OK I have a project for work that I could really use some help with.. I am totally new to arduino and now I am thrust head first and neck deep. I need to know if I can get a mobile DVR unit with PTZ control to interface with a two Hitec servos from robotshop.com I will be controlling them over a 3G wireless network using the DVR software that. Is the ANYONE who can help me with this?
Controlling servos is no problem.
The Arduino board can generate the control signals, and there are also dedicated servo modules that work with Arduino.
There is a 3G shield for the Arduino, but I don't know if the Arduino + 3G shield is fast enough.
The PTZ is controlled by the software, the camera must be sent the PTZ data from the main box. If you can intercept the data for sure you can use an Arduino to interpret it and control some servos.
Will the camera tell the device weather it supports PTZ ( options will probably be disabled in the software if not available )?
3g is irrelevant isn't it? only the PC and main device use it to communicate ( and Arduino will not be able to intercept a 3g transmission due to security and lack of hardware ).
Why not create your own app. Even Google chrome can use the com port ( website with JavaScript... easy ). then you can independently control the servos regardless of what the DVR or its software is doing.
You are jumping in the deep end and are going to smother yourself in ideas you might not understand. Baby steps... learn how to control a servo using Arduino, then modify it to user the serial comms to control it a bit more. and so on...
Yeah you might not have time to tinker, but if that's the case, you might as well keep this as a pipe dream. A month or two of learning and you'll probably surprise yourself.
Why not get a cheapo wifi IP camera. They are full colour and some models have PTZ built in. Then everything is already done for you.
Peter, thank you! that is definitely in the right direction only the units will be stationary investigation surveillance units. We investigate corporate fraud so almost everything will be stationary. The other thing I need is to incorporate a DVR for evidence storage onsite. These units will be put into place and operated from another city/state via the 3G network.
Pyro, your very right. This project has been dropped into my lap without any planning. SO now I am trying to play catch up with an industry that is already 4 years ahead of me. We talked about this a couple of years ago, then no one seemed interested after a while. Then two weeks ago.....BAM. Insert the old "We need this yesterday" speech. So yes, I am drowning here and I am looking for a bit of help wherever I can find it. So I came here, where I know I can find come competent people to help me or point me in the right direction. We are a small company, so we need any advantage we can get.
instead of 3g you could run the arduino via LAN or WAN with a simple ethernet shield and some code and some port forwarding you can run that thing from anywhere in the world with HTML or Javascript. I had a buddy in Massachusetts turning on and off LED's connected to my arduino and WAN in Missouri and i think it only cost me about 30-40 bucks in offical arduino parts... As for the servos there is so much support on here for running servos there are some shields you could buy and the servo.h library will help you out alot... I wish my job tossed arduino projects at me.
here is a video showing some basic controll over network
if your trying to access the WAN device with 3g it would be no problem because it is sitting on a network that you can access via the internet but the DVR im not sure about... gonna have to leave that part to somebody else.... probably need to connect it to a server that has been connected to an accessible port to allow remote access to recordings. Good luck
