Argus : Integration with external systems

Hi,

It would be nice to have integration possibilities with external systems (IFTTT, openHAB, ...) or an API that we can call.
This to turn ON/OFF the PIR sensor and react to motion detection (turn on lights, ...)

Kind Regards
Tim

Bob

Hi Tim,
We have been diligently working on implementing some selected user requests. Some nice ideas have been implemented as you can see in our changelog (What’s New) of firmware/software updates. Please kindly understand that bug fixes are our top priority and then user request or feature request. So it may take some time to see yours become true. Please stay tuned!

Hi Bob,

It's just an idea. But if you have an open API, you could let the community develop things for you.
I could figure it out myself with a packet sniffer, but this would take some time.
If you document your REST API with a swagger file or something similar, you would be suprised what the community could do for you.

Kind Regards
Tim

Hi Tim,

Couldn't agree more. I really like this camera, but the lack of "openness" (no API, no way to get access to the video feed, etc.) is a real drawback for home automation enthusiasts. I have a nice combination of OpenHab/ZoneMinder/Visonic/etc. systems all connected together at home and I had great hopes shen I saw this first PIR activated camera (combined with ZoneMinder movement détection, this is a great way of limiting false alarms). So I will stay tuned in the hope Reolink people will listen to the DIY community, fingers crossed.

Rgds,

L.

Bob

Hi guys,
Your requests are collected and taken into consideration. Our team will take your thoughts into serious consideration. Thank you all you amazing guys~~!

Any news on this topic yet?

dbirnie

I agree IFTTT support or open API support would drive multiple home automation enthusiasts to this camera. Bump for Tim to keep this topic on top

Birnie

If I find the time I will try to use a network sniffer to try and figure out what commands I can replicate. Probably a few basic ones to begin with. I'll share the information when I find something. I really need it to integrate with my home automation system.
Or if somebody else has some time, feel free.

Agreed! This is a very basic need in the world of iot.
I want a way to arm my cameras when leaving the house, otherwise they are useless. I bought one Argus to test it's features. But once I discovered the total lack of integration with any form of home automation I bought four classic dome poe ip cameras with NVR. Still hope to get some use of my Argus in the future.

rob*ge

Ppl is waiting for IFTTT integration for more than a year now and developers should say if it is on the go or no. The ability to disable PIR when ppl from the family step in the house is essential for a security camera. If the answer is "no" we'll look in some other place.

jc

There are so many small things that Reolink could do in order for the Argus camera to be truely awesome instead of just being a camera with a motion sensor. I provided Reolink with a list of suggestions when it was still an Indiegogo project and got a standard reply - more or less phrased as your reply... They will look at it, bla., bla., bla...
Creating a modern IoT device that dont connect to anything seems like a year 2005 device in my eyes. Please dont list the argument of this being battery operated camera, that is no argument. It takes to little to call a rest service or contacting any external service that this wont affect battery life (significantly atleast). You could make a setting that will prevent the camera from connecting to Wifi every 6 seconds and instead making it a custom setting so you could choose e.g. every 30 seconds, that would help increase batterylife significantly.
But Reolink uses the argument that this is a battery operated device to avoid implementing any new features that will actually make this camera ALLOT more usable. My guess? I think they would like to create the online services themself and earn a few $$ doing so instead of integrating it with other services. The issue is just that they are way behind - and also, all companies cant greate their own closed eco system - it just dont make sense!!!
This suggestion box is a waste of time!

rhatguy

Please have a look at the following forum topic. As Tim mentioned, I have started sniffing the network while changing settings in the http web gui and have uncovered a number of commands for the RLC-410-5MP. My guess is many of the Argus commands are similar. Since it doesn't appear Reolink is going to provide any documentation, lets start seeing what we can dig up as a community.

https://reolink.com/topic/api-discovery-and-documentationn/