Home-grade AI-powered surveillance camera firmware — Tiny footprint, enterprise-class features. MiBee Cam transforms a $15 XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense board into a fully-featured network surveillance camera.
中文文档 | English
Most ESP32 camera projects stop at "it streams video." MiBee Cam goes all the way — segmented recording, smart timelapse with motion detection, dual-protocol NAS upload (WebDAV + HTTPS), ONVIF auto-discovery (Synology/Milestone compatible), OTA updates, and a polished purple-themed Web UI — all on a single-core-friendly dual-core RTOS architecture. No Linux required. No cloud dependency. Your camera, your data, your network.
- AI‑assisted recording — Continuous, timelapse, and dynamic timelapse (motion‑adaptive capture, saves 90% storage when nothing happens)
- Real‑time video — MJPEG over HTTP (port 81), max 2 concurrent clients
- Cloud‑grade NAS upload — WebDAV or HTTP(S) PUT, queue‑based, 3‑retry backoff, mutually exclusive
- Motion detection engine — Frame‑difference analysis, 0–100 score, triggers dynamic timelapse and webhook alerts
- Web dashboard — 6‑page responsive UI: status, config (accordion), file manager (batch ops), live preview, OTA update, first‑time setup wizard
- OTA firmware updates — Three modes: upload via web UI (binary or SPIFFS), trigger from URL, SHA‑256 verified, auto‑rollback on failed boot
- WebSocket real‑time push — Live status updates, motion events pushed to dashboard
- Webhook notifications — HTTP callbacks for motion, recording errors, system events
- Prometheus
/metrics— 15+ system metrics for Grafana / home‑lab monitoring - Circular storage — Auto‑cleans when SD < 20% free, stops at 30%, crash‑recovery cleanup on boot
- Hot‑plug SD — Removal stops recording, insertion resumes automatically (10‑second polling)
- Dual‑band WiFi — AP mode for setup, STA for production, backup SSID + auto‑fallback
- WiFi roaming — Configurable RSSI threshold and gap for proactive AP roaming, backup SSID + auto‑fallback
- Compressed web UI — Gzip‑served HTML (5 pages), 60% smaller payloads, faster page loads
- Async SD write — Dedicated Core 1 writer task eliminates recording stalls during SD I/O, capture loop never blocks
- SNTP time sync — Dual‑server (cn.pool.ntp.org + ntp.aliyun.com), manual override, TZ config
- Health watchdog — 30s TWDT + 60s health monitor (heap / PSRAM / stack / chip temp)
- Purple theme — Mi&Bee branding across all pages
- Audio capture + RTSP streaming — Onboard MEMS microphone, G.711 μ-law codec, dual-track RTSP (MJPEG+audio) for NVR integration with digest authentication
- SD card event logging — Structured JSON event logs with date-based rotation and 7-day retention
- Smart recording controls — Toggle video/audio recording to SD independently; stream without local storage
Dashboard — Real-time status, recording controls, system health at a glance
| Page | What it does |
|---|---|
Dashboard (/) |
Recording status, WiFi info, storage usage, chip temperature, firmware version |
Config (/config.html) |
All settings: WiFi, video, recording modes, NAS, webhooks, motion detection |
Files (/files.html) |
Browse, download, batch-delete recordings by date group |
Preview (/preview.html) |
Live MJPEG stream with fullscreen & screenshot |
OTA (/ota.html) |
Firmware update: URL trigger, binary upload, or SPIFFS web UI upload |
Setup (/setup.html) |
First-time WiFi configuration wizard |
git clone --recursive https://github.com/Mi-Bee-Studio/seeed-esp32s3-cam.git
cd seeed-esp32s3-cam
idf.py set-target esp32s3
idf.py build
idf.py -p COM3 flash monitorRequires ESP-IDF v5.x or v6.0. 👉 Full installation guide
- XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense (any ESP32-S3 with PSRAM)
- TF card (FAT32, Class 10+)
- USB-C cable for power & flashing
👉 Pin definitions & hardware details
| Mode | Description | Storage Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous (default) | Standard AVI segmented recording | Highest (full FPS) |
| Timelapse | Fixed-interval capture (5–300s), 15fps AVI playback | Low (~1/interval factor) |
| Dynamic Timelapse | Motion-adaptive: fast capture when active, slow when idle | Lowest (90%+ savings in quiet periods) |
Dynamic timelapse is the killer feature — set timelapse_mode=2, tune sensitivity (0–100), and let motion detection switch capture intervals automatically. Ideal for parking lots, warehouses, or watching a 3D printer.
