Sensr-utils

We get a lot of requests for features that can be implemented using the Sensr API. I decided to start creating some utils that use the API with the hope that our users can extend these or maybe even create better versions of them. The first one I'm doing is called get-images.rb and it will pull down the images from a Sensr.net camera.

get-images.rb

This will grab the images from a Sensr.net camera and place them into the specified directory.

$ ruby get-images.rb --help
Usage: get-images [options]
    -d, --date yyyy-mm-dd            Date grab the images from [year-month-day]
    -P, --directory-prefix name      directory destination for the output
    -c, --cam n                      Camera id to pull images from [n]
    -v, --verbose                    Output more information (debug)
    -h, --help                       display this help

The output would look something like this:

$ ruby get-images.rb -c 5 -d 2014-05-01 -P mayday
$ ls mayday
2014-04-30+00:03:22+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+06:04:06+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+12:04:50+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+18:05:14+-0700.jpg
2014-04-30+01:03:23+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+07:04:17+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+13:04:51+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+19:05:15+-0700.jpg
2014-04-30+02:03:33+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+08:04:17+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+14:05:02+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+20:05:15+-0700.jpg
2014-04-30+03:03:34+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+09:04:28+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+15:05:02+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+21:05:36+-0700.jpg
2014-04-30+04:03:45+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+10:04:39+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+16:05:03+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+22:05:47+-0700.jpg
2014-04-30+05:03:56+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+11:04:39+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+17:05:14+-0700.jpg   2014-04-30+23:05:37+-0700.jpg

The images from camera 5 that were saved on May 1st, 2014 are stored in the directory mayday. The images are named with the time they were taken.

Improvements for get-images.rb

• Not require the user to have their own token, but get it with a password
• Grab the favorites from a camera
• Grab the clips from a camera

get-latest.rb

If you want to find the latest JPEG image that has been uploaded or the MJPEG stream for a given camera, this will find it. Note that these URLs change occasionally and without warning, mainly for load balancing. You could use the --image URL to give to Weather Underground.

$ ruby get-latest.rb  --help
Usage: get-latest [options]
    -i, --image                      Return URL for the latest image
    -s, --stream                     Return URL for the MJPEG stream
    -c, --cam n                      Camera id [n]
    -v, --verbose                    Output more information (debug)
    -h, --help                       display this help

Here's an example that returns the latest image and stream for camera 88.

$ ruby get-latest.rb  --image --stream --cam 88
http://fxp6.sensr.net/latest/3aee7a35b90f64749d7634e0366b5170553a0787
http://fxp6.sensr.net/stream/3aee7a35b90f64749d7634e0366b5170553a0787

Warning: these URLs are only protected by the random URL. If you give it out, it will work even for private cameras. So be careful where you place the URLs once you discover them!

Other ideas?

• Gif generator
• Time lapse generator
• Composite image from all your cameras
• Create a Weather Underground link for a camera that doesn't change

Thanks to Yacin for creating this API in the first place!