Created January 4, 2019

Pet Nanny Garden Edition

A bot to take photo of your pet in the garden

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Sony Spresense boards (main & extension)

Sony Spresense camera board

Cytron MD13S

lobot tank track chasis

Story

My package arrives 3 Jan 2019. Unfortunately although my project needs camera mine doesn't include the Sony camera board. So i purchased my own camera and received it by end of Jan 2019

The board can use Arduino IDE and spresense SDK for development. At a glance the arduino IDE seems a more logical choice to try out for first attempt.

Installation and Making Sure it works

The board requires us to stick a strong daylight blocker to the chip, something very unconventional to me. Originally i have missed this step. The matter is worsened by the fact that i initially connect the board with a non data microUSB cable and it doesn't boot as a com port device. I became worried as i read the documentation and find that there is a warning that without this blocker sticker the chip might malfunctioned. Anyhow, after i change my cable and put on the sticker, it works. The details on the installation is as followed.

the light blocking sticker has to be placed onto the chip

Following the guide on https://developer.sony.com/develop/spresense/developer-tools/get-started-using-arduino-ide/set-up-the-arduino-ide, i reach this stage that the driver is working.

The spresense id detected as a Com port device

Then, we download the board using board manager. in fact it is first time i know can do this addtitonal board settings via json

https://github.com/sonydevworld/spresense-arduino-compatible/releases/download/generic/package_spresense_index.json

The we follow through the guide to burn the bootloader onto the board.

This project is based on the spresense reference board library version 1.1.3 with Arduino 1.5 IDE

Camera Installation

Follow instruction in 3.3 and 3.4 on https://developer.sony.com/develop/spresense/developer-tools/get-started-using-nuttx/hardware-overview#_how_to_connect_and_prepare_the_spresense_main_board_and_spresense_camera_board

after starting the board with the camera, open the serial monitor, set the baud rate to 115200, then we will be able to monitor the board camera operation

Motor Testing

To test the motor, download the Cytron motor driver library

To test the motor, download the Cytron motor driver library and make the connections and setup as seen in the photo below. There are two sets of MD13s 13A motor driver. One of the set connects to PWM pin 3 and 9 of the spresense, while another set connects to PWM pin 5 and 6.

motor testing with motor driver boards connected to the Spresense

Spresense extension board pin assignment

#include "CytronMotorDriver.h"
// Configure the motor driver.
CytronMD motor1(PWM_PWM, 3, 9);   // PWM 1A = Pin 3, PWM 1B = Pin 9.
CytronMD motor2(PWM_PWM, 5, 6); // PWM 2A = Pin 5, PWM 2B = Pin 6.
// The setup routine runs once when you press reset.
void setup() {
}
// The loop routine runs over and over again forever.
void loop() {
 motor1.setSpeed(128);   // Motor 1 runs forward at 50% speed.
 motor2.setSpeed(-128);  // Motor 2 runs backward at 50% speed.
 delay(1000);
 motor1.setSpeed(255);   // Motor 1 runs forward at full speed.
 motor2.setSpeed(-255);  // Motor 2 runs backward at full speed.
 delay(1000);
 motor1.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 1 stops.
 motor2.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 2 stops.
 delay(1000);
 motor1.setSpeed(-128);  // Motor 1 runs backward at 50% speed.
 motor2.setSpeed(128);   // Motor 2 runs forward at 50% speed.
 delay(1000);
 motor1.setSpeed(-255);  // Motor 1 runs backward at full speed.
 motor2.setSpeed(255);   // Motor 2 runs forward at full speed.
 delay(1000);
 motor1.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 1 stops.
 motor2.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 2 stops.
 delay(1000);
}

this is the code used for testing and the video belows shows the test result

Testing the GNSS

To test the GNSS, we use the code from the gnss.ino example. After loading the code, open the serial monitor. I have tested it in the room in front of the window yet it cannot get the fix, although 2 satellites are found.

after that i try it outdoor. while it found more satellites it still cannot get a fix

testing with GNSS.ino

i also test with example GNSS tracker.ino, also there is not GPS fix

Testing the Audio

to do this

1) install the mp3_dec_installer with the sd card attached to Spresense

run the sketch mp3_dec_installer

start serial monitor and input choice 1

2) copny the mp3 with windows explorer, when the sd card is attached to pc, and copy the mp3 file the sd card

3) connect the speaker to the audio jack, with the sd card on spresense

4) run the sketch Audio\application\player

one thing i quite blur is that the serial monitor shows main player error code: 5 although it does successfully play the sound through a connected speaker

audio testing

servo motor testing

originally i also want to use a servo motor to tilt the camera up and down. Nonetheless i tested the servo.ino it works flawlessly with smaller rc servo. with the 6V grade servo that can be driven with Arduino Mega, it can drive it properly. Hence i don't use it

