Build a pint-sized Santa snooper camera from just 2 simple components

Now you can stay comfortably nestled snuggly in your bed, while visions of Santa’s visit dance on your smartphone, instead. Building a full-featured “Santa Snooper” couldn’t be easier or cheaper. Imagine, a wide-angle view of your Christmas tree (or, any other site worth visually monitoring) that you can watch on your smartphone. No Internet, no subscription, no registration…no kidding…is required.

While this exciting project is very impressive, there is one slight downside. The battery life is limited to approximately 45 minutes. YIKES! Not to worry, however. An auxiliary power bank can be substituted for extending your Santa Snooper operation into the early hours of Christmas Day.

Two parts, too easy

Those innovative minds at M5Stack are the manufacturers of everything that you’ll need for this project.

• Part 1. ATOMS3R Camera Kit M12 Version (OV3660) $23.95
• Part 2. ATOM TailBat – Battery Accessory for ATOM $9.50

And that’s all you need, folks. Oh, sure, someone is getting ready to make a comment that, “XYZ spy camera costs less and it’s battery lasts a lot longer.” Fair enough, but this Santa Snooper project has two very big and important virtues that those “other” cameras probably lack.

First and foremost, this Santa Snooper has crammed a complete WiFi broadcasting system inside its itty-bitty thumbnail-sized case. In other words, automatically, right after its 2-second power-up, the ATOMS3R Camera Kit creates a special Access Point (AP) that any Web browser (e.g., smartphone, tablet, PC) can contact just by typing this Internet Protocol (IP) address into the browser’s URL address bar: 192.168.4.1 (Please note: no password is required). BINGO! You are now inside the camera and can start a live video stream with the click of the Stream button.

That’s pretty powerful and amazing stuff for a device that weighs almost nothing and is about the size of your thumbnail. Furthermore, its lens delivers some excellent performance, too. During operation the Santa Snooper is able to see approximately a 120-degree field of view. Alas, its battery connection is a known weak point. As mentioned earlier, however, you can either elect to plug a power bank into the camera’s USB-C port or be satisfied with the elegant direct battery connection using the TailBat.

But I don’t want a Santa Snooper

And this brings us to the second feature of the ATOMS3R Camera Kit that isn’t found on that “XYZ” other camera brand. You can easily customize the operation of the ATOMS3R Camera Kit by programming your own features into its tiny body. Just head over to the M5Stack documentation page and download the ATOMS3R firmware. Once downloaded, just add your desired features and load your new firmware onto the ATOMS3R Camera Kit.

It should be noted that “straight-outta-the-box,” the ATOMS3R Camera Kit can also be operated as a direct USB connection “live” WebCam on a PC. This feature is a plug-and-play capability that supports the UVC protocol.

Pound-for-pound, err, gram-for-gram, the ATOMS3R Camera Kit is a remarkable bargain for a battery-powered, WiFi-enabled camera system. These two attributes alone could prove valuable for discovering who is “really” eating those cookies and drinking that egg nog.

Enjoy.