2010 Camera and vision problems.

[Bryscus]

I've seen in this thread that one can access the console on the cRio using WindRiver and NetConsole. Is it correct for me to assume then, that one can use putty or some other console program as well by connecting a null modem cable between a PC and the cRio? If this is the case, what is the baud rate and other settings?

My first assumption would be a 115200 baud rate 8 - N - 1 with no flow control. Any help would be great. Thanks.

[Bryscus]

Well, I see now how one can connect to the cRio using an Ethernet based approach, but is there a method to use just a serial cable?

- Bryce

[Mark McLeod]

Use a null modeum cable
Any terminal emulator program (9600 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, parity-none, flow control-none)

On the cRIO there is a DIP switch "Console Out" that must be on. I usually leave it on.

Connect up and reset the cRIO to see the startup console dump.

[Spacetech]

I got it working by changing the username of the camera to FRC and the password to FRC

In Vision/AxisCamera2010.cpp it's using that combo (and only that combo) for the send request

Authorization: Basic RlJDOkZSQw==

Last years code confirms that the authorization string is FRC, FRC (Vision2009/AxisCamera.cpp)

"RlJDOkZSQw==",     /* FRC, FRC */

[Bryscus]

Originally Posted by Spacetech

I got it working by changing the username of the camera to FRC and the password to FRC

In Vision/AxisCamera2010.cpp it's using that combo (and only that combo) for the send request

Authorization: Basic RlJDOkZSQw==

Last years code confirms that the authorization string is FRC, FRC (Vision2009/AxisCamera.cpp)

"RlJDOkZSQw==",     /* FRC, FRC */

I'll try that tonight and see if it helps us. I'll try to post again tomorrow if we get everything working. Thanks!

[TPNigl]

Ok, so we've tried changing the username and password to FRC, but the camera is still not sending any images. It still says "camera running e". We have everything working on the dashboard except the image.

We noticed that when plugged into port 2, the orange light in the port is not flashing, as opposed to the flashing one in port 1. Is there any chance that could signify the problem/a solution?

[sdlynx]

Originally Posted by Bryscus

Hi Guys,

Since there’s a wealth of information located in this thread I’m going to try to summarize the steps for getting a working camera setup for C++ (this may still be helpful for those using the other platforms as well). This summary assumes that code can be loaded on the cRio and run. This is specifically for the 2010 Vision Demonstration example.

<steps>

From the information I can glean from this thread, this should work (and pan and tilt maybe as well if you hook up some servos – my goal is just to get some images first).

Now at this point, us SPAM guys haven’t been able to get it to work (camera/cable work with a computer, but not the cRio), but we didn’t uninstall BOTH of the driver’s station components last night. I’m thinking of just starting from scratch on all of this, so the above is somewhat speculative. Please feel free to make comments or suggestions for additions to the above steps. I know a many people have been going through the same frustrations and I’m trying to alleviate some of the pain. Hope this helps someone!

- Bryce

We tried all of this, and we still doin't get any feed. Also, we manage to keep getting a watchdog not fed error. Both our jaguars are plugged in and connected to motors, along with both joysticks with the drive station. Help?

[Bryscus]

Ok Guys,

Last night we were able to get it working! It appears our major problem was that the camera did not have an ADMINISTRATIVE user with the username "FRC" and password "FRC". When I add this it works, and when I use "root" and "admin" it does not. This seems definitive to me. Also, I don't think it was necessary, but as we were grasping at straws, we installed the FRC LabView update on the Classmate PC (FRCLabVIEWUpdate2.0for2010.zip). If any teams still can't get this to work, this might be the problem. Can anyone who got it to work verify that they didn't have to install this? Also, you shouldn't have to uninstall and reinstall WindRiver because we didn't.

Here are the updated steps below with what we did:

1. cRio must be reflashed with v19 image.

2. WindRiver should be intstalled with the WPI Lib update (WorkbenchUpdate20100107.exe).
**AN UNINSTALL APPEARS UNNECESSARY AS WE DID NOT UNINSTALL.**

3. The camera should be set up with IP address 192.168.0.90 (which is the default) and a username and password of **FRC** and **FRC**, respectively. I understand there **MAY BE** other valid usernames and password combinations as well.
** I PREVIOUSLY STATED THE USERNAME AND PASSWORD AS root AND admin. THIS IS INCORRECT. I KNOW AT LEAST ONE VALID COMBINATION IS "FRC" and "FRC". root AND admin DO NOT WORK!**

4. The camera should be connected via CROSSOVER cable to Ethernet port 2 on the cRio and adequate power supplied. When you plug in the camera, the orange and green lights should stay on (when not sending data) and may blink a couple times, but no rapid blinks (again, when idle).These two lights signify that there is at least a connection between the cRio and camera. They must be on, or you either have a bad cable, or non CROSSOVER cable (the orange one is a crossover cable).

5. The driver’s station update should be installed (DSUpdate1.0for2010.zip). This requires installing BOTH components, uninstalling BOTH components and then reinstalling BOTH components again. Apparently the NI installer has issues.
**IT MAY NOT BE NECESSARY TO UNINSTALL BOTH COMPONENTS. THE OTHER IS FOR THE CYPRESS I/O AND SHOULD NOT BE RELATED TO THE CAMERA. IT MIGHT HOWEVER, AFFECT THE I/O MODULE.**

6. Add the “2010 Vision Demonstration Program” to the current workspace and compile. (In WindRiver click File -> New -> Example… -> VxWorks Downloadable Kernel Module Sample Project -> FRC 2010 Vision Demonstration Program -> Finish.) Be sure to use the correct compiled cRio image path located in the FIRST Downloader Preferences section of “Preferences” (Located under Window).

