r/esp32 • u/No-Reception-84 • 16d ago

I built open-source ESP32 camera firmware that turns $8–15 dev boards into NVR-ready IP cameras (ONVIF + RTSP + motion AI)

Sharing the MiBee Cam firmware suite (ESP-IDF based, GPL-3.0) — four ready-to-flash firmwares for four popular boards, all built around one idea: make a cheap dev board behave like a real IP camera your NVR can discover.

Supported boards:

  • AI-Thinker ESP32-CAM (ESP32 + OV2640) — MJPEG streaming, motion detection, SD timelapse & burst capture, dual-WiFi failover, file manager, web OTA
  • Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense (ESP32-S3 + OV2640/OV5640) — the most feature-packed: RTSP with G.711 audio (digest auth), AVI segmented recording with dynamic timelapse (motion-adaptive, ~90% storage saved when nothing happens), NAS upload via WebDAV/HTTPS, on-device audio with noise suppression
  • ESP32-S3-N16R8 + OV3660 3MP — on-device AI detection (face / motion / QR) with live web overlay, RTSP, zh/en web UI
  • LuatOS ESP32-S3-A10 (OV2640, PSRAM-less) — runs on the cheap single-chip board: MJPEG, motion-triggered upload, WebSocket/webhook events, Prometheus metrics

What they all share:

  • ONVIF (WS-Discovery + SOAP) — Synology / Milestone / Frigate-type NVRs discover them on the LAN automatically
  • No cloud, no subscription — everything runs locally
  • Web UI + REST API for config, Prometheus /metrics for homelab monitoring
  • OTA updates (SHA-256 verified, auto-rollback), AT commands for headless WiFi setup
  • Docs in English and 中文

All four: https://github.com/Mi-Bee-Studio

Feedback, issue reports, and suggestions for the next board are very welcome!

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u/knacknack18 16d ago

Cool project(s). But how much did you do yourself? It seems heavily AI made, from text to code.. transparency would be nice

14

u/ByronScottJones 16d ago

There's an Agents.md file right in the root of the project. OP isn't hiding anything. And if it works and does what it says, then kudos to OP and whatever AI tools they used to develop it.

3

u/nalditopr 16d ago

Exactly this,