| Method | Path | Auth | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| GET | /api/status |
No | Device status (recording, WiFi, storage, temp, motion, firmware) |
| GET | /api/config |
No | Current configuration (passwords masked as ****) |
| POST | /api/config |
Yes | Update configuration |
| POST | /api/record?action=start|stop |
Yes | Recording control |
| POST | /api/ota |
Yes | OTA firmware update from URL |
| POST | /api/format |
Yes | Format SD card |
| POST | /api/reset |
Yes | Factory reset |
| POST | /api/time |
Yes | Set system time manually |
| GET | /api/files |
No | Recording file list |
| POST | /api/files/batch |
Yes | Batch delete files |
| DELETE | /api/files?name=xxx |
Yes | Delete single file |
| GET | /api/download?name=xxx |
No | Download recording |
| GET | /api/scan |
No | Scan WiFi networks |
| GET | /stream |
No | MJPEG live stream |
| GET | /metrics |
No | Prometheus metrics (text format) |
| GET | /onvif/* |
No | ONVIF WS-Discovery + SOAP services |
| WS | ws://<IP>/ |
No | WebSocket real-time push |
| GET | /api/audio |
No | HTTP chunked G.711 audio stream (Web preview) |
| RTSP | rtsp://<IP>:554/stream |
Digest | MJPEG+G.711 dual-track stream for NVR |
Default password: admin 👉 Complete API docs
main/ — 27 C modules + main.c + cJSON (flat layout)
├── main.c # Entry, 20-step boot, watchdog
├── camera_driver.c/h # OV2640/OV3660 + JPEG capture
├── video_recorder.c/h # AVI MJPEG segmented recorder (3 modes), async SD write via dedicated Core 1 task
├── motion_detector.c/h # Frame-difference motion analysis
├── mjpeg_streamer.c/h # HTTP MJPEG live stream
├── frame_broadcaster.c/h # Frame buffer distributor (decouples FB consumers)
├── onvif_service.c/h # ONVIF SOAP service handlers
├── onvif_discovery.c/h # ONVIF WS-Discovery multicast
├── web_server.c/h # HTTP server + REST API (16 endpoints)
├── ws_server.c/h # WebSocket real-time push
├── ota_updater.c/h # OTA firmware update, 3-mode (URL/binary/SPIFFS), auto‑rollback self‑test
├── sha256.c/h # SHA-256 for OTA verification
├── webhook.c/h # HTTP event notifications
├── nas_uploader.c/h # Upload dispatcher (WebDAV | HTTPS)
├── webdav_client.c/h # WebDAV PUT + MKCOL
├── http_upload_client.c/h # HTTP/HTTPS chunked PUT
├── audio_driver.c/h # I2S PDM mic capture, 8kHz + DC removal + spectral NS + noise gate
├── audio_ns.c/h # Spectral noise suppressor (256-pt FFT, Wiener gain)
├── audio_broadcaster.c/h # Audio frame pub/sub (mirrors frame_broadcaster)
├── g711_codec.c/h # G.711 μ-law encoder/decoder (ITU-T standard)
├── rtsp_server.cpp/h # RTSP server (MJPEG+G.711 dual-track, digest auth, port 554)
└── sd_log.c/h # SD card structured event logging with rotation
├── wifi_manager.c/h # AP/STA dual-mode
├── config_manager.c/h # NVS config + SD card override
├── storage_manager.c/h # SD card FAT32 + circular cleanup
├── time_sync.c/h # SNTP dual-server
├── status_led.c/h # GPIO21 LED state machine (5 modes)
├── logging.c/h # Logging utility
└── cJSON.c/h # Vendored JSON (IDF v6.0 removed)
👉 System architecture deep dive
| Guide | Contents |
|---|---|
| Installation Guide | Environment, build, flash, first-time setup |
| Hardware Manual | Pinout, specs, wiring |
| User Guide | Config, recording modes, NAS, OTA, motion detection |
| System Architecture | Boot process, module design, data flow |
| API Reference | Complete REST API + WebSocket + ONVIF |
| Troubleshooting | Common issues & fixes |
| LED Status | LED blink patterns decoded |
GNU General Public License v3.0 — Free to use, modify, and distribute.