CAMERA SERVO ADD-ON

Here is a servo adapter for non-infrared remote controlled cameras. Upper servo controls shutter and lower zoom functions. Servo position can be adjusted to fit multiple camera makes. The video shows adapter controlled by the arduino universal remote camera controller which controls the camera array of my previous post.
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This adapter can be controller by a pc via an rf (xbee) link or arduino's serial usb port , the mini remote control shown here, the hacked helicopter remote control of the previous post, any  PWM R/C remote or by using time lapse and PIR / infrared barrier ports /buttons  on board  arduino pcb

REMOTE CONTROLLED CAMERA ARRAY

I really like remote controlled cameras. Unfortunatelly, affordable ones are very rare these days (like Pentax Optio S1) . An infrared remote control was considered standard accessory during the good old days of  mini-dv and other  tape camcorders but now one has to try hard to find the little red-purple  piece of plastic at the front face of contemporary video equipment.
So,I  decided to make an arduino infrared remote controlled camera array . An arduino prototype board with an infrared led and two servos controls at least four different pieces of video equipment and has a few  options useful for nature and wild life photography as well.  A motorized camera rig is on the way.

Oblique view of the  camera array

Rear view of the camera array

Camera array in action

Arduino sends infrared remote codes to the cameras in order to control functions like shutter press/release, zoom in /out, snapshot recording and video recording toggle. Arduino infrared is controlled remotely by either by a  PWM R/C remote control , a serial  digital link (or Xbee) ,  a 433MHZ 4-Channel  button remote control or locally using butons on the arduino board itself. Even two servos can be connected on the board to control shutter and zoom in manual-only cameras. A relay output and an user configurable input can be connected to a PIR detector or an infrared barrier.

A "hacked" 433MHZ radio link -we just get TTL Rx/Tx signals and 5V to feed  Arduino

Arduino infrared prototype feeded by a  7.4V  LiPo (5400mah!!) , a 3A/ 5V swiching regulator, and a hacked 433Mhz serial link . Bottom center is the Infrared led and one of the two optional servos for shutter and zoom functions.  

The not-so-innocent cheap helicopter model remote control and hacked  433Mhz serial receiver. Everything inside original remote  was discarded and a 433Mhz serial link (the same as the receiver) was added  together with an arduino mini at 16 Mhz, another  two axis left joystick and two extra buttons below it.  Power comes from  4 NimH batteries and a 5V/3A switching regulator,  Line-of-view range is about 300 meters.  

Arduino infrared prototype is controlled by an -also hacked - 4-channel 433 Mhz garage door  receiver. The minimalistic remote shown on the right has a line-of-view range of 300 meters ! It can control shutter , Video recording and Zoom functions of every camera in  the array.   

 2 channels of a common  PWM R/C receiver are connected to the arduino prototype. We can control  shutter , Video recording and Zoom functions of every camera in  the array also,  using flap  (CH6) switch for shutter and Video record toggle, and  throttle (or elevator) joystick (CH3/CH1) for Zooming functions.     

Another useful option is the built-in intervalometer   which takes time-lapse videos like this one :

You can see a FHD of the above video if you click on the following  link :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEV3MGRP8cs&feature=plcp

or this one :

MEADE ETX-70AT TELESCOPE REMOTE PC AND ARDUINO CONTROL

These fine nights of September when Orion rises early the morning above the horizon, and Jupiter dominates the sky, its a pleasure to use the small ETX-70 telescope guided by its Autostar 494 controller. That telescope costed a mere 200 Euros at Lidl and in my opinion it isn't just a fine little telescope for the beginer, but it's also  perfect for land surveing. When Lidl sold its Bresser microscope (another 60 Euros welll spend), it supplied it with a USB camera that fits not only to the microscope , but via an (supplied) adapter to the 1.25'  eyepiece holder of the ETX-70. Even though the USB video adapter has a resolution of just  640 x 480 pixel , it is very good for land surveying as  shown on the following  video. At this case the distance to the subject (the Mi-8 Helicopter) was about 2.5 kilometers, temperature was about 27 deg. C, a sea area existed between the scope and the target and atmospheric conditions far from perfect. Barlows 3x lens was also used that deteriorated the resolution but I wanted to push it to its limits.