Putting all together

So after testing, i decide that i just let the bot roam the garden and take random photo. To do this, i use a permanently on power bank to power up the Spresense, and a battery pack to power on the motor and motor driver

the batteries for the bot

The camera is hold into place with flexible wire so i can tilt it to some angle i want. the entire Spresense sits on a rc servo tilting plate, so we can extend the bot with tilting control. The motors are designated motor1 and motor2 individually. To use them with the MD13s we first include the necessary header file and then define two CytronMD object. The settings should be PWM_DIR instead PWM_PWM

for Spresense, pin 4,7 are non PWM pins hence they are chosen for directional control. Pin 3,5 are used for speed control respectively

#include "CytronMotorDriver.h"
// Configure the motor driver.
CytronMD motor1(PWM_DIR, 3, 4);   // PWM 1A = Pin 3, DIR=4 
CytronMD motor2(PWM_DIR, 5, 7); // PWM 2A = Pin 5, DIR=pin 7

The bot will roam a few direction. in the coding it is forward, backward, left, right

below is code snippet of running forward. The drive incorporate a simple ramping.

void movefront()
{
 motor1.setSpeed(128);   // Motor 1 runs forward at 50% speed.
 motor2.setSpeed(128);  // Motor 2 runs forward at 50% speed.
 delay(1000);
 motor1.setSpeed(255);   // Motor 1 runs forward at full speed.
 motor2.setSpeed(255);  // Motor 2 runs forward at full speed.
 delay(10000);
 motor1.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 1 stops.
 motor2.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 2 stops.
 delay(5000);
}

depending on how one want to control the bot, if we want to move further than what movefront() does, simply call it another time, just as below

movefront();
delay(2000);
movefront();

Sony Spresense bot running on grass

Taking photo

Both GPS and photo taken is saved to the memory card. Due to problem with GPS fix, it all saved as zero only

perfect scnerio of bot found the guinea pig and it doesn't run away

actual difficult scenario

Other major problems being most of the time the pets will run away at the approach of the bots and reach some hiding places inaccessible to the bots

surely, it is more complicated than i have thought off and i have insufficient time to resolve every problem. But i will continue to dwell on it

Code

#include "CytronMotorDriver.h"

// Configure the motor driver.
CytronMD motor1(PWM_DIR, 3, 4);   // PWM 1A = Pin 3, DIR=4 
CytronMD motor2(PWM_DIR, 5, 7); // PWM 2A = Pin 5, DIR=pin 7 


// The setup routine runs once when you press reset.
void setup() {
  
}


// The loop routine runs over and over again forever.
void loop() {

movefront();
delay(2000);
movefront();
delay(2000);
moveback();
delay(2000);
moveback();

}

void movefront()
{
  motor1.setSpeed(128);   // Motor 1 runs forward at 50% speed.
  motor2.setSpeed(128);  // Motor 2 runs forward at 50% speed.
  delay(1000);
  
  motor1.setSpeed(255);   // Motor 1 runs forward at full speed.
  motor2.setSpeed(255);  // Motor 2 runs forward at full speed.
  delay(10000);

  motor1.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 1 stops.
  motor2.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 2 stops.
  delay(5000);
  
}

void moveback()
{
    motor1.setSpeed(-128);  // Motor 1 runs backward at 50% speed.
  motor2.setSpeed(-128);   // Motor 2 runs backward at 50% speed.
  delay(1000);
  
  motor1.setSpeed(-255);  // Motor 1 runs backward at full speed.
  motor2.setSpeed(-255);   // Motor 2 runs backward at full speed.
  delay(10000);

  motor1.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 1 stops.
  motor2.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 2 stops.
  delay(5000);
}

/*
 *  camera.ino - One minute interval time-lapse Camera
 *  Copyright 2018 Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation
 *
 *  This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 *  modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
 *  License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
 *  version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 *
 *  This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
 *  Lesser General Public License for more details.
 *
 *  You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 *  License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
 *  Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
 *
 *  This is a test app for the camera library.
 *  This library can only be used on the Spresense with the FCBGA chip package.
 */

#include <SDHCI.h>
#include <stdio.h>  /* for sprintf */

#include <Camera.h>

#include "CytronMotorDriver.h"

#include <GNSS.h>
#include <SDHCI.h>

SDClass SD;
File myFile;
SpGnss gps;

// Configure the motor driver.
CytronMD motor1(PWM_DIR, 3, 4);   // PWM 1A = Pin 3, DIR=4 
CytronMD motor2(PWM_DIR, 5, 7); // PWM 2A = Pin 5, DIR=pin 7 


#define BAUDRATE                (115200)

SDClass  theSD;
int take_picture_count = 0;


/**
 * Callback from Camera library when video frame is captured.
 */

void CamCB(CamImage img)
{

  /* Check the img instance is available or not. */

  if (img.isAvailable())
    {

      /* If you want RGB565 data, convert image data format to RGB565 */

      img.convertPixFormat(CAM_IMAGE_PIX_FMT_RGB565);

      /* You can use image data directly by using getImgSize() and getImgBuff().
       * for displaying image to a display, etc. */

      Serial.print("Image data size = ");
      Serial.print(img.getImgSize(), DEC);
      Serial.print(" , ");

