Mca25

Rayman

So, I got a $5 MCA25 camera, but wasn't getting anywhere with it...

I had my finger on the button to order a $50 C328R· (was trying to decide on which lens I wanted)...

Made one last try with the MCA25 and....· It's talking to me!

This thing might work after all!

It's just a matter of time now...· (and some German translation)

I've printed out data received from the camera on the screen as you can see in the photo:

Rayman

Well, I though I had it... It was talking fine at 9600 baud. But, apparently, it needs to switch to 460800 baud during the initialization process. For some reason, 460800 baud isn't working right...

Guess I'll be getting a C328R anyway...

I'm thinking that the problem is that 460800 doesn't divide evenly into 80 MHz... Who knows. I do have a RTC crystal and 6.25 MHz crystal around somewhere. I'll give these a try before really giving up...

rokicki

You should be able to receive 460,800 baud, but it may take some hand-written assembly. The timing will be
moderately tight, but it shouldn't be too bad.

Rayman

Back in business!· Sliced and diced the "FullDuplexSerialExtended" (that Harrison showed me in this C328R code)·into two streamlined HalfDuplex files...

Now, it's talking to me at 460,800 baud!· This might really work after all...

Too bad I just ordered two C328R last night [noparse]:([/noparse]

Rayman

I'm getting closer... Getting preview image data from the camera. Know it's image data because I see a lot of $00's with the lights dim and $FF's with it pointed at a light...

Sadly, the format seems to be not exactly as given here:

http://avr.auctionant.de/avr-ip-webcam/mca-25-kamera.html

Perhaps the camera had a firmware update since then... Or, more likely, I made a mistake somewhere...

Anybody else having any luck with this camera?

Andreas Jakob

I have a MCA-25 here, but didnt try to get it work yet.
Could you post the data you receive from the cam ?
If you need something translated from german, just ask

Rayman

I'm a bit reluctant to post code that doesn't work... Still, I'm very close now... I've even used a pair of red/blue 3d glasses to verify the format of the preview image data format... I think my current problem is that the 256 byte input buffer is overflowing. Probably, because I'm trying to print the input on the screen, which is apparently a slow process...

On the other hand, I just got my C328R cameras in the mail today. So, my determination is wearing thin...

I'll post what I have this weekend, working or not...

Rayman

Well, I finally got a preview image on a SD card and am trying to process it, but it's not so easy...

Just got to this image (attached).· You can almost make out my ugly mug [noparse]:)[/noparse]

But, I'm missing a few pixels and a few don't look right (and it's upside down).· Also, the images seem to be coming out too dark...

Think I'll focus on trying to get the jpg and forget the preview stuff...

Rayman

Ok, I give up... I don't know exactly what's wrong, but I think the AVR C must compile to a faster thing than SPIN, because it seems the MCA25 is timing out on me...

If I didn't have my new C328's right here, I guess I'd have to try interfacing the MCA25 in assembly...


I put my non-working code here:
http://www.rayslogic.com/propeller/Programming/Cameras/cameras.htm

Maybe somebody with more time can get it working...

Post Edited (Rayman) : 11/4/2007 8:19:49 PM GMT