I want to add a camera

Firmware/software/electronics/mechanics
SuperRoach
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Posts: 96
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 2:06 pm

Re: I want to add a camera

Post by SuperRoach »

Good to know they won't interfere, and also good to know other people are interested in my adventure as well! Gives me a bit more motivation.

So, I have had the parts arrive from FPV. Suprisingly about a week early, which is great but I don't actually have time to work on them yet.

Image
Incase the image didn't work:
http://instagram.com/p/bQaVF4qVaH/

And the full set of parts that have arrived.
http://i.imgur.com/FSiSsT7.jpg

The far left of the above image (with the coin) is the 30mW 2.4ghz transmitter, probably the most important part of the project. Top middle with the yellow bit is a 2.4ghz receiver. Going clockwise (right) from there is a camera lens I think, a pal camera, I think another smaller camera... and lastly at the bottom middle is an 5.8ghz Transmitter. Smaller antenna is a giveway, but the power it needs is 190mW I think from memory - I can't see it being practical for the Crazyflie. I'd also need to get another receiver.
Surrender
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Posts: 100
Joined: Tue May 14, 2013 8:31 pm
Location: Austria

Re: I want to add a camera

Post by Surrender »

Great thing that you have bought those things. Hopefully you can test these parts as soon as possible and tell us if it is worth to buy them or not.

How much have you payed? Can you post the list which parts you have bought (with links to fpvhobby)?

Looking forward for you experience, would be nice if we have a working FPV setup! :)

Greetings
KaR]V[aN
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Re: I want to add a camera

Post by KaR]V[aN »

Hello,

I bought the Crazyflie yesterday (3 hours after mail announcement, very quick :D) and joined forums today, so I still have a lot to learn.

Anyway this is the forum thread that interest me the most (by now) so I have read it and also I have browsed all the items in http://www.fpvhobby.com and I think that the combination that member SuperRoach has chosen is the better, being:

Receiver: http://www.fpvhobby.com/19-4-ghz-receiver-module.html
Transmitter (0.3g, 42mA): http://www.fpvhobby.com/180-4-ghz-nano-size-vtx.html
Camera (1g, 75mA): http://www.fpvhobby.com/63-1-gram-nano- ... 80tvl.html

Transmitter and camera are together 117mA witch I don't know if could be handled easily by the Crazyflie but I have read from tobias that he managed to fly draining 170mA.

I think we could try a small DC-DC (as tobias suggest) like this:

http://www.ebay.es/itm/Step-UP-Power-Co ... 3292wt_878

witch takes 2.8v as input and outputs 3.3v, may be managed with something like MIC94064YC6 (high-side load switch, I already had some experience with those in arduino) tied to some unused pin on main controller to turn on and off external peripherals attached to expansion board like the camera itself. This can add up to 1g (or less) more.

I'm hoping to see how works the material you bought SuperRoach :D
My electronics blog: http://karman.cc
SuperRoach
Member
Posts: 96
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 2:06 pm

Re: I want to add a camera

Post by SuperRoach »

Ok! With the projects I had to do prior to this done, I can start to focus on this now.

I was going to post the parts list, but KaR]V[aN has listed them already. I had another receiver and a wide angle lens, but those are trivial and not really needed.

So far I think my method will be to rig up the receiver somehow (I don't have a way to power it at the moment, unless I could use a cable from an 5v or 3.3v Arduino to give the voltage.), and go from there.

Also planning to use temporary cables while testing voltages. I don't have a DC-DC, I should probably be certain if that's needed, and then order it very soon.

So looking at the Wiki about the power,
http://wiki.bitcraze.se/projects:crazyf ... stribution

The connections should be as so:
Reference from the Wiki above for holes on the Crazyflie:
Image

Camera
Mine Appears to be pre wired here, where a cable is soldered already onto this. Still, you need to know what to do with those cables right?
http://www.fpvhobby.com/img/p/63-347-thickbox.jpg
"yellow" goes to "yellow" on the transmitter.
"blue" Ground should go to a ground pin on the Transmitter
"red" +3.3v Power should go to the Transmitter's "red"

Transmitter:
Using as reference this image:
http://www.fpvhobby.com/img/p/180-446-thickbox.jpg
"Yellow"Has already been covered - it gets the cable from Camera.
"blue" ground should have the Camera Ground Cable in it, as well as a cable going to the actual ground on the Crazyflie, 17 (Digital ground) is looking good.
"red" Power should have a connection from the Camera, as well as a cable going to the Crazyflie for getting power from. Pin 15 Is VCC, or Digital power supply. One way to locate which one is 15 is by looking for 19 (will be labelled on one extreme of the holes), then go back two holes to locate 15. The reference above is a pictorial way of seeing as wel.
Just realized I'm really tired, so I'll check in tomorrow. Like I said, I'll want to try this setup out with temporary cables before soldering. Anyone have ideas for how to mount the camera on when its done? I want to use it for Aerial video usually, so angled slightly down I'll prefer.

