Before we can write the software for our project, we need to install some more software on your Arduino Yun. We are also going to test the USB camera to see if the drivers are working correctly. In the rest of the project, I will assume that your Yun is already setup and connected to your local WiFi network.

First, the UVC drivers. To install them, you need to connect to your Yun via SSH. Simply open a terminal, and type:

ssh [email protected]

ssh [email protected]

Where you need to insert the correct name of your Arduino Yun, that you set when you first used the Yun. You will also be prompted to enter your password. If the connection is successful, you should see some ASCII art:

We can now install the required packages. Start with an update of the package manager:

opkg update

opkg update

Then, install the UVC drivers:

opkg install kmod-video-uvc

opkg install kmod-video-uvc

And the python-openssl package:

opkg install python-openssl

opkg install python-openssl

We also need the fswebcam utility that we will use to take pictures from the terminal:

opkg install fswebcam

opkg install fswebcam

For the last part of the project, we are also going to need the mjpg streaming library. You can get it with:

opkg install mjpg-streamer

opkg install mjpg-streamer

We are now ready to test the webcam. Make sure that the SD card is mounted into the Yun, and go over to the SD card folder with:

cd /mnt/sda1

cd /mnt/sda1

To test the camera and take a picture, it is really easy. Simply type:

fswebcam test.png

fswebcam test.png

You should see some information being displayed, along with some errors, but don't worry about them. The important thing is to see these lines:

--- Opening /dev/video0...
Trying source module v4l2...
/dev/video0 opened.

--- Opening /dev/video0...
Trying source module v4l2...
/dev/video0 opened.

To check that the picture was correctly taken, remove the SD card from the Yun and read it using your computer. You should see the picture appearing at the root of the SD card:

Simply open it to make sure it was correctly taken and that it is not corrupted. If the picture looks good, you can go over to the next section and start building cool applications with the project!