VRAC - HOMCAM Homunculus Camera
-
Upload
destiny-clayton -
Category
Documents
-
view
29 -
download
0
description
Transcript of VRAC - HOMCAM Homunculus Camera
Group ID: May11-23
Client: Dr. Stephen Gilbert
Advisor: Dr. Daji Qiao
Members: Kyoung-ho Lim, Michael Gledhill,
Michael Patterson, Ryan David,
Travis Munn
VRAC - HOMCAMHomunculus Camera
1/19
Develop a system that can capture a video stream with 360o coverage and transmit that stream wirelessly to a remote pc.
Problem
2/19
Intended Uses: Military Application: Training exercises and combat
scenariosCommercial Real Estate: Virtual Property tours
Concept:This system consists of two main pieces. The user wears
headgear with multiple cameras mounted in it. He or she also carries a pack that captures the video streams and transmits them to a remote device. The remote computing device receives the video and displays it.
Market SurveyThere does not exist a solution which satisfies all of the following requirements:
• Simultaneous 360o video capture
• Wireless transmission
• Real-time video feeds
• Inconspicuous design
• Portable design
http://www.0-360.com/
http://www.immersivemedia.com/products/capture.html 3/19
Functional requirements 3600 Video
streaming Mobile wireless
system 4-8 hours of battery
life
Requirements & ExpectationsNon-Functional requirements• Small/portable• Lightweight• Durable• InconspicuousExpected Results
We were expected to design a system that meets the functional requirements with an emphasis on fulfilling as many of the non-functional requirements as possible. A higher priority was placed on mobility and flexibility than inconspicuousness and durability. These last two requirements will largely be met by the packaging of the final product.
This is the first inconspicuous 3600 video streaming system of its kind. 4/19
DeliverablesProject PlanDesign DocumentPhysical Prototype of systemDocuments describing testing of various
components and reasoning behind design decisions
Results of testing the final prototypeOperational Manual
5/19
Research and order partsTest parts as they are receivedCreate a working system with only a single
stream’s throughputAdd the other cameras to the system until all
streams are active, ensuring manageable throughput at each phase
Create enclosure and camera mountings once we are confident that the system is functioning correctly
Project Plan
6/19
Budget & Risk
• $2500 from the VRAC• Very flexible if we could justify additional
expenses
Risks• Integration problems• Lack of components that meet our needs• Network bandwidth and range not
sufficient• Component problems that are beyond our
control.
7/19
Cost• Beagleboard-XM -------------------------------- $179.00• Beaglejuice --------------------------------------- $89.00• Pinhole Camera (x4) --------------------------- $320.00• 12V Battery for cameras ------------------------- $90.00• Battery charger ----------------------------------- $10.00• Power splitter cables (x2) ------------------------ $10.00• SVG3 camera to USB ---------------------------- $50.00• Wireless N Dongle ------------------------------ $50.00• Wireless N Router ------------------------------- $60.00• Frame grabbers (x4) --------------------------- $1348.00• Poster Printing ---------------------------------- $89.00
• Total --------------------------------------------- 2295.00
• Labor: (1460 hours at $20/hr) ------------------ $29,200
8/19
ScheduleDuring the first semester we worked according to schedule. However, we experienced some setbacks during the second semester that forced us to deviate slightly from our schedule. We ended up doing most of our testing and integration in parallel, but other than that our preliminary schedule was accurate.
9/19
The Pack
System Design
Framegrabbe
r
USB802.11
n
10/19
Framegrabbe
rFramegrabbe
rFramegrabbe
r
The Pack
Mobile Side
Super Circuit PC213XS micro cameras:• 92° horizontal coverage• Color Camera• Inconspicuous and durable• Size: 1” x 1” x ¾”
Sensoray 2253 FrameGrabbers:• H.264 Hardware Video
Compression• In: S. Video• Out: USB 2.0 interface• Size: 1.5” x 2.5”
BeagleBoard-xM:• Bootable from Micro SD• OS: Linux Ubuntu 10.10• 4x USB 2.0 Ports• HDMI out• 1 Ghz Processor, 512 MB DDR RAM
Buffalo Wireless N – USB Dongle• 100 Mbps network bandwidth• 50 M range
11/19
Stationary Receiver Side
Receiver Station: The Router and the Receiving Computer• Displays the video streams• Receiver Code is written in C
Trendnet DB Wireless-N Router:• Wireless-N router• Up to 300 Mbps network speed
Receiving Computer:• Requires an operating system that can compile and
execute C code
12/19
Client Side SoftwareDescription:• Multithreaded with a set of threads for each stream• Continuously listens on a given port and places frames into a list data structure to
be decoded by display software.• Client Side has control of the operation of the system
Functionality• A connection to the remote machine’s control port can be made at any time.• Through this connection, the system’s “mode” may be changed, from idle to active,
or the other way around.• The ports are determined by the client, and specified within the “change mode”
packet.
13/19
DescriptionMain process runs at system start, waits for a
connection on control portTakes commands on control portStarts and stops streams accordingly
FunctionalityThe main process is “homunculus”. The child
processes that are spawned are “capture”.Capture gets frames from hardware and
streams to a given port and IP until killedHomunculus spawns and kills captures.
Mobile Streaming Software
14/19
Powering
15/19
Beagleboard-xM Battery Pack
Camera 12V Lithium battery pack
(supports 2 cameras)
12V-5V Car Power Converter
Tested each part individually to ensure proper functionality.
Performed integration testing as we added each new part.
Tested on laptop first and then transitioned to Beagle Board.
Network Testing Bandwidth and Range
Battery Testing Lifetime and Consistency
Software TestingPortability Testing
Test Plan
16/19
What works?Currently able to stream 360° video from the
mobile system.Able to get compatibility among all the pieces
in the networkThe network bandwidth provides stable
transmission of compressed video footageSystem is built and pack design is durable
Success and its measure
17/19
The pack can be made smaller when/if professionally manufactured.The wiring could likely be combined in a more
professional manner.Several excess ports could be removed from various
components.An FPGA board could be used to save additional
size, if the effort is deemed worthwhile.The client side display will be improved by
graduate students working for VRAC.The video streams could be encrypted if used in a
military setting.
Possible Future Improvements
18/19
Things that work one day may not work the next.
Test early, test often.Integration is always harder than expected.Communication is very important.Almost any problem can be solved with
enough wire splicing.There are many ways to solve system
compatibility issues when using open-source software.
Lessons Learned
19/19
Any Questions?