Re: Strange CMUCam Image
 

A lot of replies!
I just got home from today's meeting, and am happy to say that the cam now works. We tried a different computer. We thought that it was some kind of unknown fix, but after reading this thread the real problem is clear: battery! We had been using a backup battery with an unknown charge state, but we charged it today during school. Now we can take horribly-colored photos of everyone on the team (only in bad light)!
I'm still not a programmer, so I can't help with software improvements, but good luck to everyone else. Thanks for your replies.

Re: Strange CMUCam Image
 

Sidney,
The picture you show is a classic example of a camera that has been dropped. If you try all of the suggestions above and still have the problem, I would suspect the the CCD has been damaged or the connections have moved due to an impact with a hard surface. Check (with power off please) that the camera is seated properly on the mother board and no pins are bent in any of the connectors. The picture is an indication that there is no sync between the pickup pixels and the output. Does the image change with objects moving in front of the lens? If it does than I would suspect the camera.

Re: Strange CMUCam Image
 

Thanks for your suggestion, Al, but I posted yesterday that the problem was fixed by charging the backup battery. We were beginning to think it was the CCD, but thankfully the issue wasn't that permanent.

Re: Strange CMUCam Image
 

where do I find the manual for the CMUcam, the one that tells me how to hook it up to my computer. and what am I reading about a battery needed to run it?

Re: Strange CMUCam Image
 

Ryan, the manual can be found here. The manual is in the "getting started" zip file.

Dan

Re: Strange CMUCam Image
 

Ryan-

Basically, you need both the large battery that powers the robot hooked up and fully charged, as well as a small backup battery that provides 7 volts to the RC. Apparently, it's the back up battery on the RC that powers the camera, so without this, it doesn't work. It's small and blue (if its the same that we had in our kit).

Hope that helps!

Re: Strange CMUCam Image
 

Well you learn something new everyday. I would have bet the power would have manifested itself differently. No image, all one color, flashing, etc. Glad you got the problem fixed.

Re: Strange CMUCam Image
 

My team has the same sort of problem, however all of our hardware connections/software settings are correct. also the voltage has been checked and it is 7 volts. the picture comes out distorted at the bottom of the screen and the top is blank. could this be a problem with our video card (note: the card is somewhat old)?