Today we received the question,

“How to control a web cam via internet,
i want to use it for security reasons, always out of the house and my PC connected want to open the cam from time to time to checkout if something wrong!!”

- [Mohamed Saleh]

What a fun project we thought! And so many different ways of tackling it. Find out what we suggested to [Mohamed] after the break.

Initially we wanted to create an extremely complicated setup, using a USB camera, server, webhosting, and a ton of scripts/programming to create a rather sweet camera setup.

But of course, complication breads problems, and while digging through our box of parts and supplies we stumbled upon an old Axis 206 IP Network Camera. What could be easier than all of the above built into one slick device!

The camera comes with an Ethernet cable, wall-wort for power, and a CD with instructions – we just threw the latter away and winged it, by finding out how to reset the device, then its default ip, we had view of the camera within our network in no time.

A simple port forward of 80 and we could view it outside of our network (so long as we typed in our IP). What we would recommend however, is setting up a DNS (DynDNS is great) service on a computer within the network that points to the cameras IP. That way the URL becomes www.HADCamera.com, a lot easier than 249.135.184.204:80. (Both are fake URLs sorry).

Taking it further, if you had a computer nearby you could setup a simple stepper motor and control the position of the camera.

This is of course our take on the matter and part of Ask HackADay is what our readers would do, so how would you setup a home security camera?

The DIY LIL CNC project is the newest member of the homebrew fabrication scene. This is a three-axis CNC mill that can be built by anyone with basic shop skills and about $700 in their pocket. Many of the materials can be acquired from the likes of Home Depot: the basic framework is assembled from Masonite, while other cost-cutting measures include the use of skate bearings and a common Dremel tool for powering the cutting bit. About half of the cost is for the HobbyCNC driver and stepper motor package that runs the show.

The instructions for the DIY LIL CNC are distributed under a Creative Commons license, allowing for modification and distribution with few restrictions. They’re well-written and quite thorough, including all patterns and a complete bill of materials with suppliers, part numbers and costs. As documented, the ’bot can produce parts up to 12 x 14 x 2 inches, but the project’s creators offer some suggestions on adapting the design for larger work. It’s not self-replicating like the RepRap aims for; you’ll need access to a laser cutter for some of the parts. If you can clear that hurdle, this looks like a great introduction to CNC production.

[aris] is continuing work on his harmonic table keyboard midi controller. Instead of the traditional linear keyboard layout, keys are laid out in a hexagonal pattern. This is the same idea as the C-Thru AXiS, which you can find a video demo of here. Along the left edge is a row of buttons to transpose the layout up or down. Switches for octave up and down along with a generic slider are also included. The final controller will include a 16×2 LCD character display. The core of the controller is MIDIBox, and he’s using the SDK to write the custom C code. Embedded below is the first test with just four buttons wired.

We’ve been following [glaciawanderer]‘s CNC build for quite some time and he’s recently added a few upgrades to make for an even more interesting machine. He’s been trying out new bearing blocks, anti-backlash nuts, and z-axis plates hoping to get some improvements. In the case of the bearing blocks, he went back to the older style because of the added safety and smoother movement. The final addition he made was a dust collection system. It’s just a couple support hoops and duct tape, but it should keep dust out of the threads and rails.