Labview keeps freezing

[Danny Diaz]

Originally Posted by SHerpich

After taking a couple of pictures, the progress bar keeps running over and over again, but the new picture will not load and the buttons lock up.

Sounds like a classic problem of the backup battery being too low - we've seen issues just like this that have been solved by replacing with a FRESH battery. Obviously if your CMUCam2 is able to talk to LabVIEW then you don't have a traditional "communication problem", but your battery doesn't seem to have enough juice to sustain the communications (or there's an intermediate short, very likely with PWM cables from IFI - several our PWM cables were bad). If you do something in-between grabbing frames, it would appear to me that would give the battery a [small] chance to recover.

-Danny

[heydowns]

Originally Posted by Danny Diaz

Sounds like a classic problem of the backup battery being too low - we've seen issues just like this that have been solved by replacing with a FRESH battery. Obviously if your CMUCam2 is able to talk to LabVIEW then you don't have a traditional "communication problem", but your battery doesn't seem to have enough juice to sustain the communications (or there's an intermediate short, very likely with PWM cables from IFI - several our PWM cables were bad). If you do something in-between grabbing frames, it would appear to me that would give the battery a [small] chance to recover.

-Danny

Our team also continually sees the problem that the original poster is talking about.
We have used two different backup batteries, both fully charged. The problem was still observed.

Note that when I say "continually", I mean that we consistently get the problem on an inconsistent basis. Sometimes we get it immediately at the start of the work session and it lasts through several restarts of LabView and RC/Camera power cyclings. Other times, things work for a little while (we can grab 2-3 frames), but then we get the OP's problem of LabView not responding to input, not getting the frame that was asked for, and the frame grab progress bar continually filling up and starting over. This persists until we restart the LabView CMUCam GUI application. After restarting, it might or might not occur again immediately. It is consistently inconsistent as to when it works.

If it is really thought to be a power supply issue, then I will try to make an effort to rig up a non-battery supply and run the camera off that. Maybe the OP or someone else having the same problem can do the same (just use any standard DC power supply that fits the specs outlined in the CMU Cam docs).

Hope this helps to diagnose the problem.

[Danny Diaz]

Just curious, when you have this problem are you using a USB-to-Serial converter or a built-in serial port? We've been up and down this problem trying to reproduce it, and we're having a bugger doing anything close to what you're describing - we're using a built-in port on a desktop, though.

-Danny

[Peter H]

Originally Posted by Danny Diaz

Just curious, when you have this problem are you using a USB-to-Serial converter or a built-in serial port? We've been up and down this problem trying to reproduce it, and we're having a bugger doing anything close to what you're describing - we're using a built-in port on a desktop, though.

-Danny

I have this problem with a built-in serial port on a laptop. I run the camera from a 7.2 v battery and monitor the battery voltage; the voltage does not change during operation. If the current draw were too high, the voltage would drop. 7 v should be OK, since the camera has a 5 v regulator on board.

For details, see http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=42631

[Joe Hershberger]

Originally Posted by heydowns

Our team also continually sees the problem that the original poster is talking about.
We have used two different backup batteries, both fully charged. The problem was still observed.

Note that when I say "continually", I mean that we consistently get the problem on an inconsistent basis. Sometimes we get it immediately at the start of the work session and it lasts through several restarts of LabView and RC/Camera power cyclings. Other times, things work for a little while (we can grab 2-3 frames), but then we get the OP's problem of LabView not responding to input, not getting the frame that was asked for, and the frame grab progress bar continually filling up and starting over. This persists until we restart the LabView CMUCam GUI application. After restarting, it might or might not occur again immediately. It is consistently inconsistent as to when it works.

If it is really thought to be a power supply issue, then I will try to make an effort to rig up a non-battery supply and run the camera off that. Maybe the OP or someone else having the same problem can do the same (just use any standard DC power supply that fits the specs outlined in the CMU Cam docs).

Hope this helps to diagnose the problem.

Please try the test release version from 2006.01.25 here and let me know what your results are. Hopefully there will be some different behavior that will help narrow down the problem.

Thanks!
-Joe

[Peter H]

Originally Posted by Joe Hershberger

Please try the test release version from 2006.01.25 here and let me know what your results are. Hopefully there will be some different behavior that will help narrow down the problem.

Thanks!
-Joe

I downloaded this new GUI, but could not get it to work. I could not find how to grab a frame.
I tried the previous GUI again; this time, it loaded 3 frames before dying. I suspect that one side or the other loses the serial channel intermittently.

[holdenga]

I've had the same issues with Labview. I've used different batteries as well as a 12v regulated/filtered supply. All versions of the software have behaved in the same fashion.

