Trouble in driving Point Grey Grasshoper cameras - camera

I am trying to drive two Grasshopper cameras, from Point Grey Research, using a laptop. As my laptop (and generally majority laptop's) does not have any FireWire 800 port, I am using a FireWire 800 to Express Card device which contains two FireWire 800 ports.
I am trying to capture sample images using the example codes provided by FlyCapture (SDK of Point Grey). When I run these examples on my laptop, they show an error "Error starting isochronous stream". However, I am able to run the same examples on a desktop and could capture images successfully.
Please note that power supply to drive the cameras doesnot seem to be a problem as both the cameras show a glowing led.
I have also written a sample code using libdc1394 library to list the active cameras connected to the machine. And upon running this code on my laptop, it shows that two cameras are connected. (which may mean that the problem lie in flycapture)
Did anyone face a similar problem ? Or could any of you successfully drive one or two Grasshopper camera using a laptop ?
Thanks a lot for the incoming help.

This is Nina from Point Grey's Support team. I can assist you with your question.
The fact that the cameras work well on your desktop PC but generate Isochronous stream error on your laptop indicates the cameras are working well. I suspect that you are running into problems with the bandwidth when you run two camera synchronously through the express card on your laptop. As the bandwidth the express card can sustain is S800 if you try to run two grasshoppers at full frame rate and resolution you might be generating more data from the cameras than the express card can sustain. Please try reducing the frame rate or resolution on your two cameras or try running one camera only and let me know if it streams well.
What FlyCapture example code are you trying to run? Which grasshopper model are you using? When you tested the camera on your PC did you run the cameras on two separate firewire buses?
Please let me know. You can also contact us by sending us an email at support#ptgrey.com
Regards,
Nina

Related

Is there a way to send multiple wifi camera a signal to take a picture at the same time?

I have 20 wifi cameras that are compatible with the camera remote api (all identical).
Using the API, is it possible to trigger all of them over wifi to take a picture at the same time?
I would basically like to trigger all 20 over wifi and then fetch the pictures from all of them. So any suggestions for how to do that would be appreciated. Mainly just triggering them together would be a great start.
Also, is it possible to send commands to the camera with the API when the camera is connected to a network via the play memories camera app or can commands only be sent via connections with the Smart Remote Control? Reason being, I can have multiple cameras connect to my network this way, but via the smart remote, I can only connect to a single pc to camera at a time as the camera acts like the hot spot instead of the other way around.
Thanks,
-Scott
That would be possible but since it's only possible to connect one camera to one phone at a time, you would need 20 phones as well and then you could send the command to take a picture to all the phones which would in turn trigger the camera connected to each one.
It is not possible to send commands to the camera other than by using the Camera Remote API.
It would appear that some cameras use WPS to make outgoing connections (ie. when using 5 AZ1 with LiveViewRemote)....
If you had such a camera maybe you could connect them all to the same WiFi router, and then use the API to initiate a connection to all at the same time and quickly tell each to take a picture in quick succession.
Here's a link which might help you get there:
https://github.com/Bloodevil/sony_camera_api/issues/8

Camera Remote API beta SDK: How to synchronize multiple DSC QX 100 cameras

Can we control multiple DSC-QX100 cameras using the Camera Remote API SDK from an iPad OS7?
The objective is to cause multiple cameras to "snap" picture at the exact same time. Perhaps each camera has an address (serial number)...can the software communicate with all cameras at the same time using multiple addresses? Need is limited to still photos and so-called fast, rapid photography. Video not necessary.
If so, how?
Unfortunately you can only control one QX100 lens at a time. This is because the lens connects over WiFi and you are limited to only a single WiFi connection at once on an iPad. It may be possible using a desktop PC with multiple wireless cards installed but that would be the only way.
As the Sony rep said, there's no way to do this with "officially supported" techniques.
The reason for this is that the camera acts as a WiFi Access Point (AP) - so while multiple devices can connect to it, most mobile devices can only connect to it and not anything else (since iOS and Android don't support connection to multiple APs simultaneously). This is also why you can't use other network interfaces when connected to the camera. (I don't know about iOS, but Android always prioritizes WiFi over cell network data, for example.)
Android devices have a feature called "WiFi Direct" that provides more flexibility in terms of peer-to-peer interconnection, but iOS does not support WFD. The QX100 DOES respond to WFD invites, and you can accept a pairing request with (if I remember correctly) a long-press of the shutter button. However, the official app only supports normal WiFi AP connections.
I have not yet attempted to see if using Sony's remote API in combination with the (unsupported but apparently present) WiFi Direct capability works.
More info on Wifi Direct and Android can be found at http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/wifip2p.html
Marlin SONY, I disagree, wifi is Ethernet and by definition can handle multiple devices on the same network. If you run a phone or iPad as a hotspot and connect multiple devices, it works.
Multicam Switcher Basic is an example of a free app that supports cutting together multiple camera angles live. Unfortunately the app is still being developed so features like third party camera support isn't included, but it does show what is possible and awaits development.
I think this should be possible. Apps like CollabraCamâ„¢ (Multicam Social Video Production) or RecoLive MultiCam prove that is possible to use mulitple cams simultaneous.
I need someone too to develop an App to be able to use "two" sony dsc-qx for 3D shoots. Please, if You know how or who can do this contact me email#3-d.re

