1394 image acquisition

[Classsound]

Hi,

I need to retrieve an image from my 1394 camera and want to convert it into binary image. Can anyone help me with this problem?

Regards

[RobSims]

Hi Classsound,

Thanks for your post.

Using the NI Vision Assistant it is simple to convert an acquired image to an binary image without much effort.

If you already have drivers and software for the camera you can acquire the still images and transfer them onto your hard disk to be converted at a later time.

However, if you need to dynamically capture and convert the images (e.g. within a running program/VI) then you will need to purchase the NI-IMAQ for IEEE-1394 Cameras driver to pass the data directly into the Vision Assistant (~£300 or ~$580)

If you have any further queries regarding this issue please let me know.

Ta,

Rob

[Classsound]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your reply.

Currently I have iSight camera from apple. I purchased the camera because i thought the camera can be used with my IMAQ software. The problem is i cannot retrieve any image from the camera using IMAQ. For your information i used Windows XP as the platform.

The thing i want to do is, i want to develope a concept for imaging volume elution. In the other words, i want to determine the volume of a shape from the camera. Some people say that i can get the volume by determine the pixel of the particle. To do so, i need to convert something from real world whatsoever. Do you have any idea?

Thanks for your help.

Regards,

[RobSims]

Hi there,

The method you have described seems to make sense, and using a binary image would certainly give you the area information you require. There may be a few things you'd wish to consider when capturing the initial image - for example using diffuse backlighting would allow you to obtain a silhouette of the object in question making conversion to a binary image much less complicated.

Just to clarify, are you using the IMAQ Vision Assistant to develope your process?

NI-IMAQ shouldn't have any issues reading an image stored on your hard disk. So, in principle, provided your camera's thirdparty software can capture stills, this will give you a somewhat cumbersome method of testing your theory, but a method all the same.
I've had a bit of a trawl to find out more about the iVision camera, but as yet I have not found anything that explicitly states its ability for capturing stills. Have you managed to capture a still image in any way, shape, or form? This should be your first goal before trying to deal with IMAQ.

As I mentioned earlier, the only method by which you will be able to capture images into NI-IMAQ directly from a firewire camera source would be using the NI IEEE-1394 drivers.
If you had already got these drivers, but you are still having troubles acquiring an image then you may want to test the camera feed via Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX). This is the best first step of debugging any problems.

Let me know how you get on.

Thx,

Rob

[Classsound]

Hi,

I got the NI IEEE 1394 driver installed in my computer. But still i cannot retrieve any image from my iSight camera using Measurement and Atomation Explorer (MAX). Yes, i used IMAQ Vision Assistant to develope my process.

Regards

[RobSims]

Hello again,

Righto. Just a quick question regarding the camera itself - has windows recognised the camera as installed? If so, has the camera successfully passed a signal to any piece of software? (Maybe try to get it running through something like MSN Messenger?!)

I don't mean to shirk any kind of resposiblity, but we've got to check all angles.

I'm looking through the Apple forums to see if there are any known issues with the camera and any solutions we might be able to apply if this is the case.

I look forward to hearing from you.

[Classsound]

Hi,

On the first time i plug in the camera, windows can detect the camera and i can get an image from the camera. The problem start when i try to use Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX). MAX cannot detect any IEEE 1394 camera. It becomes worst when i change the default setting of camera in MAX. Right now my windows cannot detect the present of my iSight camera at all.

Regards,

[RobSims]

Hi,

It has been known to happen that MAX can sometimes lose 1394 cameras after a reboot of the host system. This can be rectified by simply unplugging the camera while the PC is on, and plugging it back in. This sometimes prompts Windows to reinitialise/install the camera. Try this.

Another known issue - MAX 2.2 or higher must be installed. An earlier version under WindowsXP will not see IEEE-1394 cameras.

Our vision specialist has been off-site today, but is due back in tomorrow, so I shall try to get some other suggestions from him also.

Regards,

[Classsound]

Hi,

My camera still not working even i've done what you told me. There is a configuration setting in the MAX windows that i suppose to found my camera under Devices and Interfaces. When i click the + sign under NI-IMAQ 1394 Devices the Generic 1394 Desktop Camera appear. But with the red round shape with white X sign in the middle. That should be mean my camera did not working properly.

When i right click on the Generic 1394 Desktop Camera, there are 2 optin of driver i can update. Generic 1394 Desktop Camera and the other one is NI_IMAQ 1394 Digital Camera. When i try to update the second option of the camera, my computer got crash and windows cannot detect any camera i plug-in.

Why this thing happen? Should LabVIEW using windows xp platform is not compatible with my apple iSight camera?

Cheers

[RobSims]

Hello again,

I've had a quick chat to our vision specialist. He's said it sounds like a bug in the installation. He'd like to know what version of the drivers you have got? We are currently on version NI-IMAQ for 1394 1.5.2. If you have a previous version of these drivers please let us know and we'll find a driver upgrade for you.

Let me know how you get on.