CMUCam not working

[Inverted]

I've read every thread in this forum about the camera setup, yet still haven't been able to get it working. I have the backup battery fully charged and connected to the RC, a red/white/black wire going from PWM5 on the RC to the power input on the camera, and the output connected to the TTL serial port on the RC. When powered on, only one of the three LEDs (the Power LED) lights up.

I tried connecting it to our computer to use the GUI to configure it (via black 'Programming' cable into the serial port on the camera board, [note: the TTL cable to the RC is disconnected] but it keeps returning the string:
"Searching for camera...
>rs< failed..."

Please help. I've wasted 3 weeks trying to get this piece of crap to work, and at this point I feel that my effort could be better used to work on a more important part of the robot, but our instructor insists on getting it working. =\

P.S. Here's some pictures I made in Paint to help you visualize how I have it set up.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/at...tid=2867&stc=1
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/at...tid=2868&stc=1

[scitobor 617]

Hummm looks and sounds like you set the camera up right. I think the problem is with the GUI. Did you copy it to the root of your hard drive C:/ ? That was my problem when I tried using the GUI.

[wmarb]

I am on the same team as Inverted, also working on the cam. I will check where the root folder for the GUI is located tomorrow, but we recieve no feedback when its hooked up to the RC either. BTW we had it attached to the 2004 RC, could this be the problem? (yes we loaded it with the 2005 code). This is really getting frustrating, as our advisor insists on us using the camera, when there is much more work to be done. Please, someone help us! If someone could actually post how they set up their camera, and how they used it, that would be great for us to try, maybe the camera is fried? Sigh. Thanks all!

[Code\\Pilot]

DO THIS NOW!!!!!: Arrange to visit a team close to you that have their camera working and ready to go or close to that. Take your camera and your controller, and test your camera with them. We did that, we found out our camera was bad, but still that same day we got a new camera, cause the team we went to for help decided that they are not going to use the camera, so they let us borrow their cam. BTW thanks team 1557 for it. So go do that and cross your fingers. It might be fried or it might not.
Good Luck!.

[pickle]

Make sure something like IFI Loader isn't open. Only one program can use the serial port at a time, so if you have something else open thats using the serial port, then it won't work

[devicenull]

Try putting the camera into demo mode (use the user button on the front, its in the docs somewhere)

This should have it track one color, and if it starts moving the servos, then its probably not bad.

Also, try upading your Java VM, check java.sun.com for a new version

Try a different computer/cable/baud rate (Either jumper the camera, or change in it your OS, device manager->ports->yourport in windows)

It could be the computer can't handle communication at that speed on that port.. I personally have been using a usb->rs232 adapter and its working fine

[lynca]

Make sure you check your Device Manager to verify your serial comm port is transmitting at the correct baud rate,

[ace123]

Two things may help, as I have had this problem myself:

Make sure that the TTL is unplugged from the RC while the Serial port is plugged in to the computer COM (for Java and HyperTerminal testing), and vice versa for RC code. This one has gotten me a few times.

Also, try plugging it in to the Digital I/O instead of the PWM for power. All the documentation says to use the 7.2v PWM, but I and a lot of other teams have had much more sucess with the 5v DigIO.

To troubleshoot if these things don't work, run the default code from 1/12 on the RC (with the latest Master Code). Make sure to plug in the TTL during this process. check if it says "Camera not Found". If it does not print that then you are fine, but if it does and the camera LED is on, then you have some problems. Check the wiring of all devices.

[lynca]

[quote=ace123]Two things may help, as I have had this problem myself:

Also, try plugging it in to the Digital I/O instead of the PWM for power. All the documentation says to use the 7.2v PWM, but I and a lot of other teams have had much more sucess with the 5v DigIO.

This is because of a poor voltage regulator from 7.2 v to 5.0 volts which is the only volt line the camera really needs.


Also, be careful about downloading too much code, we had this problem and suddenly the camera could not be found, after downloading the default code, the proper registers were reset and we could start programming again

[Anton]

Well, i'm not so deep into the camera thingie(I've got it working, though) but since everything you did sounds right, i'd advice you to try it with a regular pc- not a laptop(the pictures you included say something about a laptop). It might change nothing, but surely it won't do any harm, and I just don't beleive laptops. never :}
also, there is a thread somewhere that said that you can't grab a frame with 600*800 pix. resolution, which is often a maximum for a laptop (i beleive it is, but then i'm not really up-to-date with computer stuff) I didn't try this though, so pay attention that it's only assumptions.

to test the camera itself you could write a piece of code to move the servos around, you don't need calibrating for this.

[Bharat Nain]

Originally Posted by wmarb

I am on the same team as Inverted, also working on the cam. I will check where the root folder for the GUI is located tomorrow, but we recieve no feedback when its hooked up to the RC either. BTW we had it attached to the 2004 RC, could this be the problem? (yes we loaded it with the 2005 code). This is really getting frustrating, as our advisor insists on us using the camera, when there is much more work to be done. Please, someone help us! If someone could actually post how they set up their camera, and how they used it, that would be great for us to try, maybe the camera is fried? Sigh. Thanks all!

By 2005 code, I hope you mean that you updated the firmware too. The drawings show that your camera is setup correctly(Atleast, as far as my knowledge goes).