      Serial.print("buff addr = ");
      Serial.print((unsigned long)img.getImgBuff(), HEX);
      Serial.println("");
    }
  else
    {
      Serial.print("Failed to get video stream image\n");
    }
}

/**
 * @brief Initialize camera
 */
void setup()
{

  /* Open serial communications and wait for port to open */

  Serial.begin(BAUDRATE);
  while (!Serial)
    {
      ; /* wait for serial port to connect. Needed for native USB port only */
    }
 if (gps.begin() != 0)  {
    Serial.println("GPS failed!");
  } else {
    gps.select(GPS);
    gps.select(SBAS);
    if (gps.start(COLD_START) != 0)    {
      Serial.println("GPS error!!");
    } else {
      Serial.println("GPS OK");
    }
  }

  /* begin() without parameters means that
   * number of buffers = 1, 30FPS, QVGA, YUV 4:2:2 format */

  Serial.println("Prepare camera");
  theCamera.begin();


  /* Start video stream.
   * If received video stream data from camera device,
   *  camera library call CamCB.
   */

  Serial.println("Start streaming");
  theCamera.startStreaming(true, CamCB);

  /* Auto white balance configuration */

  Serial.println("Set Auto white balance parameter");
  theCamera.setAutoWhiteBalanceMode(CAM_WHITE_BALANCE_DAYLIGHT);
 
  /* Set parameters about still picture.
   * In the following case, QUADVGA and JPEG.
   */

  Serial.println("Start streaming");
  theCamera.setStillPictureImageFormat(
     CAM_IMGSIZE_QUADVGA_H,
     CAM_IMGSIZE_QUADVGA_V,
     CAM_IMAGE_PIX_FMT_JPG);
}

/**
 * @brief Take picture with format JPEG per second
 */

void loop()
{

  movefront();
delay(2000);
movefront();
delay(2000);
moveback();
delay(2000);
moveback();
  
  sleep(1); /* wait for one second to take still picture. */

//if (gps.waitUpdate(-1)){
//SpNavData NavData;
    gps.getNavData(&NavData);

    Serial.print(NavData.latitude);
    Serial.print(",");
    Serial.println(NavData.longitude);

    // Write the latitude and longitude to a file that can be imported to GPS Visulator
    myFile = SD.open("gps.txt", FILE_WRITE);
    if (myFile) {
      myFile.print(NavData.latitude);
      myFile.print(",");
      myFile.println(NavData.longitude);
      myFile.close();
  //  }
  /* You can change the format of still picture at here also, if you want. */

  /* theCamera.setStillPictureImageFormat(
   *   CAM_IMGSIZE_HD_H,
   *   CAM_IMGSIZE_HD_V,
   *   CAM_IMAGE_PIX_FMT_JPG);
   */

  /* This sample code can take 100 pictures in every one second from starting. */

  if (take_picture_count < 10)
   {

      /* Take still picture.
      * Unlike video stream(startStreaming) , this API wait to receive image data
      *  from camera device.
      */
  
      Serial.println("call takePicture()");
      CamImage img = theCamera.takePicture();

      /* Check availability of the img instance. */
      /* If any error was occured, the img is not available. */

      if (img.isAvailable())
        {
          /* Create file name */
    
          char filename[16] = {0};
          sprintf(filename, "PICT%03d.JPG", take_picture_count);
    
          Serial.print("Save taken picture as ");
          Serial.print(filename);
          Serial.println("");

          /* Save to SD card as the finename */
    
          File myFile = theSD.open(filename, FILE_WRITE);
          myFile.write(img.getImgBuff(), img.getImgSize());
          myFile.close();
        }

      take_picture_count++;
    }
}

void movefront()
{
  motor1.setSpeed(128);   // Motor 1 runs forward at 50% speed.
  motor2.setSpeed(128);  // Motor 2 runs forward at 50% speed.
  delay(1000);
  
  motor1.setSpeed(255);   // Motor 1 runs forward at full speed.
  motor2.setSpeed(255);  // Motor 2 runs forward at full speed.
  delay(10000);

  motor1.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 1 stops.
  motor2.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 2 stops.
  delay(5000);
  
}

void moveback()
{
    motor1.setSpeed(-128);  // Motor 1 runs backward at 50% speed.
  motor2.setSpeed(-128);   // Motor 2 runs backward at 50% speed.
  delay(1000);
  
  motor1.setSpeed(-255);  // Motor 1 runs backward at full speed.
  motor2.setSpeed(-255);   // Motor 2 runs backward at full speed.
  delay(10000);

  motor1.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 1 stops.
  motor2.setSpeed(0);     // Motor 2 stops.
  delay(5000);
}

Credits

Leow Cheah Wei

9 projects • 7 followers

I am as happy as I want to be

Pet Nanny Garden Edition

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Story

Schematics

simple schematics

Code

maincode

maincode2

Credits

Leow Cheah Wei

Comments

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Pet Nanny Garden Edition

Pet Nanny Garden Edition

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Story

Schematics

simple schematics

Code

maincode

maincode2

Credits

Leow Cheah Wei

Comments