Edimax IP camera in LabVIEW

[GIL1818]

Hello, 

I'm working on a better solution to for my project. I am using an Edimax IP camera (model IC-3110p) I currently got it streaming using an Active X VLC control and then invoke the node to add target and play the stream. I was able to find the raw video feed and I am using that as the uri in the control. My project also involves the NI robotics starter kit 1.0 which has a single board compact RIO on I looked into this as a solution as well but I believe only Basler and Axis IP cameras are supported on Compact RIO. The video is streaming OK but I got a lag of like 2 seconds which may cause problems when I add it to the robot. I was just curious if anyone had any other suggestions for this problem. (buying a new camera is not an option I tried school is cheap ha). Also I have been trying to get audio through VLC as well. When I give the invoke node my raw video (currently http://URL+/mjpg/video.mjpg) it streams the IP camera but I loose the audio and the invoke node will not accept the straight URL.  I am fairly new to vision acquisition in LabVIEW and this is my first time posting a problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

Thank you 

Gil 

P.S. I did attach the code I got so far!!

[dstrandb]

Hi GIL1818, 

Have you tried viewing the network stream video in VLC without using LabVIEW? This will help pinpoint where the lag is actually being introduced.

[GIL1818]

Sorry took so long to reply! I did try to view the stream in VLC alone and the lag is coming from using VLC with LabVIEW. I didn't know if there was a way to increase the speed at all? Streaming the video raw URL or in VLC there is hardly a lag, once I use LabVIEW to play VLC I get the 2 second lag. I am thinking of dropping the VLC solution anyway and just using the Web browser function in LabVIEW, however I may run into issue with that as well!! Thank you for your help! 

Gil 

[dstrandb]

Hi GIL1818,

Would you be able to post a copy of your code? That way I could test it to see if I experience a similar lag. Or if you've already gone down the browser path, don't worry about it, and good luck!

[GIL1818]

Hello, 

yes I did put an attachment of the code I'm using for the VLC in my first post. If you can not click on it let me know and I will post it again. I am honestly not sure which road to take at the moment!! 

Thank you 

Gil 

[dstrandb · Accepted solution]

Hi Gil,

Sorry, I completely missed that you posted your code right away...  

I had the chance to try running your program, and I also saw that there was a lag. However, when I tried running the feed in VLC by itself, I still saw the lag. This makes me think that the lag is coming from VLC and not the communication between VLC and LabVIEW. When I tried grabbing from Measurement & Automation Explorer directly, there was no lag. 

Most IP Cameras are not supported by IMAQdx, and so would not show up in MAX. However, there is a 3rd party utility that can emulate an IMAQdx device based off the network stream of an IP Camera, which is spelled out in this KnowledgeBase article. I'd suggest trying to view the stream in MAX to see if you still see the lag. If there is no lag, then the issue is definitely with either VLC or the stream. 

[GIL1818]

Sorry took so long to respond, but I have been working on this solution you suggested. I know this will work, I set the IP configure up and got my camera to be viewed in MAX. I only set the URL with port 554 and set my camera up for free login so I didn't put user name or password in there. Then in MAX when I click on the cam and go to grab MAX always crashes on me and gives me a weird error. Once I can figure out why this keeps crashing on me and I'm able to grab the cam in MAX I know this solution will work. Thank you for all your help!!!

Gil