what is the best camera to use with PIC for ROBOT

[Abdulla M.A.]

Hi guys,
what is the best camera which can be using directly with PIC microcontroller like PIC16F877A or PIC18F4550,
I can only purchase from sparkfun. there are many camera's and because I do not have experiance in this field
so I need your help, thankx.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php?c=102

Abdulla

[Pratheek]

It will depend on what you want to use the camera for.

The C328 was an excellent camera. I have used it many times. It works great. But it is hard to find. Even Sparkfun has none in stock. Try contacting them to see if they can work out something for you.

[Abdulla M.A.]

I want to use the camera in line follower robots right now, I just would like to know
how to deal with it.
can I use this one with PIC???
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8739
thank you.

Abdulla

[Soeren]

can I use this one with PIC???
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8739

Not unless you want to make a video receiver.
The cams have datasheet, look at them and it's easy to see.

This particular cam says:
Video output 1.0 ± 0.2Vp-p / 75
(Video signal : 0.7Vp-p, Sync. signal : 0.3Vp-p )
And on the page itself it says PAL or NTSC, which is a dead giveaway.

[Abdulla M.A.]

That mean I do not have to buy any of those camera. I think just one choice remain to me
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8924
can I use it with normal PIC, lik PIC16F877A, or PIC18F4550???
thank you alot.

Abdulla

[paulstreats]

Threre are none in stock and the message says that it is dicontinued and will not be re - ordered so you are out of luck there.
Besides its not a real camera as you would imagine it.

 Basically and camera module like you have looked at requires a lot of data processing, and of cousre youve got to have memory to store the image while you process it. A PIC on its own doesnt really have enough memory to store a full camera image and really isnt that fast to read the camera, store what you can and process it as well as running the rest of the robot.

 Systems like the CMU cam and blackfin store the images externally and can do basic processing externally too, leaving the PIC to concentrate on controlling the motors and doing finer image processing on smaller areas.

[Selenaut-14]

So how much is the blackfin? And where would it store stuff?

[paulstreats]

http://surveyor-corporation.stores.yahoo.net/
$195

and it stores stuff on its own board. -- which is readable through communications protocols

[Selenaut-14]

Well I guess it's time to start saving money then...

[Abdulla M.A.]

Thank you guys, I can't buy from any website except the Sparkfun, the reason is the shipment
I live in Baghdad, so I find a difficulty in shipment to here, Sparkfun deal with FedEx this
made the way easy to me, because we have a branch for FedEx here.

Abdulla