Mac
Resolved by Jeremie!
Need A USB Camera Recommendation
Hey all, it's been a lonnng time. And honestly, the last two years have been very difficult on my family and I, but re-fitting my iRobot sculpture has been helping me get through it all.
I've replaced all the cell phone batteries with battery blanks and adapted a new, faster face-tablet so it can run more videos, also with a battery blank (using the voltage regulator from the original battery, of course), so I've removed all chemical reactions from the sculpture. But now it's time to hardwire the EZB V4/2 and a USB camera to the MS Surface Pro that is housed in the pedestal (a couple years late, sorry DJ). So I'm looking for recommendations on a USB camera, preferable one that doesn't come from China (because I don't want to wait that long) that works with the new Synthiam ARC. Or will just ANY USB camera work with ARC? I don't need a housing and I can use one of my old EZ_Robot camera's heat sinks if need be. Here's an example of what I'm looking for (but it's in China)
Most of what I'm finding are wide-angle, security-type cameras. Will that work okay with face tracking? Are there USB cameras that work with ARC better than others? Any links would be much appreciated.
I'm working on getting the EZB hard wired to the MS Surface as well, thanks to all the old threads and particularly, to Dave Schulpius, so I think I have that covered. And yes, I've upgraded the firmware so I'm making some progress.
I hope you all have been healthy and reasonably happy these past couple of years. It's good to be back
-Mac
I don’t think either of those cameras need a heat sink. The ezrobot camera does because it uses an untraditional method of transmitting the video. Most cameras are usb and there’s a selection of usb chips available that does the job. But with the ezrobot camera, it’s uart and therefore required a unique solution that needed a heat sink.
so I’m pretty sure the other cameras won’t get hot at all. I’ve never experienced them getting hot. Might not hurt to run a test overnight and see how warm they get.
Thanks DJ, just what I needed to hear
The EZB camera was so easy to mount to the vertical servo. Both of these others are going to take some fabrication, but I'll get 'er done. I've also made the USB/Serial cable for the EZB but I haven't tested it yet. Fingers crossed!
Success! (so far). I made the new wiring harness using the USB/Serial adapter recommended by Dave Schulpius, a good six feel long, and used the MS lifecam recommended by Jeremie and so far, no disconnects. I was a little worried about using a USB hub with the MS Surface but no problems and the face tracking is nice and responsive. The one thing I hadn't considered is that since there is no disconnect at the camera, if I have trouble I'll have to remove the new Galaxy Tab-E from the head to get the camera out. And that can be tricky since the glass screen can easily be broken when removing. Ask me how I know
But since I've been struggling with wireless disconnects, this hardwiring was well worth it.
Thanks everyone for your help.
Yes, it will work with face tracking? No, USB cameras that I have tried all work about the same. The main difference is the resolution.
Thanks for the input, TMesserschmidt. Everything is now hardwired and the camera is working great. And no disconnects, yay! My problem now is that the video player for the faces, MX Player Pro, shuts down after a couple of days. Trying to learn "Tasker" to automate the booting and video play process and hopefully keep the player alive. Tasker isn't very intuitive, though, so it's taking a while. I've got it to where the tablet will boot, bypass the swipe/lock screen, and launch MX Player Pro, but I'm missing a variable or something so that the videos will automatically play. I wouldn't want a gallery employee to have to remove the face from the tablet to restart the player. That's just asking too much. Anyway, thanks again