Efficient video saving for stationary cameras

Our stationary IP camera's image has most of time no action (I did not activate motion detection trigger). Even when there is movement it covers about 5% of the image:

To conserve space, develop an algorithm that only saves the changing portions of the video frames and plays them back smoothly. Write a web application that at prespecified time periods (e.g. every 0.25 seconds) grabs frames from camera's ip address and saves filtered data to a cloud storage.

Active noise cancellation project

Just phase shift original noise or characterize signal and invert it. FFT?

Update 13th Dec 2016:
Use smartphone mic and processing power to send noise cancelling signal to headphone. See reddit on why there are no noise cancelling apps:

...biggest one is that your cell phone microphone is monaural while noise cancelling headphone have to have two independent pickup channels to effectively cancel out the outside noise

App on Google Play: Noise Canceller

Geodesic Dome using PVC pipes

http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com.tr/2014/10/fabricating-pvc-geodesic-domes.html

Why build robots?

I am interested in the following:

• Programming
• Sensor fusion
• Electronics
• Artificial intelligence

Building robots combines all these topics, so it is a fun way to learn about them.

A road map for incremental knowledge improvement (could evolve into a knowledge map such as the one in Khan Academy):

1. Use LEGO (Technix/Mindstorms) to build a ground vehicle that 
• does open loop control to drive around the basketball court in our park.
• follows a white line drawn on the court.
2. ...
3. Advanced: Write an auto routing algorithm that allows the quadrocopter to navigate autonomously around obstacles in our park.

Robot to play flappy bird

Robot to play flappy bird

Simulation of real aircraft accidents/crashes/disasters

Use an available flight simulator to simulate real aircraft accidents. Example: TK 1951 crash in Shiphol / Amsterdam. To simulate this case, you need to be able to have a auto-throttle model that gets AGL altitude data from aircraft altitude radar. Then you have to make the radar fail so that it shows -8 ft while the aircraft is at 2000 ft. And finally the auto throttle model should put the engines into retard mode and decrease the speed to stall values which in turn results in the crash of aircraft short of the runway (controlled flight into terrain).

IP change notifier

I have an IP camera to monitor my babysitter. Since my IP changes everytime my modem restarts (usually due to cut in electricity), I need to update the ip link when accessing the camera from outside of home.

Write an app that stores the current IP and checks the IP twice a day and sends an email to me whenever the IP has changed.