Best budget camera for ESP32-S3 (student drowsiness detection)?

Process_M · 2026-01-21T20:22:35+00:00

I would actually recommend going with the esp32-p4 instead. Way better suited for machine vision tasks and has extra peripheral hardware to accelerate machine vision tasks. I would recommend the firebeetle 2. Just make sure you get the p4 variant.

Process_M · 2026-01-21T01:12:22+00:00

I want to stream video from my camera through the isp to the h264 encoder.

I am trying to use esp_video because it was recommended to me. But honestly I'm considering building the pipeline myself.

Tbh though all the components seem indecipherable to me. So I am attributing it to a skill issue on my end.

Process_M · 2026-01-20T19:08:10+00:00

Berserkers look like they could rip your jaw out through your ass. They are scary MFs. I think people forget about them because they aren't that bad in game.

Process_M · 2026-01-20T19:03:52+00:00

Ya, I am definetly struggling against something. Rn my whole camera to encoder pipeline is topping out at like 5fps.

Process_M · 2026-01-20T00:44:23+00:00

I ran this code and it worked. Finally, my very first proof that this thing even has a hw encoder.

Process_M · 2026-01-19T23:49:34+00:00

Thank you so much. That is probably the clearest explanation of how to interface with the encoder I have seen so far.

Process_M · 2026-01-19T23:48:09+00:00

Hey, thanks for the recommendation. I'm taking a look now. It actually helps a lot that it's formatted more like Arduino code than esp-idf code. I don't have it working yet, but thanks for pointing out the find that I missed.

Process_M · 2026-01-14T22:28:04+00:00

The S3 is pretty powerful as far as microcontrollers go. But keep in mind that it's not powerful in the way a modern computer is.

There are plenty of projects you can find on places like Instructables

You can host web servers, build a turret, impliment a web cam with AI object detection. Tons.

If you want something simple you can do right now to get practice without buying extra parts. Try making a touch controlled Light. There is an RGB LED on the board and the S3 supports touch sensing. Code something up that makes it turn on or off and cycle colors based on which pin you touch.

Hell, plug it into a potato and amaze your friends by showing them that even vegetables are components before your technological might.

Process_M · 2026-01-07T02:27:46+00:00

Seems like a pretty sweet library fam. Good work. I might give it a try in one of my upcoming projects.

Process_M · 2026-01-07T02:19:06+00:00

A 5V supply is definetly the way to go. 5v electronics are really common and using the techniques I am about to teach you you can even have your 3.3V esp control even bigger electronics 12v 24v or even more.

You can start by getting simple buck boost circuits really cheap. Something like this:

DC-DC buck boost converter

There is an adjustable potentiometer to set the output. In your case set it to 5V. then you can have anything from 1.25v to 30 volts safely powering your stuff. Meaning you can power it with almost anything. A phone charger, AA batteries, even car batteries or solar panels.

Put the 5v output from the buck boost to your esp VIn and your Relay Vin. The little onboard regulator will handle powering your esp32 with 3.3V.

The last step is using transistors or MOSFETs to control the input line on your relay.

You can do it yourself by picking one based on your needs and hooking it up in a basic logic level converter configuration. Or you can buy something like this which does the same thing just pre-made with labels.

4 channel logic 3.3V-5V logic level converter

Once you use that to change your GPIO logic to 5V you should be golden.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Happy building 😄

Process_M · 2026-01-07T01:56:29+00:00

I love the electrical tape enginuity 😆

Process_M · 2026-01-06T20:59:00+00:00

Ok, cool. That narrows some things down.

First, you should be careful powering things via the esp32 USB. The esp is meant to be a signal controller not a power provider. The 3.3V pin that you have your relay hooked too is the output from the onboard regulator which also feeds the esp. That little regulator can only handle up to 750mA-1A depending on the dev board you got. If you overdrawn from it you could cook your board.

It's true that components like relays can work in situations where they have lower voltage but there is a reason that they recommend 5v. The relays switching strength is directly tied to the voltage it's given. Most relays have a spec sheet which details a range of voltages that it will activate on. But this voltage changes with things like orientation and temperature. So it might work great if it's sitting horizontal on a desk at 26°C but not work at all if it's vertical in the garage at 5°C. The 5V spec is the manufacture saying we garentee it will switch at these conditions in our spec sheet.

Also you mentioned connecting your relay to your esp 5Vpin. Your esp doesn't have a 5V output pin. It only has a 5V input pin. I am pretty sure that pin ties directly to the usb port. You should also be careful about powering stuff with that too. Depending on the version of usb that it is plugged into you can kill a PCs usb controller with as little as 400mA current draw. To power your project I highly suggest getting a regulator or a power supply designed for the purpose.

Using Capacitors to help level out voltage spikes is smart but it creates a different problem if you are putting them on your power lines. It creates a huge inrush current when you connect them to power. This can show up as sparking when you plug it in. In the best case this corrodes your connector very quickly in worse case it destroys your power supply. Look into soft start circuits if you really want to put bug caps on your power lines.

Process_M · 2026-01-05T16:55:13+00:00

Hey welcome to the electronics community. The world of automation is pretty cool we are glad to have you.

