SparkFun Forums

[jasonmburns]

I am looking to make a camera that moves (follows movement) using two servo motors (pan/tilt) and can be looked at and/or controlled over Ethernet. I don't want it to require a PC connected to it for it to function. I want it to be able to function on its own once it is programmed.

What do I need to purchase to get started? Is this even possible?

Here is what I am thinking:
2 servo motors
an Arduino board
an Ethernet interface for the Arduino board
a camera of some type
a video interface for the Arduino board
Some brackets for the servo motors (pan/tilt bracket)

I have no idea after this. Could you please point me in the right direction?

Thanks

[fll-freak]

The Arduino is not going to be able to receive incoming video data and put it into an Ethernet packet. What you will want is a camera that has an Ethernet interface already. So the camera would stream data on its own and the rest of the parts look about right to make an ethernet controlled pan tilt device. Such things have been built already. Have to Goggled something line "pan tilt Arduino"?

[chartle]

Yea let the camera do the heavy lifting. A lot of IP cameras are also wireless.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=5203

Of course there are already IP cameras with built in pan, tilt and even zoom.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... etargeting

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=5200

ETA: OK I just reread your post and you said "follows movement" as in it pans and tilts to follow someone or something automatically.

I think you are going to need some sort of PC based video processing to do it right. Not sure you could do it just with a bunch of ping sensors around the room and some trig functions.

[Mee_n_Mac]

Here are two places that are in the "right direction"...
http://www.cmucam.org/projects/cmucam4/
http://nootropicdesign.com/projectlab/2 ... er-vision/

[chartle]

Here are two places that are in the "right direction"...
http://www.cmucam.org/projects/cmucam4/
http://nootropicdesign.com/projectlab/2 ... er-vision/

I forgot about the CMU cam. Looks like you could use one of these to point the IP camera. :think:

Of course the foreground and the background colors would have to be contrasting or you would have to play with the lighting or both.

[Mee_n_Mac]

Of course the foreground and the background colors would have to be contrasting or you would have to play with the lighting or both.

The OP was pretty indefinite with the reqs so an indefinite answer is what he gets. There's a ton of PC based, more general vision/motion detection schemes and if he needs that, then perhaps there's a version that'll run on an RPi. :shifty:

[viskr]

Depending on what the real "following" requirement is, will drive what you need to choose a processor. The CMUCAM4 can do very limited following, as it really doesn't have the bandwidth or memory to capture a whole image. It can capture regions or a line, which might be good enough for your application.

I don't think a RPi can do it either (might be wrong here), what you need is a device that has the ability to capture and store the video data (which is a lot of memory). If the camera can hold an image then the capture is easier, though those types of cameras are hard to find now, most will do conversion to JPG, but that makes matters worse on the image recognition end as while it lets you capture an image easier, you have to then uncompress it before you can process it. A BeagleBone might have the video capture ability, someone else can enlighten us on that.

There are some micro's that have the capability to capture video on the fly ST has one, and NXP has the LPC43xx which can do it with the Serial GPIO.

[viskr]

This looks like what the doctor ordered

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/254 ... ion-sensor

I've used the multi-core 200+ MHz LPC4330, truly an impressive performing part for less than $10 even in small quantities.

[Mee_n_Mac]

This looks like what the doctor ordered

Yowza ! That's an impressive piece of engineering ! And at that $$s, it's akin to the RPi in it's field.
I'm left trying to justify some reason (not to) to buy.