Camera Goodness

Camera SDM software is working!

After posting a message to the SDM newsgroup, one of the developers (Dave / aka microfunguy) has been emailing me test versions. After a conversion spanning 85+emails so far he has managed to fix it! I was able to make the camera take a video via a script ... I get better support from Dave then we get from our vendor at work that we pay huge amount of money. Anyway Dave has been great and I'm going to try a full functional test later today.

Nearly killed myself....

So my water heater was on the fritz. I woke up to nearly boiling water. I replaced the thermostat and all appeared well. The next day the water was lukewarm. I thought I would test to make sure there was power.

...this is where it gets dangerous.

My water heater works on 220v. Which needless to say is very dangereous. I was aware it was on and had my shiny new meter set to measure the AC. When I touched the probes to the contacts the following happened: A huge bang, a bright light, and me nearly soiling myself.

Turns out I still had the meter red lead plugged into the port to measure current - not voltage. i.e. when I plugged it in I created a short.

Luckily I did not electure myself, however it had the following effects: Water hearter contacts blackened, shiny new meter test probe melted at end, circuit breaker tripped, fuse blew in meter, and the best part: it blew the tracing right off the circuit board in my shiny new meter. Later I was able to solder a jumper over the damaged circuit board, but I don't know if I will trust it to accuratly measure amperage...

Eventually it turned out to be just a bad element in the water heater. I replaced it and all was well....

GPS good, Camera bad

Got my multimeter and a variety of test leads in today. Used said leads to try once again to hook up the GPS 18lvc and try and update firmware. Still no go. I double checked all the connections and it looked good. Then I had not not so brilliant idea of trying to view its output with a terminal program - and it was happily spitting out GPS data! Even better in the data it occasionaly said it was running version 3.0 of the firmware! This is the latest version and includes the update to work above 60k feet which is what I was concerned about. I don't know why the garmin updater was not connecting, but I don't need it now that I know it is at the proper firmware level.

I've had some communication back and forth with the SDK newgroup about my problems with getting the SDK firmware to load on my camera. Still not working, CHDK works fine, but SDK will not load. So this means as of right now - no video, only stills. I'll keep an eye on the forums and see what happens, worst case senario either I go with no video, or buy a used canon camera that is known to work with SDK.

Camera Woes

I spent hours last night trying to get the camera control to be able to take a movie via a usb signal. Looks like CHDK cannot do it. However SDM can, in fact sdm looks perfect - its specifically made to make such tasks easy so you can put a camera on a kite. However when I try and boot the sdm software the camera comes up only for a few seconds and then shuts right back down....arrrgh. I've posted my problems on the sdm news group, so hopefully somebody may be able to help me. One user says it works fine with his SD750 - it may be an issue with my canon firmware (which is old) however I see no updates on the canon web site to update the firmware.....

Various updates

I found a really nice ready made tilt mechanism for the camera. Looks pretty nice and will handle the tilting of the camera bettery than any mechanical contraption I could create. I don't think I will have any problems with the program to tilt the camera and take pictures. However I'm not so sure now on triggering a movie. Looks like the current version of the CHDK software does not support switching camera 'modes' to movie mode. On my camera it is a physical slide switch that has to be moved to go to movie mode. I'll look at physically moving said switch, but that could be difficult as its a small tab that would need to move horizontally.

I also need to work out via the CHDK software if it is possible to disable the review feature, the flash, and autofocus. I just want the focus set to infinity and the flash would be worthless. Disabling these would increase battery life.

I still have not had success in getting my gps18 to talk to the computer so I can update the firmware. I've tried multiple times but the garmin software says it cannot find the device. I don't know if the problem lies with my wiring, the gps itself, or the computers....arrrrgh. I should be getting my new multimeter in the mail soon. I'll use it to double check all the connections and also maybe try a different computer so I can elimate that angle.

More Arduino Fun

Last night just for fun I created a 6 led 'cylon light' with the Arduino. It was pretty cool. I managed to wire it up without refering to any web pages. I did grab the code off the internet and modify it - but I think I could write it from scratch. Its pretty easy to program.

After that I created a usb cable to plug into my canon point and shoot (SD750) and connect the the Arduino prototype board. I was able to have the Arduino send a command to shoot the camera! Unfortunatly it was not able to tell the camera to shoot a movie. I think I need a different version of the CHDK software on the camera that allows the setting of modes. I'll try that out later.

Shiny new Gadget!

I went geocaching in the woods earier as I had the day off. Found one close to the trail. I could not find the second. My gps (garmin eTrex Legend) was jumping all over the place and loseing its satallite lock. I went back home and my new gps was waiting on the porch! Its a Garmin Colorodo 400t, which has very good reviews and is very geocaching friendly. I've already transfered some geocache locations over to it and am looking forward to trying it out.

