Foscam Recording during Away Mode Only using Pan/Tilt/Zoom Control and Motion Detection

This requires a Foscam IP Camera camera with PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) and CGI functionality (Source)

Foscam Cameras can be controlled by Home Assistant through a number of CGI commands. The following outlines examples of the switch, services, and scripts required to move between 2 preset destinations while controlling motion detection, but many other options of movement are provided in the Foscam CGI User Guide linked above.

The switch.foscam_motion will control whether the motion detection is on or off. This switch supports statecmd, which checks the current state of motion detection.

# Replace admin and password with an "Admin" privileged Foscam user
# Replace ipaddress with the local IP address of your Foscam
switch:
 platform: command_line
 switches:
   #Switch for Foscam Motion Detection
   foscam_motion:
     command_on: 'curl -k "https://ipaddress:443/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=setMotionDetectConfig&isEnable=1&usr=admin&pwd=password"'
     command_off: 'curl -k "https://ipaddress:443/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=setMotionDetectConfig&isEnable=0&usr=admin&pwd=password"'
     command_state: 'curl -k --silent "https://ipaddress:443/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=getMotionDetectConfig&usr=admin&pwd=password" | grep -oP "(?<=isEnable>).*?(?=</isEnable>)"'
     value_template: '{{ value == "1" }}'

The service shell_command.foscam_turn_off sets the camera to point down and away to indicate it is not recording, and shell_command.foscam_turn_on sets the camera to point where I’d like to record. h of these services require preset points to be added to your camera. See source above for additional information.

shell_command:
  #Created a preset point in Foscam Web Interface named Off which essentially points the camera down and away
  foscam_turn_off: 'curl -k "https://ipaddress:443/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=ptzGotoPresetPoint&name=Off&usr=admin&pwd=password"'
  #Created a preset point in Foscam Web Interface named Main which points in the direction I would like to record
  foscam_turn_on: 'curl -k "https://ipaddress:443/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=ptzGotoPresetPoint&name=Main&usr=admin&pwd=password"'

The script.foscam_off and script.foscam_on can be used to set the motion detection appropriately, and then move the camera. These scripts can be called as part of an automation with device_tracker triggers to set home and not_home modes for your Foscam and disable motion detection recording while home.

script:
 foscam_off:
   sequence:
   - service: switch.turn_off
     data:
       entity_id: switch.foscam_motion
   - service: shell_command.foscam_turn_off
 foscam_on:
   sequence:
   - service: switch.turn_off
     data:
       entity_id: switch.foscam_motion
   - service: shell_command.foscam_turn_on
   - service: switch.turn_on
     data:
       entity_id: switch.foscam_motion

To automate Foscam being set to “on” (facing the correct way with motion sensor on), I used the following simple automation:

automation:
  - alias: Set Foscam to Away Mode when I leave home
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: group.family
      from: 'home'
    action:
      service: script.foscam_on
  - alias: Set Foscam to Home Mode when I arrive Home
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: group.family
      to: 'home'
    action:
      service: script.foscam_off