alphapepper
USA
Asked
— Edited
Hi folks,
I've searched this forum and found some information related to my question, but I'm still experiencing some problems.
The vertical on my pan/tilt camera set-up is having some problems. It still bobs and flops up and down. Sometimes it locks in an up or down position. I don't know if the blue servo just isn't strong enough, or if there's a problem with my set-up.
I replaced the horizontal blue servo with one from the EZ kit, because the first seemed too flimsy. The horizontal tracking for face and color works great.
I uploaded my project file in-case anyone has time to investigate. But it seems fairly simple. I attached a picture of my set-up too. Many thanks!
Those little blue servos are ok for pan but any weight and it struggles to beat gravity in my experience. Does it make a lot of noise when it's trying to tilt up?
It does sometimes. But usually it'll flop up or down and then be locked in that position. I think I'll replace with a black servo, give that a try.
First, you need to upgrade your copy of ARC. The version you are running is quite old. Everytime you load ARC, you will be notified of a newer version by a flashing control. You will need to change the camera resolution before you can upgrade, however.
Follow these instructions to upgrade...
Load ARC
Load your project
Change your camera resolution to 320x240
Save your project
Close ARC
Upgrade ARC, Download and Install a more recent version
Load ARC
Load your project
Now, as for your Y axis camera tracking issue... You may need to use the Invert option, but i'm uncertain of that yet. It depends on the direction that the camera moves when it tracks the object.
Also, check the servo port is correct. The Y axis servo is specified for D1, and the others seem to be D17, D18, and D19.
The little servo is fine for the weight. They do break easily if you force their movement by hand, or move past their limit. Always use the servo Calibration tool (found in the tutorial) when attaching things to a servo. The servo Calibration simply centers the servo, so you can predict it's limits.
If the is "flopping" the weight, perhaps one of the gears inside is stripped. If the servo is "moving" toward a direction and holding it's weight, than it's most likely a configuration issue.
Thanks for the help. I upgraded. I also took the camera out of the aluminum housing and mounted just the board to the pan-tilt. The vertical seems to respond a little better. Maybe my expectations for this are too high. It still isn't tracking vertically very well. I'll keep tinkering. I set the horizontal port to one I wasn't using for now, so I could debug the vertical.
Your expectations should be very high
I have to say, echoing what Rich said, I found the same problem when using the lil' blue servos. Pan was working fine, but tilt was like a piece of wet lettuce. I assumed it was a lack of oomph from the blue servos. I never did resolve it, though.
I haven't seem to experienced that issue. Very strange that you would. Usually it's a case of misconfiguration
Poor lighting is usually an issue with face tracking.
Also, I'm starting to get away from mounting the camera on the servo. I'm starting to mount the camera stationary and use the "Relative Position" option in the Camera Config. Who says robot's need their eyes on their head?
So that's what "Relative Position" is for then, I always wondered (all I knew is the head didn't move correctly when it was ticked).
I know I paid next to nothing for my little blue servos and suspect they may be of a lesser quality than what is suggested on the label... in other words, cheap Chinese knock-offs.
The TG9e should have 1.5kg/cm of torque so should be able to tilt the camera in the housing.
If all settings are correct and lighting levels OK check the power supply is providing the EZB with enough voltage and check the bracket isn't stiff to move - I had a similar bracket which was rather stiff when I put it together (I expect I put it together wrong).