Traffic Camera System

Modern traffic camera system for Raspberry Pi 3B+ with IMX477 camera using Bookworm OS.

🎯 Current Status: Phases 1-3 Complete

✅ Phase 1: Basic camera functionality with picamera2
✅ Phase 2: Docker FileBrowser web interface
✅ Phase 3: Codebase cleanup and modernization
🚀 Ready for: Enhanced features and license plate detection

📁 Project Architecture

Core Scripts:

• setup_camera.sh - Automated setup for Bookworm/picamera2
• test_camera.py - Comprehensive camera testing with diagnostics
• camera_capture.py - Production single photo capture
• camera_diagnostics.py - Complete system health checks
• docker-compose.yml - FileBrowser web interface configuration

Technology Stack:

• Hardware: Raspberry Pi 3B+ + IMX477 Camera
• OS: Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm (libcamera native)
• Camera API: picamera2 (modern Bookworm-compatible library)
• Backend: Python 3.11+ with system-wide picamera2
• Frontend: FileBrowser Docker container
• Storage: Local filesystem (photos/ directory)
• Interface: Web browser access on port 8080

Directory Structure:

TrafficCamera/
├── photos/              # 📸 All captured images
├── data/                # 💾 FileBrowser application data  
├── venv/                # 🐍 Python virtual environment
├── setup_camera.sh      # 🔧 One-time system setup
├── test_camera.py       # ✅ Testing & validation
├── camera_capture.py    # 📷 Production photo capture
├── camera_diagnostics.py # 🔍 System health checks
├── docker-compose.yml   # 🐳 Web interface config
└── README.md           # 📚 This documentation

How It Works:

1. Setup: setup_camera.sh installs picamera2, creates venv, sets up directories
2. Capture: camera_capture.py takes timestamped photos → saves to photos/
3. View: FileBrowser container serves photos/ via web interface
4. Monitor: camera_diagnostics.py checks all system components

🚀 Quick Start

1. Setup System

git clone https://github.com/csantosscott/TrafficCamera.git
cd TrafficCamera
./setup_camera.sh

2. Test Camera

# Test with virtual environment
source venv/bin/activate
python3 test_camera.py

# Or test without venv (system python)
python3 test_camera.py

3. Start Web Interface

docker-compose up -d

Access FileBrowser at: http://<pi-ip>:8080 (admin/admin)

4. Capture Photos

# Single photo capture
python3 camera_capture.py

# View photos in web browser at http://<pi-ip>:8080

🔧 System Requirements

• Hardware: Raspberry Pi 3B+ with IMX477 camera
• OS: Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm (64-bit recommended)
• Camera: IMX477 connected to CSI port, enabled in raspi-config
• Software: Docker and Docker Compose
• Memory: 128MB+ GPU memory (increase from default 76MB)
• Network: For FileBrowser web interface access

Prerequisites Check:

# Verify camera detection
libcamera-hello --list-cameras

# Check GPU memory (should be 128MB+)
vcgencmd get_mem gpu

# Verify Docker is installed
docker --version && docker-compose --version

🔍 Troubleshooting & Diagnostics

Complete System Check

python3 camera_diagnostics.py

What it checks:

• ✅ libcamera tools and camera detection
• ✅ picamera2 library availability
• ✅ GPU memory allocation
• ✅ System memory status
• ✅ Docker container status
• ✅ Project setup verification
• ✅ Quick photo capture test

Common Issues & Solutions

🔴 Camera not detected

# Enable camera interface
sudo raspi-config  # → Interface Options → Camera → Enable

# Check physical connection
# Ensure ribbon cable firmly connected to CSI port

# Test detection
libcamera-hello --list-cameras

# Reboot after changes
sudo reboot

🔴 Low GPU Memory (76MB → 128MB)

# Edit boot configuration
sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt

# Add or modify this line:
gpu_mem=128

# Save and reboot
sudo reboot

# Verify change
vcgencmd get_mem gpu

🔴 FileBrowser not accessible

# Start container
docker-compose up -d

# Check container status
docker ps

# Find Pi IP address
hostname -I

# Access web interface
# http://<pi-ip>:8080 (admin/admin)

# Check logs if issues
docker logs traffic_camera_filebrowser

🔴 picamera2 import errors

# picamera2 is installed system-wide, not in venv
# Use system python directly:
python3 test_camera.py

# Or recreate venv with system packages:
rm -rf venv
python3 -m venv venv --system-site-packages
source venv/bin/activate

🔴 Multiple capture test fails

This is a known issue with the test script and doesn't affect single photo capture functionality. Use camera_capture.py for production photo taking.

🔧 Manual Fixes

Increase GPU Memory

sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt
# Add: gpu_mem=128
sudo reboot

Reset Docker Containers

docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

Complete System Reset

./setup_camera.sh  # Re-run setup if needed

📞 Getting Help

First, run diagnostics:

python3 camera_diagnostics.py

Test individual components:

libcamera-hello                    # Test camera hardware
python3 test_camera.py             # Test picamera2 integration  
python3 camera_capture.py          # Test photo capture
docker ps                          # Check containers

Check system status:

vcgencmd get_mem gpu               # GPU memory
free -h                            # System memory  
docker logs traffic_camera_filebrowser  # Container logs

📋 Development Status

See projectplan.md for detailed development phases and progress tracking.