For my university project (which is quite novel), I am creating an object identification system using a webcam connected to/built into a computer to power LED lighting. Rather then get into details of my project, I'll come straight to the point, which regards my prototype demonstration...
I want to use a webcam to detect the presence of a specific object. If the object is within the array of the cam, I want an LED light, connected up to my Arduino, to come on. I also want to do this wirelessly so as theres more of an illustration of what my project idea is like.
I'd like advice on both feasibility and how to approach doing this. Essentially I want the cam's programme to just tell the Arduino yes or no to power the LED. In actuality my idea would use the bluetooth 4.1 LED lights that became recently available.
zoomkat:
You could probably use the blue tooth wireless connection to send a serial message from the pc running the motion detection program to the arduino.
Thanks for your reply zoomkat.
This is what I had originally intended on doing. Could you help me further as I am extremely unfamiliar with Arduino.
I've got a macbook pro, so can via bluetooth directly from the mac or do I need a bluetooth USB or something alike. and what would I need to rig up to the arduino specifically?
For my university project (which is quite novel), I am creating an object identification system using a webcam connected to/built into a computer to power LED lighting. Rather then get into details of my project, I'll come straight to the point, which regards my prototype demonstration... I want to use a webcam to detect the presence of a specific object. If the object is within the array of the cam, I want an LED light, connected up to my Arduino, to come on. I also want to do this wirelessly so as theres more of an illustration of what my project idea is like.
I'd like advice on both feasibility and how to approach doing this.
Maybe I am just not familiar with how these things work , but it sort of sounds like you already made up your mind to do this so isn't kind of late to be asking about feasibility ? Unless I am mistaken, that is something you ask about before you announce you are going to do something. So , if you don't mind me asking, does this mean you don't know if it is feasible ? Unless I misread your question it almost sounds like you don't know how to approach this . Is that correct ?
The only bluetooth LED lights I know about are mains voltage lights that can be controlled via bluetooth by supported mobile devices. Is this what you're referring to? I have no idea what sort of bluetooth profile they use or whether it would be feasible to have them controlled either by an Arduino and suitable bluetooth adapter, or by an application on a PC with a suitable bluetooth adapter. You'd need to do some research to find out whether it's possible - the information may not be available to you, and the answer may be that it isn't possible. If I were you, I'd ask the manufacturers tech / customer support for information about how to control the lamp from a PC application. If the answer is that you can't - you need to look for a different approach for the lamp part.
Having the Arduino turn on a small (milliwatt) LED is simple - the Arduino can power it directly from an I/O pin. Having it turn on a much more powerful lamp would require a separate power supply and driver circuit with the Arduino just providing control, not power. Obviously it is up to you to decide whether you want to have big batteries or power cords in your solution.
If you go for the low power approach you might be planning to power the Arduino itself from a battery so that it is completely autonomous. The official Arduinos need quite a lot of current so keeping one powered up on a long term basis could require a big battery - the Arduino itself would consume far more power than the LED. Is power consumption / battery life for the Arduino/lamp device a concern?
PeterH:
The only bluetooth LED lights I know about are mains voltage lights that can be controlled via bluetooth by supported mobile devices. Is this what you're referring to? I have no idea what sort of bluetooth profile they use or whether it would be feasible to have them controlled either by an Arduino and suitable bluetooth adapter, or by an application on a PC with a suitable bluetooth adapter. You'd need to do some research to find out whether it's possible - the information may not be available to you, and the answer may be that it isn't possible. If I were you, I'd ask the manufacturers tech / customer support for information about how to control the lamp from a PC application. If the answer is that you can't - you need to look for a different approach for the lamp part.
Having the Arduino turn on a small (milliwatt) LED is simple - the Arduino can power it directly from an I/O pin. Having it turn on a much more powerful lamp would require a separate power supply and driver circuit with the Arduino just providing control, not power. Obviously it is up to you to decide whether you want to have big batteries or power cords in your solution.
If you go for the low power approach you might be planning to power the Arduino itself from a battery so that it is completely autonomous. The official Arduinos need quite a lot of current so keeping one powered up on a long term basis could require a big battery - the Arduino itself would consume far more power than the LED. Is power consumption / battery life for the Arduino/lamp device a concern?
Thanks for your reply.
I'm definitely going for the lower approach - I just want to illuminate one simple standard LED from an object detection programme. Any possible wireless transmission method would be perfectly suitable for the purposes of the demonstration.
If you're looking for a range of a few meters, a bluetooth serial connection from the PC to an Arduino+LED would be the most straight forward solution, then. For longer distances, you might consider a pair of XBees. (With the XBee approach you should be able to drive the LED directly from the XBee - no Arduino involved.)
PeterH:
If you're looking for a range of a few meters, a bluetooth serial connection from the PC to an Arduino+LED would be the most straight forward solution, then. For longer distances, you might consider a pair of XBees. (With the XBee approach you should be able to drive the LED directly from the XBee - no Arduino involved.)
Thanks Peter,
Indeed I need only a meter, if that, just to demonstrate it to the group.
I'll get looking into it right away and hopefully I won't be back and all will go well!
So, do you have some ideas regarding object tracking? I don't have up-to-date knowledge of this field. Seems complicated unless you have an answer that you just didn't share here. From that point to lighting LED with arduino is straightforward.
OpenCV enables various algorithms depending what sort of object you need to track and what sort of environment you need to track it in. In some cases it can be done simply, but in other situations can get extremely complicated. There are forums for that sort of thing - it's not really an Arduino issue.