questions about blackfin camera and working with it.

[Sarah21]

Hi,

I am working on my graduation project which is about designing and implementing a surveillance robot. My questions are related to my blackfin camera.
Well, I read the documents in their website, and the tutorial in this website, but i have these questions:

1. Regarding the green board under the camera, well, when I ordered the camera it came without that board, and I know that it contains the switching regulator, in addition to some additional stuff, is it important to have? Shall I order it? And what is the scientific name or the market name for that board.

2. I read that there are pins related to ultrasonic rangers and laser rangers? Am I supposed to connect them, and the pins will trigger the sensors and get the response back?

3. I bought the Wi-Fi matchport as well so that i can send and receive the camera output and orders, and control my robot wirelessly, my question: do i need to only connect the camera to the matchport using Rx and Tx pins (UART) only.. Or do I need to connect other pins as well.

4. I wanted to check the operation of the camera without using the matchport to send the output to my computer, as in connecting the camera directly to the laptop, how can I achieve that exactly, will the RS232 be enough; by connecting it to the laptop from the camera and using the SRV1consule program?


5. Sorry for this long topic, but while I was going through the datasheet for the BF537 used in my camera, I learnt that is uses, SPI, UART and TWI (I2C) and I read in Wikipedia that they are incompatible with each other, so how do they work within the same processor?

[Admin]

1. Regarding the green board under the camera, well, when I ordered the camera it came without that board, and I know that it contains the switching regulator, in addition to some additional stuff, is it important to have? Shall I order it? And what is the scientific name or the market name for that board.

That green board is only needed if you're using XBee, or if you need a 3.3V regulator. You can use any switching regulator to get to 3.3V. The one that I used for ERP is an obsolete beta version of it.

2. I read that there are pins related to ultrasonic rangers and laser rangers? Am I supposed to connect them, and the pins will trigger the sensors and get the response back?

It does have I/O to do these things. I haven't done it myself, I recommend searching the Surveyor site.

3. I bought the Wi-Fi matchport as well so that i can send and receive the camera output and orders, and control my robot wirelessly, my question: do i need to only connect the camera to the matchport using Rx and Tx pins (UART) only.. Or do I need to connect other pins as well.

Make sure all your grounds are common. Otherwise this sounds right to me.

4. I wanted to check the operation of the camera without using the matchport to send the output to my computer, as in connecting the camera directly to the laptop, how can I achieve that exactly, will the RS232 be enough; by connecting it to the laptop from the camera and using the SRV1consule program?

You need to use a TTL to USB adapter, and the Surveyor site has a great java program you can use to try out the camera. It was written by Webbot.

5. Sorry for this long topic, but while I was going through the datasheet for the BF537 used in my camera, I learnt that is uses, SPI, UART and TWI (I2C) and I read in Wikipedia that they are incompatible with each other, so how do they work within the same processor?

They are different communications protocols, but the same processor can support either. It's like being fluent in multiple languages, where you choose the language that the listener understands.

[Sarah21]

Thanks for the big help,

but i still have one question...

what is the difference between RS232 and USB?

I know the difference between RS232 and TTL which can summarized by different voltage levels..
but what is the deal with RS232 and USB..

in addition to that, i did some digging this morning, and I found that both TTL and USB have the same voltage levels (0-0.4v for low and 5 for high), so the converting from TTL to USB will be for what exactly?

thank u again...
 

[Admin]

RS232, USB, and TTL are entirely different communication protocols.

Most computers today only offer USB, while the Blackfin works by TTL.

So you need an adapter, like this:
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/718

[Soeren]

Hi,

RS232, USB, and TTL are entirely different communication protocols.

Most computers today only offer USB, while the Blackfin works by TTL.

RS232 (or more correct, EIA/TIA-232) is a set of protocol layers, with the electrical protocol specifying both positive and negative voltages.
USB is also a set of protocol layers, just 0..5V.

TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic) is not a protocol, but an ancient logic topology.
"TTL levels" is (nowadays) used as a spec for min/max voltage levels that really isn't TTL levels. CMOS has got different min/max etc., but "TTL-level" is sadly used generically about all 0..5V logic, no matter their min/max- as well as shift points and their hysteresis.
It's more correct to simply call it "5V logic", when the rest isn't spec'd out.

Both  USB and '232 are serial comms. USB is synchronous, '232 is non-synchronous.
USB have a range of 5m. '232 have a range of 15m with standard cable* and up to 300m with special cables.

*) It all comes down to the capacity of the cable in combination with the required speed of transmission.

[Admin]

semantics

[Soeren]

Hi,

semantics

Not really

A spade and a shovel may look the same for the uninitiated, but have different purposes (like protocols).
Is a screw the same as a bolt?

Only a rose is still a rose by any other name...
And while it looks nice and smells nice it's deceiving and it will rip you to shreds if you call it a tulip (while holding it hard)   

OK, nap time