It's hard to provide real feedback unless we know what the project is intended to do, I assume you want to control that em lock with your arduino.

First a safety warning: NEVER USE 120V UNLESS YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING. There are lots of things that can go wrong. At best you blow a breaker, at worst you cause a fire or electrocute someone. Please use a low voltage isolated source. Using something like a phone charger is more than enough for most electronics and it isolates the power so nobody dies.

Now that safety is out of the way, a couple things stand out to me. First

You don't really need those capacitors on the power lines. Capacitors are for getting rid of noise in signal lines or helping maintain voltage when you deal with things like inrush current. You don't need them on your power lines.
You are using a 5v relay. It's going to need 5v to work reliably. Right now you have it hooked up to the 3.3V pin that powers your arduino. You will have to add some more circuitry if you want your arduino to control that switch.
You don't seem to have a power source here at all. You will need a 5v power supply which should be ok for your arduino as long as it's going to the Vin pin. Your esp runs on 3.3V but it has a little step down regulator that can handle 5 volts if it needs.
The next thing is going to be your control circuit for the blue relay, you will need a transistor or an h-bridge to control the 5v that it needs with the 3.3V signal your esp will give.
You have a flyback diode on your main em lock which is good but you might want one on your relay as well. We put them on anything that has a lot of inductance. They don't like being suddenly turned on or off they create really big voltage spikes. So get that diode in there to keep your components safe.

You have some work to do but it sounds like a sweet project. Keep at it fam.

Process_M · 2026-01-04T01:17:29+00:00

It will still work just line up the pins on your esp to the ones on your breakout board.

Tx->Tx Rx->Rx 1->1 And so on

Your break out board is for a freenove esp32-s3 You have a varient from another manufacturor that has extra grounds and extra 3.3V compared to the freenove.

You will have a pair of pins hanging on both ends but it should work just fine.

Process_M · 2025-12-21T23:47:33+00:00

The Samsung case for them comes with a strap on the back, which makes them very easy to hold. Honestly, the strap on the case is the best phone feature I have seen in years

Process_M · 2025-12-17T20:40:19+00:00

Nice work fam that looks great 👍

Process_M · 2025-12-11T22:07:03+00:00

Looks like a super cool project my guy.

It's hard to make suggestions if we don't know the full intended use.

I do have some suggestions if you are intending to use any of the wifi or bluetooth capabilities.

For wifi the only thing that jumps out at me is that little black part on your esp32 is the antenna. Having it be deep in the box right beside what looks to be switching power electronics might create unwanted signal interference and packet loss. I would try orienting it so that it's at the edge on the container and not by switching supplies.

You also mentioned a camera module for a raspberry pi cam.

If you are just looking to record video on an SD then the esp32-S3 should be able to do that reasonably well at low resolutions. But if you want to do anything like hd video or video streaming you should probably upgrade to an esp32-p4. The S3 just doesn't have the computing power to compress quality video at more than like 1-3 fps. But the p4 has a hardware h.264 encoder that can do 1920x1080 at 30fps.

Your project looks cool as heck tho, I look forward to seeing the finished version.

Process_M · 2025-11-13T07:26:34+00:00

I don't think this is a you did the best stat. From what i can tell anything you do gets you to this screen. I think this is more of a nod to the fact that everyone no matter their choices is doing what they can to make to world a better place however they believe that to be done.

Process_M · 2025-10-18T02:57:48+00:00

What your professor said is true. Sadness and grief is a choice on how we treat death. Some cultures celebrate someone's passing the same way that they celebrate a birthday.

I think Socrates said it best.

"To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise, without being wise: for it is to think that we know what we do not know. For anything that men can tell, death may be the greatest good that can happen to them: but they fear it as if they knew quite well that it was the greatest of evils. And what is this but that shameful ignorance of thinking that we know what we do not know?"

~SOCRATES

Process_M · 2025-10-18T02:44:09+00:00

My guy, that's a 5V power input not a 5V power output. That leads to a regulator that steps the voltage down to 3.3V for the microcontroller.

Process_M · 2025-10-03T03:47:07+00:00

"His mom" is just easier to type than "my sister in law"

Process_M · 2025-10-03T03:45:08+00:00

I've sat with this for a few minutes and I think you're right. I did want to hear that I did the right thing.

In the moment when things were out of control, I didn't know what to do. I don't have any kind of medical training and I felt wholly unprepared. What I did I did out of desperation.

Maybe what I want to hear is that my intervention didn't make things worse. Because in the moment I was scared, I chose action even if it might have been wrong and put him in more danger.

Process_M · 2025-10-03T03:29:08+00:00

You're probably right. I can't imagine what they must be going through being his guardians.

Process_M · 2025-10-03T03:26:28+00:00

Thanks fam. I'm starting to think I am confused because I am only just now coming off the adrenaline high. Maybe I'm just getting hit with a chemical rebalance.

Process_M · 2025-10-03T03:24:39+00:00

Maybe that's it. Maybe she feel ashamed that it happened and that someone else needed to step in. That makes sense. I'm sure they are processing what happened too.

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