 

From the point of view of an electronics engineer the most interesting feature of the ETX-90  , is the precise guiding mechanism which can be controled by the computer's serial port. All you need is the optional 506 cable set from Meade which is actually an RS232 to I2C adapter that connects to the AUX port of the microscope. A lot of info is written about Meade's serial protocol but the best way to learn about it (exactly as I did) is to tap the serial cable and spy on the data when controlling the telescope with a proper software such as Drsoft 's Meade control panel , Carte des Ciels or Stellarium. A much more elegant solution to taping the cable is to duplicate the controling serial port using a serial to ip server, and open a teminal (like TeraTerm) at 9600N81 to view and log the traffic.After all my finds were :

#:Mn#  Slew north (up)
#:Ms#  Slew south (down)
#:Me#  Slew east  (left)
#:Mw#  Slew west  (right)

#:Mw##:Mn#  Slew right up    (NW)
#:Mw##:Ms#  Slew right down  (SW)
#:Me##:Mn#   Slew left  up    (NE)
#:Me##:Ms#   Slew left down   (SE)

#:Qn##:Qs##:Qe##:Qw# Stop movement after above commands
#:Q# Stop movement for all motors

#:Sw2#   Slew speed slow
#:Sw3#   Slew speed medium
#:Sw4#   Slew speed fast

FOCUS  CONTROL - there isn't any focuser on the scope - we will talk about it later.
#:F+#    Focus +
#:F-#   Focus -
#:FQ#   Focus Stop
#:FF#   Fast Focus
#:FS#   Slow Focus
 
After reading the excellent info on http://www.weasner.com   I learn that : " when typing a single control-F on the terminal  the Autostar should echo an "A" or "P" depending upon whether it's
 set up as Alt/Az or Polar mount status and when typing #:GVF#  it should respond with its identification string, including the word Autostar and a time and date (when that firmware version
 was built at Meade) ".
Indeed  :
 Ctrl -F    ---> A
#:GVF#   ---> #Autostar|A|12Ea #    

RECHARGEABLE BATTERY QUALITY MONITOR

       Using micro-controllers one can easily (!!!) make an intelligent rechargeable battery monitor in order to check if his NiMh or Nicads are in good condition. Let's take my favorite Arduino for example. It has 6 analog ports, so we can take a six battery holder, cut all inter-cell connections (they are connected in series), put a resistor in series with each cell (it we are keeping it simple - a current source would be much better) and measure and log the voltage as it drops through the resistor. We could also program some kind of Processing script to display the results graphically on the computer.
       Well, I used a different - and  faster approach. I used my intelligent 10-cell charger and my Sony TRV-22 DVR in photo mode and its simple intervalometer. TRV-22 can take photographs every 1, 5 or 10 minutes in memory stick (120 photos 640x480 resolution on 8MB memory stick)  I fully charged the batteries and then discharged them , photographing the charger's leds every 10 minutes. When a cell is being discharged a red led flashes slowly  and when discharging is over it lights steadily until full charge when it  finally becomes green. The fist discharged battery is the weakest and the last one has the maximum amount of energy. In the following time- lapse video you can see that batteries 8 and 9 are the first to begin charging (that means that are the first to discharge - the ones with the less energy) because their leds lite steadily first of all the others. Battery number 3 is the best because its charging begun 2h 45' after no's 8 and 9 (by examining the EXIF metadata in every pictures file).
      Night vision is enabled on TRV-22 because most of the process took place at night. Here is a video of the discharging sequence :  

The above procedure can also be accomplished with a web cam and a capture program with intervalometer function. There are a few free ones on the web. Timing error if 10 minute interval is used is +/- 10min. Following time lapse video shows charging sequence :

 
     

INFRARED REMOTE CONTROL CODE HACKING FOR AUDIO - VIDEO DEVICES

Remote controlling audio-video devices like cameras, DVR's , VCR's is one of my favorites.

Imagine remote controlled  pan - tilt cameras for wildlife photography, target acquisition etc !!

SONY DVR TRV22E-TRV11E infrared remote control hack

At first a pulse of 2.4ms (of 38khz)  must be send followed by a 600us pause
"1" (38KHZ ) duration is 1200us, "0" (38KHZ)  is 600us and inter-digit (pause) duration is 600us.
After last bit we have a pause of 19.5ms.  Each pulse train  must be send 3 times.


