The Engineering Projects

How to Install Pixy Camera Software - PixyMon

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In the previous tutorial, we have seen how to Get Started with Pixy Camera, which was quite a basic tutorial and we have covered just the basic cables required to set up pixy camera. Now along with cables we are also gonna need software for training our Pixy Camera. So in this tutorial we are gonna see how to install Pixy Camera Software which is named as PixyMon. As I explained earlier in previous post that first of all, we need to connect our Pixy Camera with Computer or laptop and then using its software PixyMon we need to train our Pixy Camera so that it can recognize objects present in front of it.

PixyMon is quite a simple software and quite easy to use. In this post, we are not gonna check How to use PixyMon software (which is the topic for net tutorial) but we are gonna see How to install pixy Camera software successfully without any errors. So now I hope that you have bought the Pixy Camera and have also bought the USB to mini USB cable because we are gonna need to it in order to connect our Pixy Camera with computer and make it work with PixyMon software.

I could have covered the whole tutorial in a single post but then its gonna be real messy because we need to cover quite a lot of things that's why I thought to divide it in parts so that we cover each and every thing in detail and even a begineer can easily follow these tutorials and could work on PixyMon Camera Module. After checking the installation of PixyMon software, in the next tutorial we will have a look at How to upgrade the drivers for Pixy Camera Module. So now let's get started with installation of PixyMon.

Note:

• Don't connect your Pixy camera with computer, first we will install the PixyMon software which will also install the driver for USB cable and then we will plug our Pixy Camera with computer.

How to Install Pixy Camera Software - PixyMon

• As I mentioned above, PixyMon is a software which is used to train our Pixy Camera module using Computer.
• So, first of all download the PixyMon software by clicking on the below button:

• At the time of writing this post, the latest version of PixyMon released is 2.0.9 for Windows so either download the software by clicking above button or visit http://cmucam.org/projects/cmucam5/files (Official site for PixyMon) to download latest version of PixyMon.
• Now after downloading the PixyMon, double click it to open and the first window will show up is shown in below figure:

• Now when this window pop up, click on the Next button.
• When you click the Next Button, the below window will open up.

• Now here Browse to your folder where you wanna install the PixyMon software and then click the Next button and you will get the below screen:

• Now here simply click the Next button again unless you wanna change the folder for the shortcut, which is not necessary.
• Now finally when you hit the Next button, it will show you all the configurations you set and will ask you to install the software as shown in below figure:

• Now hit the Install button and your software will start to install as shown in below figure:

• Now during installation, a new window will pop up as shown in below figure:

• Simply press OK button, this pop up is asking for the driver to install for the USB cable which we will plug in after installation of this software.

• Now that's the last window for installation of PixyMon software. Simple click Finish and you are done with the installation of Pixy Camera software.

Now we are done with installation of Pixy Camera software, in the next tutorial we are gonna have a look at How to install latest firmware for Pixy Camera. So stay tuned. :)[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text]<< Getting Started with Pixy Camera[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text]

Upgrade Pixy camera Firmware >>

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Getting Started with Pixy Camera

Hello friends, hope you all are fine and having fun with your lives. Today's post is about getting started with pixy camera. Now, the first thing comes in mind is what is Pixy Camera so let's first have a little introduction about Pixy Camera on which I recently worked. Pixy Camera is a small camera board which uses NXP microcontroller. Its a very powerful board and can get easily interfaced with simple Arduino UNO board. So, now we can do image processing even on Arduino UNO. Image Processing needs a powerful board that's why we can't interface simple webcam with Arduino UNO or mega etc. Before using pixy camera, when I need to do on board image processing I always used either Arduino YUN, Raspberry Pi or Arduino USB host shield but still it was quite tough to do the image processing even on such powerful boards like Arduino YUN. But now with Pixy Camera module, one can quite easily do the image processing even on Arduino UNO.

Now question arises what this module does ? Actually this Pixy module has a NXP microcontroller on it which does all the image processing and is controlled by a computer. (We are gonna cover this in coming tutorials) Once you set its parameters like color detection or object detection etc then you simply unplug it from computer and plug it with Arduino or any other PIC Microcontroller. Now whenever that object comes in front of Pixy Camera it will automatically recognize it and will send the command to your microcontroller and will also send the parameters like X, Y coordinates or size etc of the object and what you need to do is to apply your algorithm on Arduino i.e. what you gonna do if the object is infront of the camera. Sounds complex, don't worry we are gonna follow everything in detail in coming tutorials. So, now we are gonna have a look at how to get started with Pixy Camera.

Getting Started with Pixy Camera

• So, when I ordered for my Pixy Camera, I got the box within 10 days.
• As I received the box I opened it and I got two items from it, one is the Pixy Camera board itself and second is the Serial to SPI cable which is used to connect Pixy Camera with Arduino or PIC Microcontroller.
• The Pixy Camera is shown in below figure:

• The Serial to SPI cable which is received has 9 pins on one end which is inserted in Pixy board while six pins on the other end which is inserted in Arduino Microcontroller.
• This cable is also shown in below figure:

• The black side of this cable is for microcontroller while the white side is for Pixy Camera board itself.
• Next cable you are gonna need is the USB to mini USB cable, which is not with the package so you need to get it on your own.
• I got mine as well and is shown in below figure:

• This cable is used to connect your Pixy Camera board with computer.
• Using this cable, we train our Pixy camera and let it know about colors and objects.
• We actually set signature using Pixy Camera Software, which I am gonna cover in my next tutorial and using this software we make pixy do incredible things.

