Serial Camera
Harrison.
Posts: 484
A post in the Sandbox recently re-sparked my interest in imaging with the Propeller. I purchased a serial camera module (C328-7640) that does onboard JPEG encoding, while also allowing the host processor to pull raw images up to 640x480 color.
I used this camera to capture images every 30 seconds to a SD card to provide time lapse imagery. Using ffmpeg (an open source video manipulation package), I could convert the large file of images to a flv (flash video file), which could then be viewed as a time lapse video. It was pretty cool but didn't really do anything advanced so I never posted it.
I also remember rjo and others were interested in Propeller image capture so I am posting a link to the camera so those interested could take a look. You will probably want to purchase the camera right away if you want it because they go out of stock pretty fast (I was lucky, there was 1 left when I ordered back in May). Make sure you get a camera with the IR cut filter, otherwise bright sunlight will cause problems. Electronics123 is very reliable and their online ordering and shipping system is very advanced, especially for a hobby shop.
Attached are a few example images.
C328-7640
www.electronics123.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2581/.f
Harrison
I used this camera to capture images every 30 seconds to a SD card to provide time lapse imagery. Using ffmpeg (an open source video manipulation package), I could convert the large file of images to a flv (flash video file), which could then be viewed as a time lapse video. It was pretty cool but didn't really do anything advanced so I never posted it.
I also remember rjo and others were interested in Propeller image capture so I am posting a link to the camera so those interested could take a look. You will probably want to purchase the camera right away if you want it because they go out of stock pretty fast (I was lucky, there was 1 left when I ordered back in May). Make sure you get a camera with the IR cut filter, otherwise bright sunlight will cause problems. Electronics123 is very reliable and their online ordering and shipping system is very advanced, especially for a hobby shop.
Attached are a few example images.
C328-7640
www.electronics123.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2581/.f
Harrison
640 x 480 - 24K
640 x 480 - 25K
Comments
I just bought one camera.· Looks very interesting.
Have you write any programs for the propeller?
I am really interested, thanks in advanced.
They have 23 in stock, now.
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
You are such a tease[noparse]:)[/noparse] You probably have it writing to a thumb-drive and are waiting on that too!!!!
Rich
Graham
A couple of those on a robot or rocket or weather ballon would be light and produce decent images.
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Timothy D. Swieter
tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
http://www.basic4ever.com/bascom.shtml
ALEXANDRE
tcpipchip@hotmail.com
·
cgi.ebay.com/FREE-S-H-New-Ericsson-CommuniCam-MCA-25-With-Case_W0QQitemZ130116818758QQihZ003QQcategoryZ50326QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
I got mine for arround 4$ at Ebay Germany.
The MCA-25 Mobile Phone Plug-on Cameras uses a serial connection and has already been hacked :
mikrocontroller.cco-ev.de/eng/webcam.php
avr.auctionant.de/avr-ip-webcam/mca-25-kamera.html
640x480 resolution with alternative 80x60 preview mode.
The 80x60 mode could make it very usefull on the Prop, because it needs very little memory.
Could be used for movement detection maybe, grab two 4800 bytes raw preview images and look for differences.
If the trigger level is reached, aquire the 640x480 JPEG from the cam and store it to to the SD-Card.
-> 5 $ standalone surveilance cam
Post Edited (Andreas Jakob) : 9/8/2007 1:22:39 PM GMT
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Cavin and Hobbes.
here are more :
cgi.ebay.com/OEM-Sony-Ericsson-T226-T300-T310-T316-T68i-Camera-MCA25_W0QQitemZ140154097941QQihZ004QQcategoryZ50326QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Sony-Ericsson-T226-T300-T310-T316-T68i-Camera-MCA25_W0QQitemZ300149298042QQihZ020QQcategoryZ50326QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Guilty as charged... my big consulting gig is over... back to the propeller now [noparse]:)[/noparse] [noparse]:)[/noparse] [noparse]:)[/noparse]
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www.mikronauts.com - a new blog about microcontrollers
This thing is small! Looks perfect for a robot camera.
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Cavin and Hobbes.
is it possible to achieve the 400Kbit Baudrate, that the Cam works at after switching to
the Mux Mode, using Spin ?
I think an Assembler driver must be written for it.
And another thing i did read at the German Forum is that there are two Revisions of the
Cam. Most work with 9600 Baud at startup, some at 19200, just if you have troubles
with that.
Post Edited (Andreas Jakob) : 9/10/2007 6:57:58 PM GMT
avr.auctionant.de/avr-ip-webcam/mca-25-kamera.html
avr.auctionant.de/avr-ip-webcam/mca-25-protokoll.html
Post Edited (deSilva) : 9/16/2007 12:24:01 PM GMT
US
cgi.ebay.com/OEM-Sony-Ericsson-T226-T300-T310-T316-T68i-Camera-MCA25_W0QQitemZ140157310329QQihZ004QQcategoryZ50326QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Germany
cgi.ebay.de/original-Sony-Ericsson-MCA-25-ansteckbare-Kamera-Camera_W0QQitemZ200151992392QQihZ010QQcategoryZ32978QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
I think they have more here (although its a little more expensive)
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00007JWOJ/ref=ord_cart_shr/103-1748296-8752614?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A1FBR7E8HT21EQ&v=glance
EDIT: added link to more sources
Post Edited (Chad George) : 9/17/2007 2:45:17 AM GMT
which in fact fits much nicer to the Prop. But I am not sure whether the protocol is compatible.
I've attached a 0.1" Molex connector to the leads and soldered a header into a Proto board. I'll try sending it some commands and see what comes out of it.
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
Post Edited (Leon) : 9/19/2007 2:34:20 PM GMT
My suggestion to one who will have camera.
Use WebCam and –
·
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=673220
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Sapieha
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
It's not just the USB Host mode (and the timing accuracy required to do that) but the code to talk to the cam and decompress the incoming stream just would not fit in the Propeller.
I've examined all the webcam drivers in the linux source tree, plus a couple of external ones and just can't see (given we could properly emulate an accurate host mode) how they could
be squeezed into the prop.
<Holds up red rag to the bull> Someone go and prove me wrong!! [noparse]:)[/noparse]
You must not use stream but only still picture in WebCam.
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Nothing is impossible, there are only different degrees of difficulty.
Sapieha
Leon
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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
Must study transmit protocol for it.
But still picture mode functioning in same way if you have serial CAM.
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Nothing is impossible, there are only different degrees of difficulty.
Sapieha
Any luck with that C328-7640 ?
I'm toying around with this MCA25, but am not having much luck... The C328-7640 looks pretty good right now... I like the 2-bit grayscale mode with preview modes...
You can download my C328 demo code at files.fwdweb.com/uploads/sdcamera-archive%5bdate2007.09.08time17.58%5d.zip. The code downloads 640x480 jpg images from the camera and sticks it onto a SD card. It works really well and makes a cool time lapse camera.
Harrison
someone have something(Anything) working with this $3.00 camera? What is the speed of the camera? I've ordered the c328-7640. I want to see what that is about. Does
someone have a schematic and or sample code they would like to share?