Summary

Let's now summarize what we learned in this project. What we've built in this project is a security camera that can automatically log pictures locally and to Dropbox whenever motion is detected. We also learned how to stream the video that comes from this camera live on YouTube via Wi-Fi.

The following were the major takeaways from this project:

• In the first part of the project, we connected the USB camera to the Arduino Yún as well as the PIR motion sensor. We also plugged a micro SD card to the Yún so we can also record pictures locally, even if the Internet connection is not available. We also installed the required software packages for the project, such as the driver, to access the USB camera from a terminal command.
• Then, we tested our hardware by checking whether the motion sensor was working properly and by making sure that we can actually take pictures using the USB camera.
• Then, we built a simple application using our hardware to automatically take a picture when motion is detected and store it on the micro SD card. We tested this software on the Yún, and when we checked later, we found that some pictures were indeed stored on the SD card.
• After this simple application, we built on the sketch to automatically upload the pictures on our Dropbox folder as well. For this, we wrote a Python script that can automatically upload files to Dropbox. This script was then called from the Arduino sketch to upload pictures over to Dropbox whenever motion is detected.
• Finally, in the last part of the sketch, we used the video capabilities of the camera to stream video live on YouTube. This way, we can monitor what's going on in your home from wherever you are in the world; we just need an Internet connection and a device that can access YouTube, such as a smartphone.

Of course, there are many ways you can improve and extend this project based on what we learned in this chapter. You can, of course, have many of these modules with a camera and a motion sensor within your home. This way, you can have a complete security system that monitors your home remotely.

One way to improve the project is to integrate more Choreos into the project. For example, you can inject the Gmail Choreo we used in the first chapter to automatically send an e-mail alert as well whenever some motion is detected. This will create another layer of security in your home. In a similar way, you can also use the Twilio Choreo that will send you an SMS when motion is detected in your home.

You can also use the project for completely different purposes. While testing the project, we, for example, created a time-lapse device that takes pictures at regular time intervals (for example, every minute) and uploads these pictures on Dropbox.

In the next chapter, we are going to use the Arduino Yún's Wi-Fi capabilities for a completely different application: to control a mobile robot. We are going to use the power of the Arduino Yún to remotely control this robot and read out data that comes from the robot, all within a simple web application running on your computer.