Latest build · v1.5

Bark Cam

A half-dollar-size camera board that listens for your dog. When it hears a bark, it snaps a photo and texts it to you on Telegram — no cloud, no AI model, just signal processing on the board.

New in v1.5 — set the board up before you flash it, and report a problem straight from the setup page or this page.

Shell + license
The printed shell ships with the license key. You supply the board, a USB-C cable, and a USB power brick.
Buy the shell — $20
Printing it yourself? License only — $10

Private by design. These go down the USB cable into the board's own memory. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored in this page, and the firmware has no server.

Enter your license key to unlock the flasher.

Chrome or Edge on Windows, Mac or Linux — or an Android phone with a USB-C cable. No install.

Already running BarkCam? Your saved settings survive a re-flash. Any other firmware is erased first, so you always get a clean install.

Board: Seeed XIAO ESP32S3 Sense · get the parts ↓

Setup

Two minutes, one time

After flashing, the board walks you through it. Everything is saved on the board — no account, no cloud. If you chose “set it up now” in the browser, all three steps below are already done — skip them.

  1. 01
    Power the board (USB). For 10 minutes it broadcasts an open network barkcam-config — connect your phone to it. (Skip this if you set it up in the browser.)
  2. 02
    Open barkcam.local in your phone's browser (or 192.168.4.1 if that doesn't resolve).
  3. 03
    Enter your home WiFi, a Telegram bot token (from @BotFather) and your user ID (from @userinfobot). Hit Save settings. Done — the board closes its access point when your phone leaves.
The Bark Cam config UI on a phone — live mic level with bark threshold, sensitivity, camera and Telegram settings
Parts

Three parts, no soldering

The board is a Seeed XIAO ESP32S3 Sense — the Sense version carries the OV2640 camera and the PDM microphone. A plain XIAO has neither and cannot run Bark Cam.

The printed Bark Cam shell held in one hand — white body with the dog face inlaid in black
The shell, printed in two colors on one nozzle — no paint, no glue.
The board Seeed XIAO ESP32S3 Sense Camera + PDM mic, smaller than a half-dollar. Amazon ↗ The shell Print it yourself Two-color faceplate + back plate, free print profile. MakerWorld ↗ The shell, printed $20 shipped Two-color shell, USPS First Class in the USA. Board not included. Buy ↗ The software Flash it right here Chrome or Edge on Windows, Mac or Linux — or an Android phone with a USB-C cable. Plug in, press Flash.

Bills of materials

1 · Electronics

1×Seeed XIAO ESP32S3 Sense ↗
camera + mic. A plain XIAO will not work
1×USB-C data cable
charge-only cables cannot flash
1×5 V USB power ↗

2 · Print

↗Free print profile on MakerWorld ↗

3 · Install

1×Telegram bot
free, from @BotFather
—Optional: 3M Command strip

No glue, no soldering — the shell snaps together around the board.