I've based the cabling layout between the TX and the Camera based on the image here, which is showing how a different transmitter should be connected.

The english version of above:
I am using the camera's connections to go into the Transmitter, and then the cables where needed go from the Transmitter into the Crazyflie.

Am I on the right path for the cabling connections?
KaR]V[aN
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Re: I want to add a camera

Post by KaR]V[aN »

Cabling looks fine to me.
My electronics blog: http://karman.cc
SuperRoach
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Posts: 96
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 2:06 pm

Re: I want to add a camera

Post by SuperRoach »

I present to you, Frankencable: http://i.imgur.com/7eWSTY5.jpg
(From fore to background: Crazyflie, Wireless TX, Camera is hanging off a pincer arm, and partially visible is the camera.)
Not much point going through the setup yet, because I need to setup the receiver so I can actually verify the setup is working. But still, progress!

The wire jumpers are being used so I can avoid soldering at the moment.

*edit* it's aliiive:
http://i.imgur.com/ypuigbr.jpg

Measured correct voltage going to both the transmitter and the camera, so technically they should be working fine.
I've used pins 17 (or any DGND is fine), and the VCCOM on 16.

This is the Receiver I have by the way:
http://www.fpvhobby.com/19-4-ghz-receiver-module.html
Did not have a RCA socket in the package, so I'll need to get one. If I can't break something apart around the house, I may need to buy it on monday.

Still, exciting progress?
omwdunkley
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Posts: 162
Joined: Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:56 pm
Location: Munich

Re: I want to add a camera

Post by omwdunkley »

Ooh yes! Keep us posted. I ordered parts from fpv hobby a few weeks ago, should be arriving soon!
The more details the better!

Cheers :))
SuperRoach
Member
Posts: 96
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 2:06 pm

Re: I want to add a camera

Post by SuperRoach »

Couldn't wait for a RCA cable, so I got creative and cut apart an male to male one. In it, I have strands of cable (should be ground), and another cable which is wrapped again in more plastic - I assume that's the signal I can use for video.

To show how badly the receiver is wired, I need to hold the antenna in place (the gold coloured thing on the rightmost of the image), as well as the red cable (foreground) to pin 3/Power to get results.
http://imgur.com/vi19KU1

Currently, when I do this the power source shuts down.

I'll see if there is a way to verify if I have the ground/video signals correct before going further.

For those just seeing this post, The picture is from this receiver on fpv:
http://www.fpvhobby.com/19-4-ghz-receiver-module.html

And a more professional wiring is here:
http://fpvhobby.com/img/p/DSCN3979F.jpg

With mine, I needed to jumper the last three pins to select the right channel for the crazyflie.
regressedEE
Beginner
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Joined: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:33 pm

Alternative DC-DC stepup converter

Post by regressedEE »

How about this stepup regulator based on SEPIC topology: Anyvolt Micro? It's 3 grams but we should be able to remove the pin headers and maybe replace the potentiometer with a fixed resistor to save weight. The datasheet mentions that it should be mounted away from RF-sensitive devices so YMMV.
SuperRoach
Member
Posts: 96
Joined: Fri May 03, 2013 2:06 pm

Re: I want to add a camera

Post by SuperRoach »

Thanks Regressed - I was meaning for the receiver so it doesn't need to be mindful of the weight then. At the moment I've been able to use an arduino clone to get power to the receiver. Should be ok for now.

Power to the crazyflie seems to be fine, it's working without a regulator so far. I need the receiver to function so I can lock in some form of mount and see if video signal is being sent first.

Ok, who feels like seeing more photos?


Horrible soldering of the antenna - but it stays attached!
http://i.imgur.com/jMjeyBK.jpg
This was probably the hardest part to solder. The solder wouldn't attach!

Showing the cable layout underneath the Receiver
http://i.imgur.com/79Y4uIF.jpg

Final photo before I had to pack up for tonight:
http://i.imgur.com/xJjGf2k.jpg
Channels 1+2+3 combined to ground. Ground is getting crowded!

I also needed to change the channel on the receiver. Channels 1+2+3 needed to be connected to ground, in order to pick the TX freq ("2.370mHz")

Tomorrow should be exciting, where I am trying both the RX and TX, and hopefully will get a signal on it!

If it does work, I will have a suprise method of showing the A/V Signal as well ;)
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