Newbie Needs Help

[itzrobz]

hi, I am a newbie programmer. i have no idea how to setup the camera nor program. i've read the tilt/pan assembly, we built the camera but we don't know where anything else goes. like how to connect it to the computer, does it have to be connected to the RC to program it? where does it get its power from? and many more, we have read the manual and instructions but it still doesn't help.

please help us :D

[Safarley2901]

Hi, I am a newbie programmer. I have no idea how to setup the camera nor program. I've read the tilt/pan assembly, we built the camera but we don't know where anything else goes. Like how to connect it to the computer, does it have to be connected to the RC to program it? Where does it get its power from? and many more, we have read the manual and instructions but it still doesn't help.

please help us :D

First off do you know C?

You want to connect a serial Cable, to the serial port on the camera, To a Serial port on your computer.

Using a PWM Cable you want to connect the power pins on the camera board, to a free PWM output on your Robot Controller. Make Sure that the Back Up Battery is plugged in.

Check this Camera Work book, its basically a tutorial.
http://www.kevin.org/frc/CMUcam2_workbook.pdf

This has an example code, that will give you a place to start.
http://www.kevin.org/frc/

Please Feel Free to ask what ever else you need. We'll help all we can.

Steven and Danny, Team 808.

Ps. We'll be here till about 9pm EST tonight so by all means repost

[itzrobz]

some of our members do,
anywasy we got it to work and track fo some time'
then it started moving away from the target.
now for some reason the camera is not comnucating with the computer. the red led don't want o blink anymore

any sugestions?

[Kevin Watson]

some of our members do,
anywasy we got it to work and track fo some time'
then it started moving away from the target.
now for some reason the camera is not comnucating with the computer. the red led don't want o blink anymore

any sugestions?Dead backup battery?

-Kevin

[itzrobz]

the LEDs turn on, which means it has power, but we still cant connect to the camera. Does the camera require a backup battery as well as the main battery?

[Safarley2901]

the LEDs turn on, which means it has power, but we still cant connect to the camera. Does the camera require a backup battery as well as the main battery?

The camera Runs off the back up battery. Once the back up battery is dead the camera stops working.

Steve Farley, Team 808

[Safarley2901]

Using a PWM Cable you want to connect the power pins on the camera board, to a free PWM output on your Robot Controller. Make Sure that the Back Up Battery is plugged in.


Could have read my original reply. It says you need to attach a back up battery.

Steve Farley, Team 808

[itzrobz]

~edit
it WORKS OMG OMG OMG. Thank you all so much :D

[Safarley2901]

~edit
it WORKS OMG OMG OMG. Thank you all so much :D

No Problem Feel free to ask other questions if need be.

:) Team 808

[itzrobz]

i have another problem :mad: i cant get Kevin's code to work ( bells and whistle.) i downloaded it to the rc but it doesnt seem to have any affect on the camera and the terminal window is blank. according to the CMUCam2 Workbook it should say "Searching..."

need help!!!!
thanks in advance :D

[Eldarion]

i have another problem :mad: i cant get Kevin's code to work ( bells and whistle.) i downloaded it to the rc but it doesnt seem to have any affect on the camera and the terminal window is blank. according to the CMUCam2 Workbook it should say "Searching..."

need help!!!!
thanks in advance :D

This may be a stupid question, but you did hook up the serial cable and TTL adapter between the camera and the RC, right? :)

[itzrobz]

This may be a stupid question, but you did hook up the serial cable and TTL adapter between the camera and the RC, right? :)

We hooked up the TTL adapter and a PWM cable between the camera and the RC, the servos into the PWM outputs, and the camera power into one of the PWM outputs. The thing we don't get is that where the serial cable is supposed to be hooked up to. We hooked it up connecting the COM port of our laptop and the Programming Port on the RC.

[devicenull]

Okay, coming off the camera itself, you will have two wires:
Power (goes to any free PWM port)
Serial (Goes to the small TTL board, which connects to the RC)
After that, each of the servo's connects to the correct port on the RC (pwm01 for pan, and pwm02 for tilt, IIRC)

Now, the "normal" (db9 (big black cable)) serial cable goes from the RC's program port to the laptop.

After doing all this, if it still doesn't work:
Charge your backup battery.
Use the dashboard to make sure the backup battery is charged.
Ensure all your PWM's are in the right places.
Check your backup battery (again!)
Lens cap off?
Camera focused? (Use labview)
Light have a good power supply (When the battery starts dieing, the camera can't find it as well)
Backup battery dead? (This is probably the most common problem we have had)
If all else fails, reload the default camera code (Which should track the target "out of the box")

[itzrobz]

The default camera code is the Streamlined version of the camera right? We did everything correctly, according to you and the manual. I don't know whats wrong with it. We will try to download the streamlined version into the camera when we get a chance.

Just one question, Is the terminal window supposed to say "Searching..." even if the camera is not properly configured, with the focus, to search?

thanks for your help :D

[Alan Anderson]

We hooked up the TTL adapter and a PWM cable between the camera and the RC, the servos into the PWM outputs, and the camera power into one of the PWM outputs. The thing we don't get is that where the serial cable is supposed to be hooked up to. We hooked it up connecting the COM port of our laptop and the Programming Port on the RC.
Don't hook up both the DB9 cable to the computer and the "PWM" communication cable to the RC at the same time. They'll interfere with each other. Only use the computer if you're controlling the camera with the computer, and only use the cable to the RC if you're controlling the camera with the RC.

[itzrobz]

Don't hook up both the DB9 cable to the computer and the "PWM" communication cable to the RC at the same time. They'll interfere with each other. Only use the computer if you're controlling the camera with the computer, and only use the cable to the RC if you're controlling the camera with the RC.
Ohhhh, I understand now. Another stupid question:
I can hook up the RC to the computer and use the "PWM" communication cable to connect to the camera (from the RC) at the same time right?

Thanks :D

[devicenull]

The default camera code is the Streamlined version of the camera right? We did everything correctly, according to you and the manual. I don't know whats wrong with it. We will try to download the streamlined version into the camera when we get a chance.

Just one question, Is the terminal window supposed to say "Searching..." even if the camera is not properly configured, with the focus, to search?

thanks for your help :D

Either the bells and whistles or streamlined code will work.. not the default code from IFI's web site.

You may want to upgrade your IFI loader, and make sure that works.

[itzrobz]

The IFI loader we have is v1.1.0 and we downloaded the camera codes from Kevin's website yesterday.

[sT4s1657]

I have the same problem with kevin's program (frc_camera_s and frc_camera)
so i tried the FRCcode2.4(something like that) and it work fine for a while but now when i tried to get this to work with the gyro and the accelometer the RC got stock, and now i cant get the camera working again.... :(

[itzrobz]

I still need help. The camera is still not responding to the code. HELP!!!

Thanks in advance. :D