• State TI Thinks Resolved
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 9 replies
  • Answers 2 answers
  • Subscribers 40 subscribers
  • Views 537 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Support feedback
Options
Options
Related

This thread has been locked.

If you have a related question, please click the "Ask a related question" button in the top right corner. The newly created question will be automatically linked to this question.

TIDA-00254: Connects to Computer Webcam Instead of OpenCV Camera

Joselito Go
Expert 5880 points
Part Number: TIDA-00254

Tool/software:

Hi Experts,

I have recently started using the TIDA-00254 reference design. I have a Lightcrafter 4500, a Basler a2A1920-160umBAS USB 3.0 camera, and all the associated cables. The Basler ace is capable of being hardware triggered, so I assembled the trigger cable to connect the Lightcrafter to the camera like the reference design described. 

In the DLP Lightcrafter 4500 config.txt file, I have set CAMERA_TYPE  = 0 like the reference design describes for an Open CV camera. In the config_camera.txt file, I have set these parameters:
# Rolling shutter color Camera - MONO8
# Global shutter Monochrome camera - RAW8

When starting the scanner application, it says both the Lightcrafter and the camera have connected. The issue is, my Basler USB 3.0 camera is not connecting. Instead, my computer webcam is connecting. I am not sure why this is occurring and I do not know how to fix it.

If anyone could provide support on how to connect my Basler ace camera to this application instead, that would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if I can provide any additional information. 

Regards,

Josel

  • 0
    TI__Genius 9570 points

    Hello Josel,

    Welcome back to the E2E forums and we hope to assist you with this question.

    We will need to take some time to look into this issue further but one quick thing to try is see if the customer can disable the laptops camera.

    This can be done if you go to device manager and find the integrated camera properties. You can temporarily disable the device and enable it back later without any issue. 

    This may help the computer connect to the Basler USB 3.0 camera instead of the computer webcam. 

    Regards,

    Alex Chan

  • 0 in reply to Alexander Chan
    TI__Expert 5880 points

    Hi Alex,

    I just tried what you described and it did not work. While my computer webcam no longer connects after I disabled it, the Basler usb 3.0 camera still does not connect. It just says CAMERA_ID_INVALID. Please let me know if there is something I need to change in the source code to get it to recognize the Basler camera. Basler supports OpenCV, so I'm not sure what the issue could be.

    Regards,

    Josel

  • 0 in reply to Joselito Go
    TI__Genius 11555 points

    Hi Josel,

    Our team will need to take some time to look into and will get back to you by the end of this week. 

    Regards,

    Lori 

  • 0 in reply to Joselito Go
    TI__Genius 9570 points

    Hello Josel,

    Can you please inform the customer that officially, we do not support this DLP SDK any longer so we cannot promise resources for technical support of customer issues. 

    With that said, can you have the customer try the following:
    - Confirm if the user can connect to their camera from within an OpenCV environment external to our SDK
    - Confirm what version of OpenCV the user is using and whether they have recompiled the linked to DLP SDK

    Regards,

    Alex Chan

  • 0 in reply to Alexander Chan
    TI__Expert 5880 points

    Hi Alex,

    This latest SDK appears to be the exact same as the old one. The user guide on the website is even the exact same. Maybe I am accessing the wrong thing? I followed the link and downloaded the DLP-ALC-LIGHTCRAFTER-SDK-WIN file (https://www.ti.com/tool/DLP-ALC-LIGHTCRAFTER-SDK). Do you know if there were any changes made between the two SDKs, or are they supposed to be the exact same?

    Also, here are the answers to your two questions:
    1. Connect to your camera from within an OpenCV environment external to our SDK
    I can connect to the camera using OpenCV, but not directly. To get it to work, I had to use the pylon Camera Software Suite
    SDK functions to grab images and convert them to OpenCV images. I am guessing this is the root cause of my issue. It seems that OpenCV does not recognize the Basler camera directly. Please let me know what I should do in this case. Should I follow what is done in the pg_flycap2_c.cpp and pg_flycap2_c.hpp files but create new files for the Basler cameras, or should I modify the opencv_cam.cpp file to first grab images using the Basler pylon specific functions and then convert them to OpenCV images?

    - What version of OpenCV? Recompiled the linked to DLP SDK?
    I tried both the older version of OpenCV used in the reference design (v2.4.10) and the latest version of OpenCV (v4.10.0). Also, I have compiled the DLP SDK.

    Regards,

    Josel

  • 0 in reply to Joselito Go
    TI__Genius 9570 points

    Hello Josel,

    The team will need some time to look into this issue further. 

    Thanks,

    Alex Chan

  • 0 in reply to Alexander Chan
    TI__Genius 9570 points

    Hello Josel,

    Sorry for the delayed response. I talked with the team and we are unable to provide further troubleshooting and support as we no longer officially support the SDK. The customer will need to debug and troubleshoot the issue on their own. 

    Regards,

    Alex Chan

  • 0 in reply to Alexander Chan
    TI__Expert 5880 points

    Hi ALex,

    Vivek mentioned about planning to remove the 00254 reference design from the Ti.com website. Is there still a place I will be able to access this once you take it down, or should I take steps to save everything relating to this design now?

    Also, does TI have any plans to update this reference design and re-release it to the public? It is a very useful reference design (although very outdated like you mentioned) and I'm sure many TI University customers including myself would love to see it brought back soon. I know of dozens of University programs across the U.S. that are benefiting from the Lightcrafter and associated reference designs, many of which are outdated. Could you please mention this to the team at TI and your product line experts?

    Do you know of any alternatives to this reference design offered by TI or others that I could use in the meantime?

    Regards,

    Josel

  • 0 in reply to Joselito Go
    TI__Genius 9570 points

    Hello Josel,

    I would tell the customer the following:

    "We do not have any plans to update this reference design at this time and do not have any further SDK references for this chipset. We appreciate the information provided and will keep it in mind."

    ******** Please Do Not Share the Following Information with Customer this is internal TI communication only ***********

    There have been some team reorganizations and my team and I will no longer be supporting this product. There will be a new team that will handle this chipset and they may have the decision to revamp the SDK if they choose but I would not promise the customer anything for sure. I will be reassigning this ticket to the new team and they will evaluate support for this issue. Thank you. 

    Regards,

    Alex Chan