Hi
Im trying to figure out this product http://www.proto-pic.co.uk/cmos-camera-640x480/. I have no real idea how to read datasheets https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Sensors/Imaging/TCM8230MD.pdf and was hoping some one could 'school' me on this please.
Ideally, i would like to use this with firmata on android
It isn't really an "I2c" camera. These cameras use I2C for the computer to send the camera some configuration information, but the actual picture or video data coming from the camera doesn't use I2c.
Using any camera with the arduino is critically constrained by the small RAM of the arduino. Some people have done it, but it is quite impractical and waste of time to get it to work. Other devices with more RAM are going to be much more practical.
Look for the very long thread on the OV7670 device, which is probably quite similar to yours, to get an idea of the issues.
Ah i see. Please excuse my ignorance i have only every used arduino from a pc and to connect servos and potentiometers.
Can you advise on the best way to get an external camera working with android and arduino without having to compile a new android OS ( because a-> i dont wanna ruin my tablet B-> i wouldnt even know where to start thinking of doing that )
Jaychad:
Can you advise on the best way to get an external camera working with android and arduino without having to compile a new android OS ( because a-> i dont wanna ruin my tablet B-> i wouldnt even know where to start thinking of doing that )
The advice was: Don't use Arduino.
Arduinos are totally unsuited to working with video.
Well I got the ov7670 working on the arduino in fact I create the long thread. You could use an arduino if you want it will be slow.
I have tested my OV7670 module, with a STM32F4 microcontroller. This microcontroller comes with a Digital CaMera Interface (DCMI) and a Direct Memory Access (DMA) controller, these two can capture the frames without the intervention of the processor. I used an XCLK of 8 MHz, but configured the OV7670 to output a PCLK of 24 MHz, this means I was capturing 30 fps. I used the QCIF format, however I was receiving 174 x 144 pixels instead of 176 x 144. Color format was the default YCbCr422. One of every six frames was sent to a PC using a UART communication at 3 Mbps.