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Imagine you have a cctv system that is web viewable.
No problem, there are millions of them out there.
However most people have dynamic IPs, rather than fixed.
Fixed IPs are expensive, so most people will use something like dyndns.org for a workaround.
Again, no problem.
However, this needs to run a regular updater to refix the new IP address to the web address.
This is also, usually, not a problem.
But sometimes it is.
Let us say you go on holiday for two weeks and bring your laptop with you.
So of course the laptop will run the updater and update the local IP of the hotel they are staying in, so no web viewable CCTV!
One alternative is to leave a second pc or laptop running at home all the time.
This is a problem as either people do not have a second computer or are running the risk of buggering up the computer that is left on all the time.
Here is my great idea.
A small box that sits under the modem, connected by a short ethernet wire that monitors the ip address and runs the updater.
Or possibly a wifi modem with an integral unit.
Being a very cut down unit I cannot see it being expensive to build, basically a very reduced pc without any of the bells and whistles.
Is there any members of the community willing to help me with this project?
I can put in this great idea, some capital and my project management skills (sorry about swearing).
I just need a hardware guy and a software chap (Or guyess and chapess, I am not sexist).
I think this could find a market at a selling price of about £70, so we would need to build and distribute for about £50 to give a £20 above the line profit.
Of course the idea being that we get it to a prototype stage and then flog it to one of the big boys.
All profits split fairly of course, and if nothing else it would be an interesting project.
Anyone got any ideas?
---------------------------------
Obscurum per obscurius.
Ad astra per alas porci.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur .
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It sounds like an Arduino or similar device would fit the bill.
Marc
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One of my friends has a CCTV system that is controlled by a Raspberry Pi, which also makes it web-viewable and updates the IP address as needed. It also has a SSH-based remote management system.
This friend has actually completely automated his home with Raspberry Pis and Arduinos. He has even automated his coffee maker!
Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.
- Mitchell Kapor
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You would be surprised how many have this feature built in 
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Great idea, but over here in the states at least a few of the router brands (D-link & Netgear for example)
already offer this option.
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I think most half-decent routers these days have dynamic dns facilities to the major providers already built-in.
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Already built in to my router.
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So someone has a CCTV system and they are concerned enough about it that they want to monitor it while on vacation (which would suggest to me more than one camera, wiring, maybe controllers, etc) but they only have one computer in the house?
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Ummm as other have suggested a Raspberry PI fits the bill, I seem to remember an article on running a CCTV camera to a web connection on here I will have a look later...
Ahh, the power of looking busy Raspberry Pi as low-cost HD surveillance camera[^] I that's the article that might be of interest.
modified 27-Jan-14 4:59am.
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Sorry to burst your bubble, but for $50 USD you have a Wireless 802.11n router who will update your public adress to dyndns or any other popular dynamic IP DNS server. So the device will be interesting to those who do not want to pay $50 to change their router to have this feature, so, maybe $10. But as 802.11ac is begining to be available, they will eventually change it anyway.
modified 27-Jan-14 6:38am.
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An Arduino may be a good start; however, as others mention it, most recent routers have facilities for DyDNS and similar services, so for this to be successful, you must give a dead easy way to configure this, perhaps even give a full service.
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I think you should examine your market better. My home router provides a dynamic dns client in it already. Further, you can probably already find code to do the same with Arduino. I think most people with your problem will find another way to solve the problem.
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we did something similar, a small box near the modem.
it was a Raspberry Pi..!
and to upload data, we just simply used a few linux command line tools and whenever it started and after every hour, it would post its IP online as a tweet...
have a look: https://twitter.com/ZP_Raspi[^]
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Well.. if you're going to make a product, then why not go all out and make it something that REALLY gets people's attention. Like a decentralized hash-key based distribution protocol for video distribution (like in the torrent-ish style, or that recent plan/attempt at anonymous chat). Then DNS is irrelevant (directly anyway), plus you get all the benefits that those type of infrastructures provide.
Just a thought.
Hey! I came up with the crazy idea.. I did my part. Now it's someone else's job to implement it! 
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Awesome little device.
Got it setup and running in a short time, very intuitive and easy. Now to learn Linux and want to do some development in Python.
I'm excited...of course at my age it don't take much.
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So many dev boards, so little budget...congrats on your acquisition
I'd like to try one of those Galileo boards with the Intel chip on it...got a Raspberry Pi I haven't done much with yet though.
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DaveX86 wrote: So many dev boards, so little budget...congrats on your acquisition
How true and thanks!
I looked at the R-Pi but went with the BBB, they both have their pros and cons but liked the BBB a little better.
I also ordered a Tiva C Lauchpad[^] for an online class I'm taking, it's not as powerful as the Pi or the BBB but it's 32-bits, has a lot of features and is only $13 which is cheaper than the bare bones 8-bit Atmel boards I've been getting for the last couple of years.
Looking forward to working with them both.
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I've got pretty much every Arduino board there is...also lots of ATTiny85's for little stuff.
Just graduating past the blinky LED and thermometer stage and moving on to...m o t o r s!
...work keeps interfering though...like right now 
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DaveX86 wrote: ...work keeps interfering though...like right now
I can understand that.
There is a lot to learn and for me it took quite a while to learn as much as I have but I love working with them.
Since you're getting into motors I'm going to add a shameless plug here;
Motor Primer and the L293D Quad Half-H Driver[^]
Good luck it's a fascinating field!
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Thanks!...I look forward to studying your article when my brain is a little less fried
I just bought a bunch of L293D chips, also a couple of those AdaFruit Arduino shields based on it...haven't had much luck with it yet but it was mostly power supply issues, I think...got a nice desktop power supply for Christmas
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DaveX86 wrote: AdaFruit Arduino shields
Those motor shields are pretty nice I bought one a couple of years ago and have used it a lot.
Want to make a board using same scheme using 2 L298N chips for more power. I've got some big steppers I took out of a huge printer and I made a board with a single L298N on it but it will only drive one motor. In addition I may put a ATTiny on there and use SPI for communications to cut down on the number of pins used to drive it.
Love to tinker.
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Yeah, SPI and I2C communications are also on my 'ToDo' list
...so much to tinker with, it's hard to know which way to turn...
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I've dabbled a bit with I2C and want to do a lot more with it but SPI I got down to a science. Once you get the hang of it SPI is very easy and is used in a lot of places.
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I notice on your site you talk quite a bit about Atmel Studio...I downloaded it and installed it but never really got around to using it...seemed kinda complicated.
I usually write sketches for Arduino with the Visual Micro add on for Visual Studio...do you think Atmel Studio is better?
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Think of Atmel Studio as VC6 with a VS2010 IDE.
It is built using an Visual Studio Isolated Shell so you should be used to the interface if you do any programming in Visual Studio.
I never could get used to the Arduino IDE, I never took the time to learn it. IMHO the Arduino IDE is for more like Engineers and Hobbyists with little programming experience. You just plug the modules in that you need and go, it's pretty simple but if I were going to do a real project I wouldn't use it.
Atmel Studio allows you to create reusable libraries, organize projects and hook into source control which is a biggy in my book. If you're going to get serious with embedded systems I would recommend taking the time to learn it, but if you just want to experiment it would probably be better to use the Arduino IDE.
The plus side to Arduino IDE is that a lot of people have wrote module for it for just about everything and it is documented very well.
That's one of the problems I have every time I get a new device I want to hook up to it I have to either convert Arduino code or start from scratch. I usually just start from scratch.
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