Camera on Mi&Bee Blog

MiBeeNvr v0.6.0's Test Machines: Three Camera Projects Updated in Sync

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The concurrently released MiBeeNvr v0.6.0 brought major features like timelapse, video transcoding, and ONVIF enhancements. Unit tests alone are far from enough — the full workflow must be tested against real camera hardware. To provide reliable test machines for this release, three camera projects were updated on the same day, June 5th — both to supply testing environments for the NVR and to solve some typical embedded development engineering problems along the way.

MiBeeNvr v0.2.0 Update: Docker Deployment, HLS Streaming, Recording Merging, and a Complete Installation Guide

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The previous article introduced MiBeeNvr’s basic features and design philosophy. It’s only been a week since v0.1.0, and v0.2.0 follows right behind. This update is substantial — 15 new features, some I needed myself, others from community feedback.

This article covers three things: what’s new in v0.2.0, how to deploy from scratch, and some practical tips for real-world use.

v0.2.0 New Features Overview

This update has a lot of content. Here’s a breakdown by category:

ESP32-CAM Monitor: DIY Auto Flash for Dark Scenes

Fri, 08 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Why

I built a surveillance camera with ESP32-S3 before, and it worked well. Later, while rummaging through a drawer, I found an AI-Thinker ESP32-CAM development board — that classic board costing about ten bucks with a built-in OV2640 camera and TF card slot. No reason to let it go to waste, so I built another one: ai-thinker-esp32-cam.

This time I wrote the firmware from scratch using ESP-IDF again, with similar capabilities to the previous project but with lots of adaptations for the AI-Thinker board. Here’s what it ended up doing:

MiBeeNvr: A Lightweight Home NVR System I Built

Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I have several cameras at home — a few Xiaomi cameras, some DIY ESP32 cameras, and multiple Raspberry Pi CSI cameras. I’d been using cloud storage solutions, but I was never comfortable with them: vendor lock-in, network dependency, and the costs add up. So I decided to build my own NVR system, called MiBeeNvr.

Why Build MiBeeNvr

To be honest, I was never satisfied with existing cloud storage solutions. Take Xiaomi cameras, for example. By default, you can only view them through the Mi Home app. Recordings are either stored on an SD card (limited capacity, frequent plugging/unplugging) or in the cloud. Cloud storage costs tens of dollars per month, and there’s the privacy concern — you never know when the manufacturer might use your video data for AI training or sell it to third parties. Not to mention vendor lock-in — switching platforms is nearly impossible.

Building a Surveillance Camera with ESP32-S3 — WiFi, TF Card, Video Output Pitfalls

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Why

We have a few parrots at home, and during the workday nobody’s around. I wanted to check in on them anytime. The requirement sounds simple: real-time video streaming, recording to storage, and ideally automatic backup to NAS. Off-the-shelf cameras are either expensive or require installing apps, registering accounts, and binding phone numbers — privacy concerns. I just want to watch my birds, not stream video to someone else’s server.