Ao.Dash

The Ao.Dash namespace contains classes for managing dashcams attached to a Windows computer. I have been using them in WPF applications in order to let the user select one out of many dashcams whose video to show.

The code requires a reference to the following AForge assemblies, that can be acquired in Visual Studio via NuGet.

AForge
AForge.Video
AForge.Video.DirectShow

Dashcam Manager

The DashcamManager class is a static class that provides a list of dashcams currently attached to the computer.

foreach (var D in DashcamManager.Dashcams)
{
    Console.WriteLine(D.Name);
}

Integrated Webcam
LifeCam Studio

Upon initialization, the dashcam manager starts a management event watcher, that keeps the manager informed about devices being attached and detached. For each such event, the dashcam manager updates the dashcam list.

Additionally, it informs about changes via its events.

void OnDashcamConnected(object sender, DashcamEventArgs e)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Dashcam {0} is now connected.", e.Dashcam.Name);
}

void OnDashcamDisconnected(object sender, DashcamEventArgs e)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Dashcam {0} is gone.", e.Dashcam.Name);
}

DashcamManager.DashcamConnected += OnDashcamConnected;
DashcamManager.DashcamDisconnected += OnDashcamDisconnected;

Dashcam

The Dashcam class provides access to a dashcam’s frames. Each new frame is broadcast via its Frame event. However, a dashcam must be started first.

void OnFrame(object sender, DashcamEventArgs e)
{
    var F = e.Frame;
    
    // ...
}

var D = DashcamManager.Dashcams.First();

D.Frame += OnFrame;
D.Start();

Dashcam Controller

The DashcamController class supports WPF applications. It can be used as the DataContext of a WPF user control.

The user control can show a drop-down list of connected dashcams, in order to let the user select the current one.

<ComboBox
    ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Names, Mode=OneWay}" 
    SelectedItem="{Binding Path=Name, Mode=TwoWay}" />

Just as easily the user control can show the selected dashcam’s video.

<Image Source="{Binding Path=Frame, Mode=OneWay}" />

Additionally, the user control has access to a variety of dashcam properties.

<Label>The number of frames.</Label>
<Label Content="{Binding Mode=OneWay, Path=ReceivedFrames }" />

<Label>The maximum framerate.</Label>
<Label Content="{Binding Mode=OneWay, Path=FrameRateMax }" />

<Label>The frame size.</Label>
<Label Content="{Binding Mode=OneWay, Path=FrameSize }" />