My team is going to try putting a camera on a pole for our next competition. We have most of the materials needed but we have a few questions.
What screen do you prefer to you display the image?
What brand of extension cord do you use for the usb camera?
How long does it take you to set up before each match?
Anything else that you could add would be helpful.
1.) we have the webcam viewer open on our driver station laptop open above the driver station and next to the smart dashboard
2.) Amazon basics 9ft USB extender
3.) Takes us about 45 sec to comepletly set it up. We have plenty of time to set it up.
4.) Make sure you follow the new updates to camera poles such as making sure it is not taller than 11’8" which is the height of the tower flags and also make sure you are not clamping it to the driver station shelf. We got around this by attaching a large pvc pole to our operator console where the camera pole just slides right over it.
As far as the pole we used, we used an extendable pool skimmer pole which allows for easy transport as it is collapsible but also allows for easy modification to make it shorter on the field if a ref deems ours too tall.
We used a SJCam SJ4000 velcroed and tie wrapped to the end of a window washing pole from Home Depot. The base of the pole, with the handle removed, fits exactly in a Sch. 40 PVC pipe, that we attached to the operator console with a threaded fitting attached to a cast iron flanged base. It’s a three section pole and I think it has a total reach of 9’, which is plenty to get the camera to the maximum height. There’s 8" of PVC pipe.
An 8’ Micro HDMI to HDMI cable runs from the camera to a 23" display.
Here’s a good photo of the lower part of the pole unit: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=35D706FB0C681610!472102&authkey=!AMyu5brLdOWCMZk&v=3&ithint=photo%2Cjpg
We are still developing our pole but we have a painters pole that we are attaching a GoPro to, then running a micro HDMI to HDMI cable (roughly 10ft) to a monitor. We are still figuring out what size to use but it will either be a 22" or 32" at this point. We are still figuring out the mounting system but we should have it ready by next weekend.
Make sure it remains below 11’8" from the floor and is attached securely to your driver station. As it is part of the driver station it must comply with driver station rules and be within the 14" x 60" size limit.
At CIR there was a team using a patio umbrella stand to hold there pole and I thought it was a good idea and was probably pretty stable
I highly recommend one of these:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fiskars-14-ft-Bypass-Pruner-93006966J/100153111
Also, we used a go pro with a 27" hdmi screen, and absolutely loved the quality.
We had better luck with the go pro hero 4 than the hero 3+ being better quality when streaming from the camera directly to the screen.
Is having a camera still worth it at 11’ 8"? Does anyone have a picture of what the field looks like at that height? Thanks!
I don’t have a picture of what the field looks like from he pole but from expierence of being on the field and using it I would say it is definitely worth it. It’s not something you will necessarily be using all match every match but it is definitely useful in certain situations such as trying to go over the drawbridge when you can’t see your robot or alignment on a goal
That may not be a great idea. There was a team using, or trying to use, a patio umbrella base that weighed at least 40 pounds. It was heavy enough that it was causing the drivers station shelf to slope quite a bit under its weight.
While a wide base is probably a good idea, a 40 pound chunk of steel that could fall on your feet is likely to be called a safety hazard.
We ended up welding a piece of pipe onto our driver station so we could just drop the pole into the driver station while setting up
I may be mistaken but wasn’t in one of the recent team update they ruled that you can only attach to the driver’s station by the velcro?
Correct.
The custom clamp in the photo appears to be an illegal driver station component, when used to attach to the driver station shelf.
-Mike
You are correct, I missed that
Thanks
Your correct however their base was fairly small but big ones might cause an issue
I looked at a few different poles at Home Depot when we built our setup, the painters poles and tree trimmer poles were ridged but overkill in my opinion (plus heavy, making it harder to hold up), eventually I came across these.
They come in like 3 different sizes (got this one before the rule change, in retrospect we could have gotten a smaller one), but they’re great because they’re very light, compact, and are more than ridged enough to support a small camera. We used a PVC DWV Closet Flange adapted down to short 1-1/4" PVC pipe that fits the pole nicely and mounts to the driver station with strong Velcro.
As for the camera, we just use a Logitech C920 Pro Webcam with a 6ft usb extension into our 17" laptop (we also have a small 7" HDMI screen that can be used do display either the camera or dashboard as a second monitor).
We had a camera pole at the District event we attended last week and it was **extremely **helpful. The height limit, created by the GDC due to safety concerns, was still plenty high for the pole to be useful in almost all situations. As the coach, I found myself almost constantly watching the camera pole monitor. In fact, I may have watched the monitor more than our actual robot! :eek:
2067 Apple Pi has posted two videos of the field taken from the GoPro on top of the pole:
