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[on:]

I have gotten through the second stage and have the Sony EVI-401 NTSC camera mounted a top the servo Pan/Tilt. We can now adjust (with fair repeatability) the camera angles. Videos to follow. The controls so far are 2 switches for zoom in/out and non centering joystick.

Next step is integrating IMU to stabilize it on a moving platform... Just showing off what I thought I could not do.

[Reply #1 on:]

where did you get that camera the zoom seems to be very good

[Reply #2 on:]

I used to install CCTV cameras and have made a hobby of cameras as well. I probably have 2-3 more SIMILAR zoom cameras which can be zoomed with a button or Serial interface. The camera shown is a SONY EVI-401 (only 8X zoom) no digital zoom. I have a 230X zoom one for the final project.

Thanks for the comment.

It will be fun to try and get it stabilized. I'll be using the MiniIMU9

[Reply #3 on:]

I love it!   I am re-writing a a robotic video compression suite and I think this is exactly what I need.  How did you interface the zoom functionality to the arduino?  I have been looking at a lot of security cameras that use the Pelco-D protocol but they require an RS-458 serial connection to send the data across.  The origional suite was written in player/Stage for a robotics competition last year..  Problem with player is that it was not meant for streaming video and drops frames which very bad for mpeg4 compression.  Hence the re-write.  Along with the rewrite, however, I am looking to add better PTZ functionality and higher resolution cameras; the last one used a logitech orbit which is not incredibly fancy..  the PT is easy using an arduino and a couple of servos but interfacing the zoom capability is what is tripping me up.  Can you post your wiring schematic for the final camera and the final camera you used?  Maybe the code as well?

I read the schematic for the EVI-401 did you send the commands to the camera via the RS-232c, the TTL, or the VISCA interface?

When I get around to writing the camera suite, I will be sure to let you know...

[Reply #4 on:]

Any luck on this project?  I'm looking to do the same thing for an exhibit at my science center.  I'd like to create my own controller using kid-proof arcade joystick and buttons from Suzo Happ, then forward the input to the Sony PTZ camera using an Arduino and a 232 chip

Many thanks for any help you can provide, I hope to share the final code since it looks like other folks are trying the same thing...