[holdenga]

UPDATE. By using the latest update posted by Joe, I was able to get through a sucessful calibration session with the camera. It still posted some "unable to communicate...check serial port..." messages a few times, but I just closed the window and kept working, ignoring the error. The camera still responded after doing this.

One new oddity came up while doing this. The pan function seemed to be reversed. It wanted to track AWAY from the light source. Tilt worked properly. Since this can be addressed in the rc code, I simply unplugged the servos in order to complete calibration.

Thanks Joe.
glenn

[Joe Hershberger]

Originally Posted by holdenga

UPDATE. By using the latest update posted by Joe, I was able to get through a sucessful calibration session with the camera. It still posted some "unable to communicate...check serial port..." messages a few times, but I just closed the window and kept working, ignoring the error. The camera still responded after doing this.

One new oddity came up while doing this. The pan function seemed to be reversed. It wanted to track AWAY from the light source. Tilt worked properly. Since this can be addressed in the rc code, I simply unplugged the servos in order to complete calibration.

Thanks Joe.
glenn

The panning issue has nothing to do with the GUI... There is a jumper on the camera for each axis to reverse them.

When you get the error message does it grab part of a frame?

-Joe

[holdenga]

Originally Posted by Joe Hershberger

The panning issue has nothing to do with the GUI... There is a jumper on the camera for each axis to reverse them.
I'll check the jumpers. Thanks.

When you get the error message does it grab part of a frame?
-Joe

Yes.
glenn

[Joe Hershberger]

Originally Posted by Peter H

I downloaded this new GUI, but could not get it to work. I could not find how to grab a frame.
I tried the previous GUI again; this time, it loaded 3 frames before dying. I suspect that one side or the other loses the serial channel intermittently.

Peter,
Are you saying that the new version does nothing? I really don't understand what you mean when saying

Originally Posted by Peter H

I could not find how to grab a frame.

You click the grab frame button.

When you say "previous GUI", are you referring to the Java GUI from last year or are you referring to one of the previous LabVIEW releases?

Have you checked your change on the backup battery and all the wires for breaks or loose ends?

-Joe

[Peter H]

Originally Posted by Joe Hershberger

Peter,
Are you saying that the new version does nothing? I really don't understand what you mean when saying You click the grab frame button.

When you say "previous GUI", are you referring to the Java GUI from last year or are you referring to one of the previous LabVIEW releases?

Have you checked your change on the backup battery and all the wires for breaks or loose ends?

-Joe

Ignore my complaint. I messed up the installation. Will try again.

[Mark McLeod]

For us, the 1/25 version eliminated the run-away progress bar behavior that version 1/17 exhibited.

Peter H came over to play last night and we were able to grab frames repeatedly from his camera, but with my laptop.

[Peter H]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

For us, the 1/25 version eliminated the run-away progress bar behavior that version 1/17 exhibited.

Peter H came over to play last night and we were able to grab frames repeatedly from his camera, but with my laptop.

Today, I erased the LabView GUI and reloaded it with the 1/25/06 CMUCam2 demo. Now, and also last night, I have completely different intermittent failures.

Sometimes, I can Grab Frame OK. The rest of the time, I Grab Frame, the red LED flashes, the blue progress bar advances to the end, the progress bar disappears, a partial frame shows, and an error box appears "The application is closing because of a reported error ...". The status code is -1073807252. The status source is "VISA Read in get picture.vi>CMUcam2.vi>CMUcam2GUI.vi" I had to expand the status box to read this.

I can click on the error box, it disappears, and the run icon reverts to not running. I can click on the run icon again, and repeat the process - sometimes it works, sometimes not.

What is my problem?

[Joe Hershberger]

Originally Posted by Peter H

Today, I erased the LabView GUI and reloaded it with the 1/25/06 CMUCam2 demo. Now, and also last night, I have completely different intermittent failures.

Sometimes, I can Grab Frame OK. The rest of the time, I Grab Frame, the red LED flashes, the blue progress bar advances to the end, the progress bar disappears, a partial frame shows, and an error box appears "The application is closing because of a reported error ...". The status code is -1073807252. The status source is "VISA Read in get picture.vi>CMUcam2.vi>CMUcam2GUI.vi" I had to expand the status box to read this.

I can click on the error box, it disappears, and the run icon reverts to not running. I can click on the run icon again, and repeat the process - sometimes it works, sometimes not.

What is my problem?

That error means that you are overflowing the VISA serial buffer. That is why you get a partial frame before it fails. Are you using a slow computer? What kind of serial port? Are there any settings in the device manager's properties for your serial port that will allow you to increase the buffer that is used on the serial port?

I'll look at the code to see if there is anything that can be done to make the program less susceptible to the problem. One solution is to lower the Baud rate (which would need to be done both on the camera and in the application / MAX) but would make the frame grabbing even slower. Hopefully we can avoid having to do that.

Cheers!
-Joe