Question on the BLACKFIN ROBOT CAMERA FOR AXON TUTORIAL

[thx123]

Hello,,

I've been trying to figure out something that's not in this tutorial or on the ERP information page. I currently have the blackfin camera w/wifi and the green expansion board and what I am trying to figure out is this, let's say I am using the Axon controller and what I want to do is use one port on the wifi module so that I can use the srvconsole on my pc to see what the robot is seeing(currently that's the default setup).

Now I would like to use the Axon controller to be able to control the blackfin camera for color/blob tracking (this would be when I am not using the pc and srvconsole) just like the ERP does.

I've looked around on the surveyor forums as well as this forum and haven't had much luck. Is this even possible? If so how would one go about wiring something like this, about the only thing I could think of is a serial mux/demux that the Axon would control, but there's gotta be a better way.

I'd appreciate any ideas.

Thank You

[Webbot]

WebbotLib has support for the Blackfin blob tracking and also has a Blackfin console of its own for the PC which allows you to set blob bin colours and show the results on your pc. Check my website at http://webbot.org.uk

Hope it helps.

[thx123]

Thank you for the link, that's going to make color tracking MUCH easier!!

On what I am trying to accomplish:

There are two modes I will have on this robot.

Mode1 - Is controlled via WiFi and a pc/laptop running a custom console, where we can receive video and send commands/control the robot, basically just like the srv1 robot.

Mode2 - Is where the robot will search out certain colors/objects/avoid hitting things. I have my own onboard robotics controller that will tell the Blackfin camera what  want it to do as well as monitor other sensors. So there is no pc required here.

My issue is that I cannot do this with the blackfin currently as the matchport b/g port 1 is hard wired to the blackfin. The only solution I can find right now is to just use a serial mux/demux which my robotics controller will control, this way I can have either mode as I mentioned. I was just hoping that I could use existing hardware on the Blackfin to accomplish what I need.

WebbotLib has support for the Blackfin blob tracking and also has a Blackfin console of its own for the PC which allows you to set blob bin colours and show the results on your pc. Check my website at http://webbot.org.uk

Hope it helps.

[Webbot]

You may want to try Surveyor Corps own forum - as you will be talking their language. Only a small subset of people here will have their camera and even less will have the full blown Blackfin/wireless setup (I only have the raw camera so cant really help)

[thx123]

You may want to try Surveyor Corps own forum - as you will be talking their language. Only a small subset of people here will have their camera and even less will have the full blown Blackfin/wireless setup (I only have the raw camera so cant really help)

LOL, actually I have been asking on the forums as well as via Email to surveyor. I think what this comes down to is simply most people probably do not need to do what I am looking to do as they can program in C and probably get this to work using nothing more than the blackfin camera. For me I just don't see the point of loading the blackfin up with all the sensors/motor controller/servos which it will just slow things down and cause timing issues, why not just use the blackfin camera as a vision sensor and let another robotics controller handle the other things??

[Admin]

This is what I'd do . . .

The Axon has four UARTs. Plug the Blackfin into UART0, and the MatchPort into UART2.

The Axon will act as your main processor: send/receive commands wirelessly through UART2, and communicate with the camera on UART0. It'll be just like when I controlled ERP by bluetooth, with probably the exact same code, except you're using WiFi.

I'm not sure what Blackfin MatchPort board you have, but you should see a tx/rx somewhere on it. That'll go to UART2.

You may or may not need to separate the green board so that tx/rx is disconnected between the Blackfin and Matchport serial ports.

If I remember right, the Blackfin needs a regulated 3.3V. The 3.3V current is too high for the Axon, so you need to buy a regulator for it. Although I think the green board has one already, so you can probably tap off of that.

And make sure all grounds are common, of course (you'd be surprised how many people don't do this, so I just had to say it).

[thx123]

Hi,,

The board that I am using with the Blackfin camera is the same green board as you have on the ERP, (I think Surveyor calls it the base expansion module, it does have a 3.3vdc regulator onboard)

I'm starting to think about changing mcu's, I have worked with PICS and the Parallax Propeller and honestly one of the things that tops my list is the lack of hardware uarts...

Course in all honestly I know hardly anything about programming in C, but it might be time to start thinking about it...
 

This is what I'd do . . .

The Axon has four UARTs. Plug the Blackfin into UART0, and the MatchPort into UART2.

The Axon will act as your main processor: send/receive commands wirelessly through UART2, and communicate with the camera on UART0. It'll be just like when I controlled ERP by bluetooth, with probably the exact same code, except you're using WiFi.

I'm not sure what Blackfin MatchPort board you have, but you should see a tx/rx somewhere on it. That'll go to UART2.

You may or may not need to separate the green board so that tx/rx is disconnected between the Blackfin and Matchport serial ports.

If I remember right, the Blackfin needs a regulated 3.3V. The 3.3V current is too high for the Axon, so you need to buy a regulator for it. Although I think the green board has one already, so you can probably tap off of that.

And make sure all grounds are common, of course (you'd be surprised how many people don't do this, so I just had to say it).

[Admin]

Yea, I rarely do a project that doesn't require at least 3 UARTs.
(GPS, camera, lcd display, and bluetooth - oops, four used already! lol)

I recommend downloading WebbotLib Project Designer, start a project with the Axon II, and just playing around with it.

Then open the AVR Studio file it generates, and see if the code makes sense to you.

You can get a good feel about programming the Axon before buying one:

Axon 2, Webbotlib and Project Designer Tutorial

[thx123]

After going through avrstudio and using webbotlib project designer, I was all set to order the axon2, unfortunately it looks like I am going to have to sit back and wait a bit before they are in stock again....

I can understand the code, I am just going to have to make sure I get the syntax correct....


Thanks again