Can't get Camera Image on Classmate PC
We've already posted these question on the Java forums (http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=13898), but haven't been able to get a complete answer to our questions. We were just given a possible solution to our problem, but before we uninstall and reinstall the driver station, we want to be sure we are on the right track. The posts are below.
FIRST POST:
We've gone through everything in the documentation, but have been unable to get the image from the axis camera to show up on the classmate PC. When we hook everything up (camera connected to port 2 on the cRio) the lights turn green on the Classmate for communications and the robot code. However, the image area on the Classmate says the camera has timed out. Is there any Java code required that we need to write in order to have the video show up on the classmate PC, or should it just automatically show up?
What step are we missing? We created the FRC account and changed the root password on the axis camera following the steps in section 2.12 of the control system manual. As it says not to in 2.12, we didn't adjust any IP addresses for the camera.
Appendix A of the WPILib Users Guide talks about a PCVideoServer class, but this class isn't in the Javadocs. It also talks about sending to a Dashboard on IP 10.x.x.6, but the Classmate is automatically set to 10.x.x.5. Makes me think the Dashboard and Classmate are two different things. Does this PCVideoServer class not exist for the Java code? Do we need it for video on the Classmate?
Quote from manual
"Images to PC
The class PCVideoServer, when instantiated, creates a separate task that sends images to the PC for display on a dashboard application. The sample program DashboardDemo shows an example of use.
Example 37: SendingimagestothePCdashboardprogram. To use this code with the LabVIEW dashboard, the PC must be configured as IP address 10.x.x.6 to correspond with the cRIO address 10.x.x.2."
SECOND POST:
We thought we had found a solution to our camera issue, but it didn't work. In the section 2010 Camera and Image Processing of the WPI Robotics Library User’s Guide I came across the statement, “Once you retrieve an instance of the camera the server will be automatically available for video back to the dashboard. You don’t have to write any code to enable this.” Looking at the documentation for the function getInstance() in the AxisCamera class, I found that the camera isn’t initialized until this getInstance() is called. The statement in the manual makes it sound like all we need to do to get the video on the Classmate is call getInstance(). However, this didn't work.
POSSIBLE SOLUTION FROM JROSS:
Did you update the driver station software? After you updated the DS software, does the dashboard show a compass in the lower right corner?
Some people have had problems with the DS update not updating the dashboard (which is required for camera feedback). The solution is to uninstall the DS software and then reinstall it. The new dashboard has a compass while the old one does not.