7. Deploy the code. And watch it work!


I'll try to give a description of what happens after rebooting the cRio using the unmodified 2010 Vision Demo example:

With the dashboard up and running, reprogram the cRio and then reboot. When the dashboard shows that you have three green lights (communications and two others I don't remember), you should be disabled and Ethernet port 2 on the cRio (to which the camera is connected) should have steady lights, orange and green (the orange may blink every now and then). After enabling, not much happens for at least 10 seconds. Referring to the code, there is a wait statement that will wait for 10 seconds to allow the camera to boot. During this time THE WATCHDOG IS NOT FED. So just after enabling and for about 10 seconds afterwards, the watchdog will not be fed. There will be a message that says "Watchdog not fed". After about 12-15 seconds the orange light at Ethernet Port 2 will start flashing rapidly and an image will be displayed. Also, the "Watchdog not fed" message will go away. The green lights at the front of the camera should come on as well to let you know it has an active connection. Also, when you pull the trigger, the camera will track a target. It seems to do a reasonable job, but the frame rate of the image displayed using the unmodified code is pretty horrible.

My hope is that this will help a lot of teams overcome their frustrations. I'll try to answer any questions people might have about this process.

- Bryce

P.S. The caps locked words are not me screaming, but rather trying to point out important information.

[Bryscus]

Originally Posted by sdlynx

We tried all of this, and we still doin't get any feed. Also, we manage to keep getting a watchdog not fed error. Both our jaguars are plugged in and connected to motors, along with both joysticks with the drive station. Help?

sdlynx,

Please refer to the updated setup summary. The "watchdog not fed" message will appear for about 12-15 seconds and then go away. You might not be waiting long enough.

We also have 1 joystick and multiple jags hooked up (we're still on last years setup).

If you have verified that the camera works using a computer, you should see the orange and green light turn on on Ethernet Port 2 when hooked up to the cRio.

[Tech]

We switched to "2010ImageDemo" and got our camera working.

Note: You need to wait for the camera lights to come back green after rebooting the robot then enable the robot. About 10 seconds later, the camera stream comes up.

In my personal opinion, this camera setup is a real pain in the you know what.

[Mr. Lim]

Has anyone gotten the camera working in DEBUG mode through Wind River?

We can get it working in both RUN, and when we DOWNLOAD the code, but in DEBUG mode the video feed never comes up.

Even in RUN and DOWNLOAD modes, sometimes it's unreliable. When we make code changes using either of these methods, we must reset the cRIO. After powering the unit back on, the video feed doesn't always come up.

Would love to know if anyone else is experiencing this same behaviour, or if it's just us?

[Bryscus]

Originally Posted by Mr. Lim

Has anyone gotten the camera working in DEBUG mode through Wind River?

We can get it working in both RUN, and when we DOWNLOAD the code, but in DEBUG mode the video feed never comes up.

Even in RUN and DOWNLOAD modes, sometimes it's unreliable. When we make code changes using either of these methods, we must reset the cRIO. After powering the unit back on, the video feed doesn't always come up.

Would love to know if anyone else is experiencing this same behaviour, or if it's just us?

I don't know about the debug mode, but we also have issues with camera reliability when booting. We can see the code hang in the NetConsole window. Somtimes it instantiates the camera task but doesn't really go anywhere from there.

- Bryce

[esquared]

Originally Posted by Bryscus

I don't know about the debug mode, but we also have issues with camera reliability when booting. We can see the code hang in the NetConsole window. Somtimes it instantiates the camera task but doesn't really go anywhere from there.

- Bryce

1511 is having the same issue when doing a Debug download. Typically the hang occurs between "starting camera instance" and "getting camera parameters", if you use the 2010ImageDemo example program.

Also, when doing Debug mode with the 2010ImageDemo, the user program will fail to terminate correctly so you can't do multiple debug/run/terminate sessions in a row. The normal FRC tasks terminate correctly, but the CameraTask and PCVideoServer tasks don't die, and result in the robot hanging until a reboot.

--Eric

[Mr. Lim]

Originally Posted by esquared

1511 is having the same issue when doing a Debug download. Typically the hang occurs between "starting camera instance" and "getting camera parameters", if you use the 2010ImageDemo example program.

Also, when doing Debug mode with the 2010ImageDemo, the user program will fail to terminate correctly so you can't do multiple debug/run/terminate sessions in a row. The normal FRC tasks terminate correctly, but the CameraTask and PCVideoServer tasks don't die, and result in the robot hanging until a reboot.

--Eric

Yep, 1310 sees the exact same issue here as well. For the time being, we've given up on using DEBUG mode now that we have camera code implemented. We're RUNNING the code, and doing a remote target reset through Wind River between each programming cycle.

It's a real pain, but for the time being, I don't see any way around it. I wonder if there could be an issue with how the AxisCamera object is disposed of?

[Sean1038]

I saw that someone said that the watchdog was not being fed. We had that problem too and it turns out that what we were doing was that we put a camera display image into the teleop front panel to see if we could get a picture that way, but when we took that part out of teleop the watchdog never timed out again.