PCDuino!! Talk about potential

[billbo911]

I was visiting my son in Denver this week, so I made a run to SparkFun in Boulder.
I now own a PCDuino. Time for the learning to begin!

I know next to zero about programming in Ubuntu-Linux. I have an end goal of using this as a out board video processor to identify and track vision targets. Then to make the position information available to the cRio via I2c, or Serial, or Ethernet.

I guess the first thing I need to do is get a basic understanding of coding in Linux. Next I will need to figure out how to interface a USB webcam. Once I get that working, I will need to work on image processing, then lastly, how to communicate target info to the cRio.

I know there are plenty of white papers and links here on CD and I plan on taking advantage of those resources. But, the first piece of help I need is a basic primer in working within Ubuntu-Linux (or Lbunutu on the PCDuino). Then I need a bit of help interfacing the camera.

So, where do I begin?

[protoserge]

You're doing almost identical work to our team

I know they got a single core ARM working (the Mk802 Android PC) with the Kinect, but wanted to harness the power of the Mk808 dual core for more processing power. The Ubuntu install on the Mk808 has had a couple hangups that need to be corrected before we can explore this.

[DominickC]

A quick update - I've got Lubuntu running on my dual core MK802IIIs (quad core graphics, might help with vision). It runs normally, with minor networking idiosyncrasies.

[billbo911]

I'm working on learning to function in the Linux/Ubuntu environment. Books are coming!

One thing that appears to be an issue right now is that the Lubuntu version that came with the PCDuino does not contain libUVC.
Being a total noob, I have no clue, yet, how to address this.

Any clue how I would add this module/library to Lubuntu so that the board will recognize and work with a webcam?

[taichichuan]

Originally Posted by billbo911

I'm working on learning to function in the Linux/Ubuntu environment. Books are coming!

One thing that appears to be an issue right now is that the Lubuntu version that came with the PCDuino does not contain libUVC.
Being a total noob, I have no clue, yet, how to address this.

Any clue how I would add this module/library to Lubuntu so that the board will recognize and work with a webcam?

UVC is and interface for USB webcams from vendors like Logitech among others. You can install the package using "sudo apt-get install luvcview". That's a video capture framework. It may not be everything you need, but is't a start. You can likely find more info at this link:

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/arm

Lubuntu is derived from this distro.

HTH,

Mike

[billbo911]

So, a little progress to report.

Considering so much of this is very new to me: Linux, Ubuntu (Lubuntu), OpenCV, Python etc., I am making progress.

The first thing I need to do is figure out how to run this system entirely from a bootable uSD. The storage onboard just isn't quite enough to do everything I need.

I have the board running with UVC and can validate the USB Video Camera is working.
I have installed OpenCV, but not the latest version. Hopefully those libraries will be available soon. I could always build it myself from source, but I really am not comfortable, let alone knowledgeable, with that process. Again, I need more storage space to do this properly.

I need to install a Python IDE, but I am already at 82% used space onboard, so I am really tight on space for additional software. Again, see the "first thing I need to do".

There are lots of examples available to see how others are doing this on RPi, BeagleBones, MK802/MK808 etc. But without having access to the tools and knowledge I need yet, I am struggling a bit. Any advice is welcome!!!

[billbo911]

OK, now that a fully uSD bootable image is available, I have the board acquireing images and processing them at close to 20 FPS. I can track a rectangular target of any color, once I have calibrated for that color. It will generated (X , Y) coordinates for the four corners as well as the center of mass of the object tracked. Thank you Team 3847 for providing access to your code so I could learn the process.

At this point, I need to figure out how to send this tracking info to the cRio. Network Tables is one option, but I'm sure there are other ways. This too will be new to me, so any help is appreciated.

[billbo911]

Got it!!!

Today I figured out the last piece of the puzzle.
I'm currently getting approx. 20fps of target tracking data. I can send it over to Labview at the same rate. I have not tested this on the cRio yet, but I see no reason to think the same vi running on the cRio would behave differently than on my PC.

The four corner coordinates of the target are merged into a 24 character string and passed to LabView. From there, what you choose to do with it is up to you.

Thanks to FIRST Team 3847 Spectrum for their guidance and advice during this process.

[fb39ca4]

Also check out the Udoo. It has a quad core ARM CPU and is also Arduino compatible, although it is larger and more expensive.

http://www.udoo.org/features/