Updating GPS

Well I tried to update the firmware on my garmin 18 lvc gps. This is the hockey puck looking gps that I plan on sending on the balloon. It needs a firmware update so that it can read altitudes above 60k feet. It comes with bare wires which I attemped to hook up via a breadboard to a 5v power source and a serial connector to a computer. I tried several times but could not get the firmware program to see the gps. I don't know if it was my shoddy wiring, the gps, or the computer. Arrrrrgh. I'll try again later...

Microcontroller programming

I went ahead and did my first micro controller program for the Arduino - a simple 'hello world' program that flashes a led at a set internval. Very easy. So I took the plunge and hooked it up to control a servo based on a potentiometer setting. This is similar to what I want to do with my automatic servo control of the camera in the high alt ballon. Very cool...of course these are both step by step examples found on the web - next step is to create my own program to sweep the servo to set positions at set times...

Electronic Goodness

Got my soldering accesories today. Organized the downstairs to create an area for my hobbies (plane stuff, electronics, castle moulds, etc..) Note the Star Trek Enterprise picture - crucial to any Nerd Lair.



Finished soldering the protoshield! Was pretty easy and having the right tools for the job definitely helped. The completed protoshield is pictured in the vise and the Arduino is at the bottom of the picture.

Arduino

Got my Arduino kit in the mail yesterday. Contains the arduino itself a protoshield and some other odds and ends. I'm looking forward to soldering the protoshield together, but am still waiting for my new solding station to arrive. My soldering skills are pretty rusty and I don't think I've soldered any small components since high school - so hopefully I won't mess it up.

Geocaching fun

Went geocaching again today with the Daughter, brother and his son. We found two. The second was literally 1/4 inch metal case magnetically attached. Got really lucky finding it. I've seen a different type of container every time now - small coffee can, a small flashlight like container then this tiny metal thingy with the screw type lid and magnet.

First FPV flight

Just finished my first FPV (first person view) flight successfully! It was fairly windy, but we threw caution to said wind. Mark (copilot) kept a eye on the plane while I flew it completly via the video googles. At first it was a little difficult telling how level I was flying since the camera is pointed slightly down. But after a little getting used it it was hellu cool. Mark reported it was very strange to see me staring off into space in completly the wrong direction while the plane is flying behind me.

Here are some minor problems I had:

1. Too windy
2. My plane is not really situated for this - its a puller so the camera was looking through the prop. Need to perhaps get an EasyStar
3. Forgot to set the timer when I started flying - its the only way I can keep track of how much battery juice the video transmitter has
4. Video quality was ok, but not great. Should try and mess with the goggles video settings to see if I can improve it.
5. Did not get the video recording setup. I only messed with it a little bit, but could not get my Archos to recognize a video signal.
   

Overall it was very cool - I'm looking forward to doing it again when the wind is calm.

Camera control idea

So here is my idea for the camera on the balloon: Camera on a mount which is tilted via a servo. Arduino controls servo and basically moves it to 3 different positions: down, up and sideways. This part should be pretty easy as servo control via the arduino is simple. The tricky part is telling the camera when to fire, If I just want to snap a picture thats pretty easy - but it would be really cool to tell it to take either a picture or a short video. I've seen that with the CHDK software running on the camera you can measure the state of the usb input and it will count how many milliseconds there is 5v applied. So with a uBasic script you count the number of milliseconds and either take a pic or take a video based on that value. I've seen a example program and it looks doable. I'm eager to try it out when I get the arduino.

Also I'll need to make some tests of how long the battery(s) will last doing this. Most likely the little battery for the camera will be insufficient and I will have to wire in an external lipo - should not be too hard. Same deal with the arduino since it will be powering itself and the servo. Also need to calculate the needed SD storage space based on how many pics / videos I will end up taking over x amount of time.

I have not even touched the communication / gps part yet besides some basic stuff. Can't really do much until I have my ham radio license - I'm taking the test May 9th. I do have a Garmin 18x lvc gps (looks like a hockey puck with bare wires). With a firmware update it is capable of working above 60k feet (which most gps devices are not)

FPV tomorrow (maybe)

I'm hoping to fly my RC plane tomorrow (weather permitting) via the camera / video goggles setup (i.e. fpv - first person view). This should be hella cool. I'll also try and record it via my Archos AV500 personal dvr. This will be my frist use of the video googles for this!

Arduino

I've ordered an Arduino. I've always been interested in electronics, and this looks pretty darn cool. Lets you interface with real world objects via a simple C++ based language to program it.

I'm thinking of creating a program which will control a servo to tilt a camera up, down, and sideways on the high alt ballon and take a pic/video from various angles. I'm stealing this idea from this ballon project.

High Altitude Ballon

So I wanna send a ballon into the stratosphere - 100,000 feet or so. Take some neat pics, perhaps video. I've decided to create this blog to talk about that and other 'nerdly musings'