Web cam type video camera to iPad2 streaming over wired communication

I want to develop an App that requires wired communication between Web cam type video camera and iPad2. Basically I will directly connect Web cam and iPad2 using cable and when I start web cam, whatever images(picture/video) captured by web cam should be displayed on iPad2.
Based on my research on this I found that iPad2 cable is only made for iPod Program so the connector is not a traditional USB port I can't do direct communication between web cam and iPad2. Am I missing anything?
We are going to use Vivotek camera and they have mentioned here that we can use safari to receive the Motion-JPEG stream. I am wondering if that could also possible on iPad 2 and is it reliable?
Further I found Apple's MFi Program to develop electronic accessories that connect to iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Is there anyone out here used this already and know more about this if I can go for this?
Thanks.
You can receive a motion jpeg stream in mobile Safari or in a UIWebView in a custom app. I am not able to (yet) successfully receive a motion jpeg stream via an AVPlayer, AVPlayerItem or AVURLAsset.
Becoming a MFI authorized company is non-trivial (I tried once). They want larger established companies that have demonstrated they have the skills and manufacturing know-how/contacts to produce quality accessories.
Curious if you can step back from your initial requirement and see if you can figure out how to do it wirelessly for at least the last step to the iPad 2. Can go wired up to 2 feet away from the iPad and use a local private wifi network for that last 2 feet (say).
I recommend you add (use existing, or purchase) a wireless gateway. Connect the camera to the gateway, and then connect the iPAD to the wireless network, and then browse in safari to the camera and then you can view the image. There is no "hard wired" way to get this to work.
As for the "hard wired" portion of the question, I do not believe that is not possible without a lot of work and hardware. There is no "video in" on an ipad to make it a monitor for a camera.

GPS modem that can send data to our server

We are planning for vehicle tracking system. We would like to relay on GPS Tracking System and view position report via Google Maps.
For hardware requirement we are thinking of GPS modem that can transmit data to our system.
Which GPD Modem is suitable for my project?
Use a smartphone. Haha.
On a more serious note, since it's for vehicular application only, there are a lot of companies that manufacture GPS modules (u-blox is one of them). Just google and you'll find thousands of companies manufacturing them. But before you choose a GPS module, make sure you check the regulations of your target country. If the module works on the Iridium satellite network, countries like India & China won't allow it as Iridium frequency is close to their military frequencies. In Europe you'll be better off with the Inmarsat network. So, do your homework & you should be good.
Also, if you're developing your own map interface, you might wanna ask the manufacturer if they have any existing mapping interface you can hook into or disable. You mag be charged for either.
All the best!
Are mobile networks (like GSM/GPRS/UMTS) available where you are?
if so check-out the tracking products from this site or this site (Google keywords: GPS GPRS)
If not, you should consider a custom solution, maybe someone like this company can help...
I have worked on a project that involved sending data over GSM/CDMA network. It used a simple GSM/CDMA modem connected to an embedded linux device and was a stationary piece of hardware. Attach a GPS device and it may very well be a tracking system. The problem is when the network drops or the device moves out of the network coverage area. I am not sure if there any GSM/CDMA modem available with GPS added to them as we didn't have this facility in our hardware and it was very much desirable. We needed to use a separate GPS device, mostly iPhone, separately to determine the lat long of our device.
You can use any GSM/GPRS modem equipped with GPS device. The modem will forward the GPS data to your central server through GPRS and at the server side you just need to process rcvd data and display it on google maps.

How to test web-apps on mobile for free without wlan?

I tried GNUBOX which use bluetooth to connect to my computer then to the internet. It's very painful to set up (under windows more than under linux, but it's still painful, it works 1 time on 3).
I own a Nokia 6630 so there is no WLAN support. Is there any emulator? I'd need to know something like max width, max height etc... usability in general, any hint?
This may sound silly but you could consider getting a mobile tariff with unlimited data. In most European countries these are now available and are not too expensive.
I don't believe you would get a solid experience from any emulator.
Don't know if you're only limiting to the 6630 or not...if not, Opera Mini has a free simulator.
If you find yourself needing to do more testing on multiple devices, there's always Device Anywhere...but it definitely does not meet your requirement for free.
Can you use a data cable and IP pass through?
Since the 6630 is a Symbian phone, you should be able to use GNUbox to handle the connection. See http://xan.dnsalias.org/gnubox/
Keynote's MITE just launched a free version for content testing; it includes the 6630 along with more than 1600 other profiles and 11,000 user agent strings. You can access via LAN get the protocol details.