Now we have all the tools to get started with Pixy Camera so now in the next tutorial, we will have a look at How to install Pixy Camera software in Windows. Click the below button to move to next tutorial. If you having questions please ask in comments below. [vc_empty_space height="30px"]

How to Install Pixy Camera Software >>

Control Servo Motor with Arduino in Proteus

Hello friends, hope you all are fine and having fun with your lives. Today's post is about the Controlling of Servo Motor with Arduino in Proteus ISIS. Servo Motor is a common motor used in engineering projects for precise circular motion. We can move the servo motor at any desired angle, which is not possible in the case of other motors i.e. Stepper or DC.

For example, suppose I want to move an antenna at a precise angle of 47.5 degrees then if I use DC Motor, I have to use an encoder. So, in such cases instead of using a DC motor, I will prefer Servo Motor.

I have already posted Angle Control of Servo Motor using 555 Timer in which I have controlled servo motor using 555 timer and another tutorial about Controlling of Servo Motor using PIC Microcontroller in which I have controlled it with PIC16F877a. And today we are going to Control Servo Motor with Arduino and will design the simulation in Proteus ISIS.

First of all, we will have a look at simple control of servo motor with Arduino in Proteus ISIS and then we will check the control of the servo motor with Arduino using buttons in which we will move the servo motor to precise angles using buttons. So, let's get started with it. :)

Where To Buy?
No.	Components	Distributor	Link To Buy
1	Servo Motor	Amazon	Buy Now
2	Arduino Uno	Amazon	Buy Now

Simple Control of Servo Motor with Arduino in Proteus

• First of all, open your Proteus ISIS software and design the below simple circuit.
• You should also have a look at these Proteus Libraries of Components.

• Servo Motor has three pins:
  1. First Pin is Vcc.
  2. Second Pin is Control Pin.
  3. Third Pin is GND.
• The center pin is the controlling pin and goes to any digital pin of Arduino. I have connected the control pin to pin # 4 of Arduino.

Arduino Code for Servo Motor Control

• The next thing we need to do is to design the code for Arduino. So, open your Arduino software and copy paste the below code in it.

#include <Servo.h> 
 
Servo myservo;  
int pos = 0;    

void setup() 
{ 
  myservo.attach(4);  
}
 
void loop() 
{ 
  for(pos = 0; pos <= 180; pos += 1) 
  {
    myservo.write(pos);              
    delay(15);                      
  } 
  for(pos = 180; pos>=0; pos-=1)     
  {                                
    myservo.write(pos);             
    delay(15);                      
  } 
}

• Now compile this code and get your hex file.
• It's the same code as given in the Servo folder of Examples in Arduino software.
• Upload your hex file to your Proteus Arduino board.

Note:

• You should read How to get Hex File from Arduino if you don't know already.

Proteus Simulation Results

• Now, run your simulation and you will see that your Servo motor will start moving from 90 degrees to -90 degrees and then back to 90 degrees and will keep on going like this, as shown in the below figures:

• Now when you start it, first of all, it will show Position A in the above figure then will move anticlockwise and pass the position B and finally will stop at Position C and then it will move clockwise and comes back to Position A after passing Position B.
• In this way, it will keep on moving between Position A and C.
• Till now we have seen a simple control of Servo Motor with Arduino in Proteus ISIS, now let's have a look at a bit complex control of servo motor with Arduino.

Control Servo Motor with Arduino using Push Buttons

• In the previous section, we have seen a simple Control of Servo Motor with Arduino in which we simply moved Servo motor from 90 degrees to -90 degrees and vice versa.
• Now I am going to control Servo motor using five push buttons and each push button will move the Servo motor to a precise angle.
• So, first of all, design a small design as shown in the below figure:

• I have added five buttons with Arduino and now with these five buttons, I will move the Servo motor to 90, 45, 0, -45 and -90 degrees. So, each button has its precise angle and it will move the motor to that angle only.

Arduino Code

• So, now the next thing is the code, copy paste the below code in your Arduino software and get the hex file:

#include <Servo.h> 
 
Servo myservo;   

int degree90 = 8;
int degree45 = 9;
int degree0 = 10;
int degree_45 = 11;
int degree_90 = 12;

void setup() 
{ 
  myservo.attach(4);  
  pinMode(degree90, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(degree45, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(degree0, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(degree_45, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(degree_90, INPUT_PULLUP);
}
 
void loop() 
{ 
  if(digitalRead(degree90) == LOW)
  {
    myservo.write(180);
  }
  
  if(digitalRead(degree45) == LOW)
  {
    myservo.write(117);
  }
  
  if(digitalRead(degree0) == LOW)
  {
    myservo.write(93);
  }

  if(digitalRead(degree_45) == LOW)
  {
    myservo.write(68);
  }
  
  if(digitalRead(degree_90) == LOW)
  {
    myservo.write(3);
  }
}

• Upload this hex file to your Arduino board in Proteus and run the simulation.

Proteus Simulation Results

• Now press these buttons from top to bottom and you will get the below results:

• The above figure is quite self-explanatory but still, I explain a little.
• In the first figure, I pressed the first button and the motor moved to -90 degrees.
• In the second figure, I pressed the second button and the motor moved to -45 degrees.
• In the third figure, I pressed the third button and the motor moved to 0 degrees.
• In the fourth figure, I pressed the fourth button and the motor moved to 45 degrees.
• In the fifth figure, I pressed the fifth button and the motor moved to 90 degrees.
• In the sixth figure, all buttons are unpressed and the motor remained at the last position.

It was quite simple and hope I explained it properly. If you still have any questions then ask in the comments and I will try to resolve them. That's all for today, will see you guys in the next tutorial. Take care !!! :)