[Greg McKaskle]

The camera capabilities do not allow you to set the exposure to an explicit value in any language. The two choices are the ones you are already using, auto and hold. The calibration routine you are using to dim the image sounds good, and should stick with the camera through power cycles, but not through a reset button.

The LV template sets all fields in Begin.vi. It didn't do that last year, and in fact teams would have odd side effects from logging into the camera and messing with fields. If you do not want the code to change the settings, look for the API call in your team template code, or possibly in the framework. I'm going to speak with the WPI folks later, and I'll ask if they are possibly doing something like this in a constructor.

A second way to get a more dim image is to use the Brightness setting on the camera. What it does is to take the exposure value computed by auto and increase or decrease it. It is particularly useful when the camera's auto selects an overexposed image. Set Brightness low and see if your image has a similar exposure.

As for why the ellipse detection works better with more dim images. It may be that you've set the threshold very high, and bright lights cause blooming in the image. The white bleeds into the black and blurs the edge. I'm just guessing here. Also, you may have set the jpeg compression a bit high, and the jpeg artifacts are more bothersome in the brighter image. Can't say for sure, but if you'll tell me what settings you are using, I may have more input.

Greg McKaskle