If I want to track a fast moving object with arduino then use that to 'follow' it how would this be done? Is there an Arduino sensor or 'piece' that could be used to visually track an object and then use that to control servo movement?
Thanks.
Tracking a moving object isn't easy, Which Arduino? What advantage does an Arduino give the project?
I would buy anything for the project so it doesnt matter what materials I need
The CMU PIXY cam can automatically track colored blobs.
Define "fast moving".
Tracking a model rocket
Great learning project!
An ESP32-CAM is very cheap and can do facial recognition. Maybe it could be programmed to follow an object.
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I would start looking for 3D cameras. However I am afraid an arduino won't be powerful enough to perform all the tracking algorithms.
I would suggest you use a Raspberry PI3b+ instead.
Here is an example of a cheap 3D cam.
there is a download section with already existing code in python and ROS.
given that you include the word engineer in your username, I'm going to assume you just need to get a pointer in the right direction, and you can handle things from there ( I was a technician at a NASA site for 15 years. I get engineers. my job was to make them look good. )
get a surveillance DVR. go to the screen that lets you choose which part of the video to motion detect. if you put a camera on that channel with a wide angle lens and a proper Sony Super HAD sensor, you will get a pixelated trail from that motion sensor system. it would not be suitable for optical tracking, but it will follow the exhaust plume and tell you where not to look. this lets you concentrate resources on a smaller percentage of the sky. try to find a schematic for a surveillance DVR motion sensor circuit.
for the benefit of those without a space program background: picture 5 antennas arranged at the center and the tips of a +
center antenna does the receiving. the tip antennas are there for RSSI ( received signal strength indication ). if the right antenna has a noticeably higher RSSI than the left antenna, drive the system right until the RSSIs equalize. same thing in the vertical access. we drove a 26 meter with .001 degree accuracy, and a 9 meter antenna with .003 degree accuracy using this system.
set up a cascade of visual trackers: wide angle to telephoto. the rocket will move off screen too fast to recover on the
telephoto. use the widest angle system to get the system in the ballpark, send that data as a baseline to the higher resolution
cameras. default to pointing data from lower resolution cameras on data loss to recover
you find similar systems in Arduino solar trackers that use light sensors to track the sun.
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If you wanted to have a try with an esp32cam module there is some great info. in this thread on how to get and use the image data from the camera
https://forum.arduino.cc/?topic=708266#msg4760255
Update: I have created a sketch which shows how to get raw RGB data from the camera which may be of interest/help?