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Elfsys Grow Cam Mobile Client (Beta)

The Elfsys Grow Cam mobile client is a mobile app that turns your old Android phone into a 24/7 smart camera for monitoring your plants. It is currently in beta and is only available in Android for testing. The iOS client will be provided later.

After installing and running the app, you can control your phone from both in the app or remotely from the Elfsys Discord Bot to take pictures of the plants. Pictures taken by the client are uploaded to Elfsys Grow Cloud for storage and analysis. You can receive any results, such as timelapse videos and alerts, or download original photos using the Elfsys Discord Bot.

As Elfsys Grow Cam runs foreground round the clock, you won't be able to use other functions or apps on your phone. Therefore, we highly recommend using an old phone that you don't use anymore and have it plugged in all the time.

Installation​

During the beta test, the Elfsys Grow Cam app can only be installed on any Android device running Android 5.0 or above via side-loading. You can download the APK file from https://a.elfsys.com/camapk or by scanning the following QR code on your phone. We recommend using an Android phone with at least 2GB of RAM.

An iOS version and installation via Google Play Store will be available in the future.

Download APK

Activation​

After installing the app, you need to activate it as an Elfsys Grow Cam under your Elfsys account to use it.

  1. Place your old phone in front of your grow system or any other ideal angle you want for taking timelapse video, and connect it to a power source.
  2. Open the Elfsys Grow Cam app on your old phone, and agree to the terms and conditions.
  3. From your daily phone or laptop, request an activation QR code from the Elfsys Discord Bot by typing in the command /cam add as a chat message in any channel on our Discord server.
  4. Scan the received QR code with the Elfsys Grow Cam app on the old phone. The system will automatically activate your phone as an Elfsys Grow Cam after the scan.
  5. Configure additional storage settings if you wish to keep a copy of all captured photos on your phone's internal storage. The app will provide an estimate of the storage space required for the photos.
  6. Tap the icon to continue configuring task and system settings and start using the newly activated camera.

Usage​

Configure task settings​

Future Changes

During the beta test, an Elfsys Grow Cam client must have an existing grow systems in the Elfsys App attached to function correctly. Running as a standalone camera will be available in the future.

You can configure the grow system your camera is currently watching and its capturing settings directly in the Elfsys Grow Cam app. After activating your camera, you will enter the configuration page automatically. After the initial configuration, if you switched the phone to another grow system or wish to update shuttering settings, you can re-enter the configuration page by tapping anything you want to change in the Task section of the

settings.

  1. Choose Run with Elfsys Grow Cloud and tap . Run as a standalone camera is not available during the beta test.
  2. In Grow System Selection, choose the system this camera is planned to watch from the list of grow systems in your Elfsys account and tap . If you don't have any grow systems or plan to add the camera to a new system, you need to create one in the Elfsys App first.
  3. In Grow System Configuration, you can configure the speed to take photos by dragging the Shutter speed slider. Tap to apply the settings and start shooting under the new plan.
note

Configurations of the selected grow systems, such as shutter speed, after modification, apply to all Elfsys Grow Cam clients watching the same grow system.

Take photos​

After configuring the task settings, the app will automatically take photos according to the configured shutter speed when the selected grow system has a running grow batch. When the scheduled shuttering time is approaching, the app will switch on the phone's camera and display a "camera" screen for capturing. Numbered countdowns will be displayed on the screen to indicate the time left before the next photo is taken. The app will switch off the camera after the photo is taken and turn to a "screensaver" screen - containing information about the system currently being watched and a countdown to the next shutter.

Photo taken by the app will be uploaded to Elfsys Grow Cloud. You can generate timelapse videos or download the original photos using the Elfsys Discord Bot.

Camera config​

You can configure the flashlight, photo ratio, focus and zoom, brightness, and white balance settings of the camera on the camera screen. Some older Android models may not support some of the mentioned features.

All settings, once configured, will be saved and applied to all future captures when the camera is turned on and must be reset manually on the screen if you wish to switch back to auto mode.

If you are experiencing flickering in the photos with LED grow lights, you can enable a special LED anti-flickering feature by tapping the

icon and switching on the LED Lights toggle.

Manual photo​

Apart from scheduled shuttering, you can also take photos manually from the client app directly. This can be beneficial when you are setting up the camera and want to take a photo to check the camera's focus, angle, or lighting.

If the app is currently on the screensaver screen, tap the Open Lens button to open the camera. Press the shutter button at the bottom center of the camera screen to take a photo. The captured image will be shown in the bottom right corner of the screen. You may view the photo by tapping it. Tap the

icon on the bottom left to close the camera and switch back to the screensaver screen.

Configure storage settings​

Photos taken by the Elfsys Grow Cam client are uploaded to Elfsys Grow Cloud automatically. Most of the operations, such as generating timelapse videos and downloading original photos, can be done within the Elfsys Discord Bot. However, if you wish to keep a copy of all captured photos on your phone's internal storage, you can enable the Keep photos on phone toggle in the Local Storage section of the

settings.

View the last captured photo​

You can view the latest photo taken by your Elfsys Grow Cam inside the app. Tap the Last Photo button on the screensaver screen to open the phone with your phone's default photo viewer. You can also view the photo using the Elfsys Discord Bot.