Github

Project on github : https://github.com/Thaldos/Raspberry-timelapse

Timelapse result

Raspberry Timelapse

Prerequisites

To build this project, you’ll need:

Total: 105€

Raspberry Pi installation

Installation of Raspbian

Download the NOOBS OS : https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/NOOBS_latest

Extract the archive.

Copy past the files on your SD cart.

Insert the SD cart in your Raspberry Pi and start it.

Follow the installations steps.

Installation of PHP 7.3

nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Uncomment the line : deb-src http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian/ buster main contrib non-free rpi

apt-get update

apt-get install -t buster php7.3 php7.3-curl php7.3-gd php7.3-fpm php7.3-cli php7.3-opcache php7.3-mbstring php7.3-xml php7.3-zip

Test by typing php -v in your terminal. You should have something like :

PHP 7.3.4-7 (cli) ( NTS )  
Copyright (c) 1997-2016 The PHP Group  
Zend Engine v3.0.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2016 Zend Technologies  
with Zend OPcache v7.3.6-dev, Copyright (c) 1999-2016, by Zend Technologies

Installation of Curl

Type in Raspberry terminal :

sudo apt-get install curl

Installation of Composer

Type in Raspberry terminal :

cd /usr/src  
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

Connect and enable your camera

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/camera.md

Wi-Fi autoconnecting

Type in your terminal : sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

And append some thing like :

network={  
    ssid="Livebox-12345"  
    psk="123456789AZERTY"  
}

Fixed IP

Type in Raspberry terminal : sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces then set the contents to this values at least:

# interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)
# Please note that this file is written to be used with dhcpcd
# For static IP, consult /etc/dhcpcd.conf and 'man dhcpcd.conf'
# Include files from /etc/network/interfaces.d:
source-directory /etc/network/interfaces.d
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
iface eth0 inet manual
allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet manual
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
allow-hotplug wlan1
iface wlan1 inet manual
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

Then sudo nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf and append this to the file:

# Configuration ip fix wlan :
interface wlan0
static ip_address=192.168.8.203/24 #replace 203 by your wish
static routers=192.168.8.1
static domain_name_servers=192.168.8.1

More details on this step here (French link)

Check if your IP address is set well:

Reboot then check your local IP : hostname -I

Reboot again and re-check your local IP

If it is not same: have patience and good luck. :)

Installation of VNC server on the Raspberry

To easily access to your Raspberry every time, you should use VNC. You have to enable VNC server on your Raspberry and install VNC viewer on you desktop.

Menu > Preference > Raspberry configuration > Interfaces > Enable VNC

Raspberry VNC

Install VNC viewer on your desktop

https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/download/viewer/

Launch VNC viewer and add a new connection to 192.168.8.203, with the user pi and password raspberry.

Important note: be sure te be on same Wi-Fi network on both sides.

Use your gmail account to send mail from your Raspberry

Install msmtp by typing sudo apt-get install msmtp msmtp-mta.

Type sudo nano ~/.msmtprc and append this to the file:

account default
tls on
host smtp.gmail.com
port 587
from you@gmail.com
auth on
user you
password password_user
tls_starttls on
tls_certcheck off

Then type chmod 666 ~/.msmtprc.

And test :

echo "Ceci est un mail de test" | msmtp your-email@domain.com

Project installation

Copying of the project files on your Raspberry pi

Copy all this project files to your Raspberry in /home/pi/Raspberry-timelapse/ by typing :

cd /home/pi/
git clone https://github.com/Thaldos/Raspberry-timelapse.git

Create manually the folder : /home/pi/Raspberry-timelapse/pictures.

Configuration

Copy .env.dist to .env and customize the constants in the .env file as your wish.

Download the vendors

Then type in Raspberry terminal :

cd /home/pi/Raspberry-timelapse/ 
composer install

Chmod file /home/pi/Raspberry-timelapse/takepicture.sh to 777.

Chmod file /home/pi/Raspberry-timelapse/sendpictures.php to 777.

Chmod directory /home/pi/Raspberry-timelapse/pictures/ to 777.

Set a cron tab

On your Raspberry, in terminal, type crontab -e and add that line:

0 14 * * * /home/pi/Raspberry-timelapse/takepicture.sh 2>&1
0 0 1 * * php /home/pi/Raspberry-timelapse/sendpictures.php 2>&1

Enjoy!

Your Raspberry pi will take a picture every day, and send to you the pictures every month by e-mail.