Skip to content

Set Up a New Camera

Setting up a new camera in OLIVE requires coordination with the field crew that configures and deploys the camera hardware.

It is important that the steps are completed in order:

  1. If this is a new monitoring location, add a station. See the section on Stations for more information
  2. Configure the camera (coordinate with field crew)
  3. Add camera to a station on the Cameras page

The camera page contains a basic data grid with cross-filtering options. See the sections on working with data grids and filtering with charts for more information.

How OLIVE collects camera images

OLIVE supports two collection methods. The choice is per-camera and is recorded in the HTTP Collection checkbox on the camera record.

  • HTTP collection (HTTP Collection checked): A scheduled job on the OLIVE LoggerNet server pulls images directly from the camera over HTTP. All Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District (GBUAPCD) cameras use HTTP collection. Some LADWP cameras (currently the Mobotix M25 units at Shell Cut 1 and North Channel) also use HTTP collection because they cannot customize the names of email attachments, which the email pipeline relies on.
  • Email collection (HTTP Collection unchecked): The camera emails images to a dedicated address. AWS SES captures the message, drops it in S3, and a Lambda function extracts the attachments into the camera image bucket. Most LADWP cameras use email collection.

Cameras that need authenticated HTTP requests (such as the Mobotix M25 units) require a remote URL, username, and password on the camera record. These fields are not currently editable through the OLIVE UI. Coordinate with the OLIVE administrator when setting up an HTTP camera that needs authentication.

Add a Camera

Most cameras require the same basic information:

  • Camera Name
  • Compass bearing
  • *Subfolder
  • *Pattern
  • *Datetime Format
  • HTTP Collection (check for HTTP-collected cameras; leave unchecked for cameras that send images by email)

    Items with an asterisk (*) are obtained from the field staff that configured the camera

Names are not required to follow a specific pattern, but should generally describe the location (e.g. Olancha Dunes) and signify a number or direction if there is more than one camera (e.g. Shell Cut 1).

Pattern

The pattern is a regular expression that identifies unique files associated with a camera.

Use the existing Cameras as a guide when setting up a new one, many of them share the same file patten.

Datetime Format

The datetime of the image is extracted from the filename and uses Python date string conversion notation. See the full list here

  • %Y/%y: 4-digit/2-digit year
  • %m: month
  • %d: day
  • %H: hour in 24-hour format
  • %M: minute
  • %S: second
  • %f: fractional seconds

So, a filename like this: 20240125-1235_ShellCut.jpg

has a format like this: %Y%m%d-%H%M_ShellCut.jpg

Use the existing Cameras as a guide when setting up a new one, many of them share the same format.