{1,0,0,1,1,0,0,1,0,0,1,1,1,0,1}   Start-Stop Recording
{1,0,1,0,1,0,0,1,0,0,1,1,1,0,1}   Snap Shot
{0,1,0,1,1,0,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,1,1}   Zoom In
{1,1,0,1,1,0,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,1,1}   Zoom Out

JVC GRD-240E DV camera infrared remote control hack

At first a pulse train  of 8,8ms (of 38khz)  must be send followed by a 4ms pause
"1" (pause ) duration is 1500us, "0" (pause)  is 600us and signal (38KHZ) duration is 600us.
After last bit we have a pause of 17.5ms. Each pulse train  must be send once.

{1,1,0,0,1,0,1,1,1,0,0,1,1,0,1,0}   Start-Stop Recording
{1,1,0,0,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,1,1,0}   Power Toggle
{1,1,0,0,1,0,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,0,1,0}   Snap Shot 
{1,1,0,0,1,0,1,1,0,1,0,0,1,0,1,0}   Zoom In
{1,1,0,0,1,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,0}   Zoom Out

Fujifilm Finepix S2000hd infrared remote control hack

At first a pulse of 9,2ms (of 38khz)  must be send followed by a 4.48ms pause
"1" (pause ) duration is 1620us, "0" (pause)  is 600us and signal (38KHZ) duration is 580us.
After last bit we have a pause of 40.6ms. Each pulse train  must be send once.


 {1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,0}  PHOTOS |>
{1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0}  MENU / OK
{1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,1,0,1,1,1,0}  FUNCTION
{1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,0}  DISP / BACK
{1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,1,1,1,0}  Right Arrow
{1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,1,1,1,1,0}  Left Arrow
{1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,0}  Up Arrow
{1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,0}  Down Arrow
{1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,1,1,0,1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1,0,1,1,1,0}  hex 2 Zoom In
{1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,1,0,1,1,1,0}  hex b Zoom Out

Important !! Last two commands are not implemented at the official Fujifilm remote control.

INSURGENT DETECTION - MONITORING AUV

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REMOTE CONTROLLED KITE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Aerial photography is implemented via an r/c kite - suspended pan tilt rig ,and an rf video link. Kite aerial photography is completely  different  from  traditional r/c model photography. It has some serious advantages as :

• Low cost
• Low risk for environment, operator and subject
• Completely portable. (whole set fits in a 40 lt backpack)
• Easy maintenance.
• Quiet and low profile.
• One person operation , remote operation possible. 

Main drawbacks are :

• Wind must have a speed  over 12 knots (>4 beaufort scale) - not a problem at  the Aegean islands.
• Kite line must be clear of electric lines, trees and other obstacles.

The kite can be a fully foldable one (no spars) of the flowform type but virtually any type with a 2-3m2 area can be used..
The spool (reel) is the most critical part of the system , because it must take 150-400m of line, it must have a kind of brake ( and that is very important!) and a handle that can wind and release the line fast . Mine is hand  made of 10mm plywood.
The rig is suspended on a picavet style cross from the line below the kite (as a safety measure) ,it weights approx 500grams  and it consists of:

• a 2mm  aluminum frame with 4mm ball bearings (from old floppy disk readers) 
• 2 standard servos for pan and tilt (the pan servo must rotate 360deg )
• A micro servo for the shutter button 
• an rf video/audio link at 1.2GHZ  connected to tv out of the camera
• a standard 3 channel r/c transmitter at 35 MHZ 
• A high resolution digital camera (>9mpix) in wide angle mode, low weight
• Batteries for all the above

kite, profile

kite and spool

kite and rig

Ancient stone heaps , Χουβέλες στο Αίπος

Ancient stone heaps , Χουβέλες στο Αίπος

Aquaduct over Koufos stream, Το υδραγωγείο στο ρέμα του  Κουφού

Chios landscape ,  Ανοιξιάτικο τοπίο

Δότια Χίου , Dotia Chios

Byzantine tower at Dotia ,Chios . Βυζαντινός πύργος στα Δότια

Anavatos - Chios  Ανάβατος Χίου

 Here is a low-resolution video from the aerial camera.