Border Surveillance Robot with Dummy Gun Using ESP32 and ESP32-CAM

Abstract

Border security requires continuous observation of restricted areas and timely reporting of possible intrusions. This project proposes a small mobile surveillance robot using an ESP32-based controller and an ESP32-CAM module. The camera captures images or video of the area, while the controller manages movement, communication, and status reporting. A remote operator can view the camera feed, control the robot, and receive an alert when a person or movement is detected, depending on the implemented detection method. A non-functional dummy gun-shaped prop is included only as a visual model of a defence robot; it has no firing, launching, or harmful mechanism. The project is intended as an educational prototype for remote monitoring and human-supervised response. Performance depends on lighting, Wi-Fi coverage, battery capacity, camera placement, and the selected detection software. The system should be tested in a controlled environment and must not be treated as a certified security or autonomous defence system.

Introduction

The Border Surveillance Defence Robot is a mobile robotic prototype designed for remote visual monitoring of restricted areas. It uses an ESP32 development board for movement control and wireless communication, along with an ESP32-CAM module for capturing images and streaming live video. The robot can be controlled through a web dashboard or mobile interface, allowing an operator to move it forward, backward, left, right, or stop while viewing the camera feed and system status.

The literature survey discusses previous research on ESP32-CAM surveillance robots and object-detection technologies such as YOLO. The proposed system combines mobile movement, live camera monitoring, wireless communication, and optional motion or person-detection alerts. If the ESP32-CAM cannot process detection models efficiently, an external computer or server can perform the analysis.

The methodology involves requirement analysis, hardware selection, software development, system integration, testing, and evaluation. The main components include the ESP32 board, ESP32-CAM, OV2640 camera, motor driver, DC gear motors, chassis, battery, voltage regulator, Wi-Fi router, and operator dashboard. A GPS module may also be included to obtain geographic location information.

The system will be evaluated based on movement response time, camera quality, communication range, battery life, network reliability, and detection performance, if implemented. The expected outcome is a remotely controlled robot that provides visual monitoring and basic status alerts.

Conclusion

The Border Surveillance Defence Robot with Dummy Gun Using ESP32 and ESP32-CAM is an educational prototype for mobile visual monitoring. ESP32 provides basic control and wireless communication, while ESP32-CAM supplies camera images or video for remote observation. A dashboard can allow an operator to control movement, view the area, and receive alerts. The project also demonstrates the integration of embedded hardware, motor control, networking, and camera systems. Its performance must be established through practical testing, and limitations such as Wi-Fi range, low-light image quality, processing capacity, and false alarms must be documented. The dummy gun is strictly non-functional, and the robot is intended for human-supervised observation only.

References

[1] J. Redmon, S. Divvala, R. Girshick, and A. Farhadi, “You Only Look Once: Unified, Real-Time Object Detection,” Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2016, pp. 779–788. DOI: 10.1109/CVPR.2016.91. [2] Espressif Systems, “ESP32 Series Datasheet” and ESP-IDF Programming Guide, official technical documentation. Available at: https://www.espressif.com/ (accessed October 2026). [3] Zephyr Project, “AI-Thinker ESP32-CAM — Board Documentation.” Available at: https://docs.zephyrproject.org/latest/boards/aithinker/esp32_cam/doc/index.html (accessed October 2026). [4] PlatformIO, “AI-Thinker ESP32-CAM Board Documentation.” Available at: https://docs.platformio.org/en/stable/boards/espressif32/esp32cam.html (accessed October 2026). [5] AI-Thinker ESP32-CAM hardware documentation, including camera-module information. Available at: https://github.com/Mi-Bee-Studio/ai-thinker-esp32-cam (accessed October 2026).

Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Sapna Jadhav , Sayali Wagh, Sumitra Gavali, Razin Shaikh. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.