Door Secure is a home and building security camera that uses renewable energy sources. This approach lessens the owner's dependence on non-renewable energy while ensuring the camera works when it is needed most.

The myriad devices that we rely on in our daily habits can draw a lot of power, but many continue to do so when not in use--especially those that are put in place to monitor for activity or disturbances. By harnessing the energy expended in the opening and closing of the sliding door, a security camera can be powered up and triggered to photograph the person who has just entered the room.

Since this camera is only activated when the door is opened and closed, the camera can remain off at other times, saving a good deal of energy in the process and making life easier on those trying to keep their property secure: not only do they not need to record hours of inactivity, but they also protect their cameras from failure due to dead batteries or power outages.

This project was created in response to the growing need to explore sustainable energy sources to replace our current non-renewable energy and practices. There's so much potential energy about, yet so little is captured -- and this project seeks to address that.

Matt and Mike's research for this project centered around the sliding doors found on the ITP floor, while Aichen's work has focused on swinging doors. Varying prototypes were made for both cases, and experiments were conducted to determine the best possible combination of parts and equipment for each situation.

Anybody who uses a door; this project doesn't require much of the user.

The camera is triggered by the open and closing motion of the door and the kinetic energy captured by the motor-and-wheel assembly (which is converted into electrical energy, thereby powering the camera).

The project's makeup is very simple: it's composed of a 12V stepper motor, a rectifier circuit with a few capacitors, a CMOS camera and a roller assembly attached with magnets.