RoboticsConnection User Forum / RoboticsConnection Software Support / Serializer .NET Micro Framework Library

CMUcamLibMF BETA version releasing soon!

jsummerour — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:18:52 GMT

I have developed a CMUcamLibMF library to allow customers to easily use and integrate a CMUcam2/2+ robotic vision camera into their .NET MF application using the TraxsterMF Robotics Kit (which includes the SJJMicro EDK Plus .NET MF Development kit).

The CMUcamLibMF library handles communication to/from the camera, and the user just invokes the simple interface to retrieve Tracking, Histogram, and Statistical information for each frame. Additionally, the library provides events to notify the .NET MF application that new data is available for consumption.

This makes it very easy program the Traxster MF Kit to track a colored object around. For instance, if we wanted to track a red ball around, all we need to do is sign up for TrackColorEvent notifications, then invoke TrackWindow(). The handler you registerd for the TrackColorEvent event will get invoked every time a new TPacket arrives. From there, you can use the information within the TPacket, such as the mean coordinates of the color blob, the blob size, number of pixels, and confidence to command your robot to track the ball. We provide an example app that uses this information to implement the following behavior:

If the ball gets too close (large bounding box for red color), the robot backs up
If the ball gets too far away (small bounding box for red color), the robot drive forward
If the ball moves to the left or right too far, the robot rotates in that direction to keep it in sight

Here's an example where we sign up for the event, passing in an appropriate handler, and then invoke TrackWindow().

// Sign up for the various camera events:
TPacketProcessor.TrackColorEvent += new TrackColorEventHandler(TPacketProcessor_TrackColorEvent);

// This will loop, firing TrackColorEvents as TPackets stream in...

cmuCam.TrackWindow();

...

static void TPacketProcessor_TrackColorEvent(TrackingPacket tp)
{
int width = tp.RightCornerX - tp.LeftCornerX;
int height = tp.RightCornerY - tp.LeftCornerY;
Debug.Print("TPacket MassX:" + tp.MassX + " MassY: " + tp.MassY + " Confidence:" + tp.Confidence);
ChaseBall(tp.MassX, tp.MassY, width, height);
}

Like I said, it's VERY EASY to use.

I am in final integration mode, and look to release a BETA version in about two weeks. I'd love to have some BETA testers to beat my library up.

Also, since the job of the camera is to perform the frame differencing at high frame rates, I don't know if I'm going to add the functionality of grabbing the actual raw image from the camera, since especially for the EDKPlus kit won't be very useful (no display). Depending on the size of the window you have configured, and the resolution mode, it may take several seconds to retrieve the image. Thus, you can't do real-time processing on an image on the EDK plus. You leave that to the firmware on the camera. I would like to hear others thoughts on this...

The biggest problem I seem to have right now is proper lighting. In order for the camera to pick up and properly track a colored object, there needs to be good lighting and NO OTHER objects of that same color in the FOV of the camera. Otherwise, it gets locked on a stationary object, and it's hard to divert it's attention away (other than to put something in front of the object of a similar color).

Along w/ the BETA release, I'll post videos of the example application (which comes w/ the Visual Studio Solution).

Once the CMUcamLibMF is officially released and finished, I will port the lib over for use with the Full and Compact .NET Frameworks (then I will add the capability to retrieve the raw image).

Best Regards!

SerializerLibMF v1.0.1 released

jsummerour — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:56:19 GMT

Okie dokie...I just updated the SerializerLibMF Installer and Solution file, so that it only installs the SerializerLibMF files. I also added an InstallationNotes.txt file in the solution to provide requirements and the proper installation procedure for installing the .NET MF framework, SJJ Micro Hardware assemblies, and the SerializerLibMF.

http://www.roboticsconnection.com/p-16-serializer-net-robot-controller.aspx (Docs/HowTo/Library Tab).

The projects in the solution now look to the appropriate directories for the .NET MF (SPOT) libs, and the SJJ Micro Hardware assemblies.

Sean Liming just sent me their v2.5 update, which adds ADC, and PWM control to the board. I will test our library against that in the coming week and see if I can read some simple analog sensors with it.

http://www.sjjmicro.com/EDK.html

I have not had time to test the library against the .NET MF v3.0 BETA yet, but I'll try to do that in a few weeks.

If you guys see any further errors, please don't hesitate to drop us a post!

Best Regards!

SerializerLib MSI Issues

John — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:37:56 GMT

I'm having problems with the MSI installer for the .NET MF serializer support.

1) the MSI doesn't appear to install the PE file, and that leads to build errors.

2) the MSI includes old versions of the Microsoft assemblies. I suspect you shouldn't be shipping the MS assemblies, since they are installed with the .NET Micro Framework SDK and the ones you provide aren't current.

I've since found the source for the serializer library and rebuilt it, so now I can proceed, but your MSI is still broken in multiple ways...:unsure:

SerializerLibMF v1.0.0 Released

jsummerour — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:37:59 GMT

With the launch of the new Traxster MF Robotics Kit, we have released v1.0.0 of the SerializerLibMF. You can download the MSI Installer, or Visual Studio 2005 Solution (and build and install the library). :cool:

Please see the SerializerLibMF User Documentation for installation and building instructions. :satisfied:

Please note that at a minimal, this does require our Serializer Robot Controller, and the EDKPlus development kit from SJJMicro.com!

Best Regards!

The Serializer .NET library and .NET Micro Framework?

lawrencl — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:50:33 GMT

Hi:

Has anyone tried to use or thought about using the Serializer .NET Library with the .NET Micro Framework?

Just curious,

Lawrence

Traxster .NET Micro Framework Kit Video

jsummerour — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:30:58 GMT

We'll be releasing a new Traxster .NET Micro Framework Kit next week.

Here is a video of the LineFollowing Application running on the SJJMicro MF EDKPlus board, which is communicating w/ the Serializer to control motors/query the Line Following Sensor, and Push Button I/O Board. :cool:

http://www.dotnetnodes.com/movies/SerializerLibMF/TraxsterLineFollowing/TraxsterMFLineFollowingAppVideo.html

Tomorrow night, I'll try to get the Navigation application debugged, and make a video of it too. :w00t:

More info following in the coming days...

Best Regards!

SerializerLibMF (Serializer Library for the .NET Micro Framework) BETA Release

jsummerour — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:39:57 GMT

FYI...

Here is a BETA release of the SerializerLibMF (Library for the .NET Micro-Framework) for those of you who have an SJJ Micro EDK Plus development board.

SerializerLibMF Visual Studio Solution (46KB)

There is no documentation yet, but you can look at the included examples (in the solution). The library has been pretty well tested, but the examples haven't been tested yet.

To successfully build and deploy the solution, you will need to have the following installed:

SJJ Micro EDK Plus Development Kit and Software
Pentium III or higher development system.
512MB of RAM, the more RAM the better
RS-232 Serial port
Windows XP Pro SP2 or higher
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 SP1.
Microsoft .NET Micro Framework 2.0 SDK SP1
.NET Micro Framework

Once you open the Visual Studio Solution, you'll need to build the SerializerLibMF project and the SerializerLibMFInstaller project. Then, install the SerializerLibMF by right clicking on the SerializerLibMFInstaller, and selecting 'Install'. You can then resolve the references in the NavigationExample and LineFollowingExample to point to SerializerLibMF, and build both example projects.

We've been using a USB to Serial cable to deploy applications to the EDK Plus, and have found that USB to RS-232 cables using the "Prolific" chips work best. Here's the cheapest we've found. Another cable we were using caused us problems deploying the application to the iPac board.

Best Regards!