Camera/Tether for 500'

[rovdude]

Okay so I am looking for a camera/tether setup for 500' to 1000'. I currently have a USB Microsoft lifecam5000 hooked up to a cat5 extender, but this will only get me to 130'. If i upgrade to the USB 2.0 speeds, I still will only get 330'.

I need a setup where I can deliver live feed to my laptop, and I need my laptop to recognize it as a camera feed. I am using the Processing language to display the video with a nice HUD over it.

I've seen CMOS cameras like this used through Arduino (I think) and sent through serial to the laptop. Then I've had people who say Arduino does not have enough processing power and/or memory to work with video. I will use whatever Arduino is necessary, but as far as I can tell the Mega2560 is most superior. Does anybody have any experience/idea how to use this?

This is what I WANT to do, but obviously if it isn't doable, I will find another way. I would preferably stay with Arduino instead of RasPi, or a camera isolated from the MCU altogether and some type of signal that will allow my laptop(more specifically the Processing language) to distinguish it as a camera feed. The API for the camera function is HERE in case that is helpful. Any help/ideas are appreciated

[fryslan76]

Hi Rovdude,

I think this question is more about the thether and the max length and througput of that instead about the camera. Saw in the thether section some posts about serial communciation over long lines that might help you.

Fryslan76

[rovdude]

To some extant it is, but I also need a camera that can give me a serial output. All of the pcb cameras i have found are RCA. Can RCA be converted to serial? Or do i need a balun and RCA to HDMI adapter (I obviously don't have RCA connection on my laptop). And if I do that, will my laptop still identify the device as a camera so I can use it in Processing(this one probably noone knows )?

I have been directed to that same thread for another post. I think I will use it definately with my Arduino, if I need to with my camera.

[rossrov]

Arduino too slow for video work. I'm guessing that you are limited to the video feeds supported by Processing, hence the USB? Can you embed an external IP camera viewer in Processing and that way have the HUD as desired?
Personally I would be using an IP camera and browser window or some other IP cam viewer and use an Arduino with a Processing window for everything else.
The two serial camera types and video formats I am aware of are USB and IP/Ethernet.
A balun only converts BALanced voltages to UNbalanced voltages, (eg twisted pair to coax) and vice versa.

Have no clue whether it would work or not but maybe check out a router with USB port to connect to your PC, and ethernet cable to IP or USB cam and Arduino in the ROV

Cheers,

Ross

[rovdude]

Personally I would be using an IP camera and browser window or some other IP cam viewer and use an Arduino with a Processing window for everything else.

I was thinking of an IP camera too, but don't you need an internet connection? Or do I just need an ethernet cable and connect it directly to my laptop? I don't know anything about IP cameras, or really cameras in general so sorry if that was an obvious question. I will be somewhere where I can't grab an internet connection though.

And I'm not sure I NEED a serial connection for Processing to recognize the device as a camera with video feed, but I know it works. I will try to check the Processing library for that answer

[rossrov]

No not obvious question at all! I'm surprised more folks are not investigating the IP cam route . Yes, IP cameras (not sure about ALL of them, so check this before buying a camera) can be plugged straight into the PC, though with mine i needed to change the camera's IP address from the default because the camera is intended to plug into your PC's router. Easy to do with the camera's configuration utility which is a separate run-once application. Also, older PCs may need a swap-over cable for the same reason. I did not need this however. I believe it is done automatically by the PC's ethernet port.

The vast majority of IP cameras still need a modem (sometimes called a broadband router) to be accessed over the 'net. Doing the direct connection just means you are leaving out the router-modem at the PC (client) end, the internet including phone or broadband network, and the modem at the server end AND the delays associated with them. The IP cam has web pages in it that work in exactly the same way as a webpage on the internet, so the video and settings can be accessed using a normal web-browser (so far I have only used Internet Explorer with the cam so cannot comment on other browsers operability)

I had a look at the Processing site earlier and unfortunately it was "unavailable" at that time. Was trying to see whether Processing would support an ethernet and IP cam connection.

[rovdude]

Great! But now how far can the signal travel through an ethernet (cat5e) cable? Can it be boosted the same way as HERE? And am I correct by saying that with an IP cam you can have no internet connection, type in the correct address in a compatible browser, and you get the feed coming in through the ethernet cable?

And below is the basic API for the video libray. Nowhere is it very specific about how to use all of these though. The difference between a USB camera and the IP camera is it looks like a USB is a Capture object, that reads frames that are coming in through a buffer, and a webpage is a Movie object. However I don't know if it will allow a Movie object to be created from a webpage video that still isn't complete, i.e. a live feed.

EDIT: It seems someone has made a LIBRARY for an IP camera, although I am a little iffy on trusting someone else's library.

Then again, I can guarantee it is better than a library I can produce for an IP camera

[fryslan76]

Can you use the USB extenders in a normal UTP network? In that case they would encapsulate the USB signal in TCP/IP. And for encapsulating TCP/IP over serial look at a protecol called SLIP which was used in the old days with modems

[rossrov]

Ethernet without some form of range-extension hardware has less distance capability than RS485, even though they both use cat5 cable. I apologize for kind of missing the 500' point even though it was in BOLD in the SUBJECT line The camera I have works well over 20 metres of cat5, have not tried longer runs. RS485 would not support video - not enough bandwidth (data rates too slow)

Personally I think regular cat5 is a bit dodgy as a tether as it is not designed for submersion under pressure and the jacket is weak. The direct burial cat5 is really the only cat5 type I would be considering for anything other than experimentation

Ethernet gives you the option of various tether types, these being: Cat5, coaxial cable, fibre optic cable, and Wi-Fi (for surface use). The same communications channel is used for control, data and video, unlike other tether strategies that use separate sets of wires and separate communication formats for video and control/data

RG59 coax (TV antenna type) http://www.foresight-cctv.com/IP%20Came ... lution.htm

Member KenL has been checking out promising Video and data to fibre optic converters that could replace the cat5-balun-rs485 setups that are popular on the forum. No computer or IP needed viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1340

If you get composite video (RCA socket) on the surface, maybe a video to USB converter would work with your Processing application? Cheap. I feel the same about using 3rd-party libraries. Fear hard or impossible to alter/fix

WRT to the IP cam and PC, yes just set the cameras address in the camera, plug into PC, open browser, type address and away you go

[rovdude]

I am definitely considering the composite to USB, because it says that it will work with Processing, and it is something I am relatively familiar with. However I am going to look into all of those options. Fiberoptics....woah, thats some pretty cool stuff . I will post updates if I discover something in my research that will work!