets

Firmware Update

Full HD Series

INSTAR Cloud

September 9th, 2020

Control your camera via the IFTTT online service

On the IFTTT platform, we provided a service called INSTAR. The INSTAR applets provide you with the ability to control some settings of your INSTAR camera or INSTAR Cloud with IFTTT. You can connect INSTAR with triggers for location (Geo Location) and date & time, send notifications and much more. For example, you can connect INSTAR applets to the IFTTT location service and automatically disable the alarm when you arrive home. You can also use the INSTAR applets to create your own automation and connect them to other third-party applets.

Introduction

Homey is a wireless gateway that allows you to communicate with wireless smart devices. You can control devices from anywhere using the free Homey app.

With over 50,000 devices supported, your current devices will most likely already work with Homey. Homey learns new devices by installing Apps — just like a smartphone.

You can control your devices manually, with schedules and system variables or with intelligent programs called Flows. Those are simple If / Then clauses that you can set up from your smartphone - very similar to the IFTTT Cloud Service.

In the following paragraphs we want to show you how to connect external wireless sensors through the Homey system with your INSTAR IP camera, set up time schedules for your surveillance and optimize your camera operation.

If you are looking for a deep dive into setting up your Homey automation with an INSTAR IP camera, switch to our FULL GUIDE instead.

How does it work

• How to Configure the INSTAR MQTT Broker/Client
• The INSTAR MQTT Service
• The INSTAR MQTTv5 API Documentation

1. Use external Sensors

Triggering an alarm on the camera by an event registered by your home automation system:

alarm/pushalarm     {"val":"1"}

2. Activate night vision only when motion is detected

Activate your camera's night vision on a schedule or triggered by an external/camera sensor integrated into the home automation system:

features/nightvision/autoled	{"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}, {"val":"2"}

The activation of the night vision in case of an alarm is of course only possible if the camera has an internal PIR sensor for motion detection, or if you use the alarm signal of an external sensor in home automation to "focus" the camera. The advantage - the camera is inconspicuous at night and the IR light attracts no insects / spiders. And the power consumption is of course also pressed.

3. Approach different positions according to a schedule

Scheduled day and night position - Guard the front door when I'm not home, but turn the camera to my carport when I'm back from work:

features/ptz/preset     {"val":"0"} - {"val":"7"}

4. Use different Detection Areas for each Position

In combination with the scheduled day and night position (see above) you can also activate different motion detection areas - in the example the areas 1 & 2 are activated during the day and the areas 3 & 4 at night:

alarm/area1/enable      {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}
alarm/area2/enable      {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}
alarm/area3/enable      {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}
alarm/area4/enable      {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}

5. Use different sensitivities for day and night

Since different sensitivities are often required for motion detection during the day and night, you can also adjust them - in the example to 75% during the day and 25% at night:

alarm/area1/sensitivity     {"val":"1"} - {"val":"100"}
alarm/area2/sensitivity     {"val":"1"} - {"val":"100"}
alarm/area3/sensitivity     {"val":"1"} - {"val":"100"}
alarm/area4/sensitivity     {"val":"1"} - {"val":"100"}

6. Turn off all Cameras when you arrive home

Either schedule or manually disable all alarm detection areas and the PIR sensor, if you do not want to trigger an alarm:

alarm/area1/enable          {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}
alarm/area2/enable          {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}
alarm/area3/enable          {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}
alarm/area4/enable          {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}
alarm/actions/pir/enable    {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}

7. Use external Sensors to turn your Camera when Motion is detected

Let your camera move between positions depending on system variables in home automation system. For example - when the door sensor is tripped, look to the door, when the window sensor is triggered turn towards the window and when the external motion sensor detects a person, turn to the kitchen door:

features/ptz/preset     {"val":"0"} - {"val":"7"}

This can be combined well with the parking position in the camera - the camera then automatically returns to the standard position after x minutes.

8. Use external Sensors to trigger Alarm Recordings

When you set up your camera to turn to a position when triggered by an external sensor, you probably want to start an alarm recording on the internal SD card to catch the intruder. This can be done by starting the manual recording through your home automation system and after a delay following up the stop command. Due to adjustable delay, the length of the alarm video is selectable (15s - 60s):

task/video/rec/start     {"val":"15"}, {"val":"30"}, {"val":"45"}, {"val":"60"}
task/video/rec/stop      {"val":"1"}

9. Interconnect your Cameras

Install your cameras so that they always keep an eye on each other by utilizing the Park Position that always returns your camera to a set position after it was moved. This prevents intruders from tampering with your cameras unseen.

When one camera detect a motion you can have it contact your home automation system using your camera's Alarmserver Function. You smarthome can then send a command to other cameras nearby to turn towards the position where the initial camera detected the intruder and start an alarm recording.

features/ptz/preset     {"val":"0"} - {"val":"7"}

task/video/rec/start     {"val":"15"}, {"val":"30"}, {"val":"45"}, {"val":"60"}
task/video/rec/stop      {"val":"1"}

In this example both cameras look at each other - and keep an eye on what is happening behind the other camera. This position is stored as Position 1 (number=0) and set to be the Park Position. When the left camera detects something, the right one turns around towards the potential intruder - stored as Position 2-8 (number=1-7) - and starts a recording. And vice versa...

10. Scan for Noise Sources

For example, when triggering the audio detection on your camera, you probably do not know the location of the source of the noise. Here you can trigger a horizontal (hscan) or vertical (vscan) search scan. This must then be manually stopped again with the desired delay:

features/ptz/panscan      {"val":"1"}
features/ptz/tiltscan     {"val":"1"}

11. Manually disable all alarm functions for all your cameras

If you have more than one alarm trigger activated in your camera - PIR sensor, alarm zones, audio detection, alarm input - you can activate and deactivate them simultaneously via the alarm schedule without having to address each trigger individually:

alarm/schedule/master/sunday    {"val":"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN"} - {"val":"PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP"}

Set the alarm schedule for each day of the week from Monday through Sunday. Each P is half an hour of the day the alarm schedule is active (48 x 30min = 24h). An N equals a 30-minute period in which it is disabled. The schedule activates / deactivates all alarm actions.

12. Switch between PIR and Software Motion Detection

Most of our new cameras have both an internal, software-based motion detection and a hardware PIR (passive infrared) heat sensor to detect motion of objects that have a different surface temperature as the ambient. In most cases we recommend that you link both as they have different strengths and weaknesses and the coupling can filter many sources of false alerts.

But there are situation where one of those two ways to detect motion simply fails and does not provide any filtering effect anymore. Examples are:

• The PIR is exposed to direct sunlight through most of the day. Shadows and temperature changes trigger regular false alarms.
• The Motion Detection Areas are constantly triggered at night due to the light from passing cars.
• etc.

We can use our smarthome to automatically deactivate the problematic sensor during times where we know that their accuracy is affected. Since we probably want to use both sensors during times of the day when both work perfectly, we also have to switch the coupling on and off, accordingly.

Link between PIR and Alarm Areas

alarm/actions/pir/link	{"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}

Alarm Areas Activation / Deactivation

alarm/area1/enable          {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}
alarm/area2/enable          {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}
alarm/area3/enable          {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}
alarm/area4/enable          {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}

PIR Activation / Deactivation

alarm/actions/pir/enable    {"val":"0"}, {"val":"1"}