I decided that it would be kind of neat to do some time-lapse video so that you could see the whole trip in 5 to 30 minutes. (I haven't decided how long yet...)
I was originally thinking of using some kind of CCD camera out of BG Micro and trying to rig up some kind of controller. (A lot of effort!) After consulting Dave Page, he suggested that I look into either the Quickcam or a digital camera like the Epson PhotoPC 500.
Quickcam: This seemed like a good option because it is small and can actually capture fairly fast video if the computer is fast enough. It also draws its power from the keyboard, which seems like a pretty good idea. The video quality, however is not all that great and the laptop that I have doesn't have a keyboard connector.
Epson PhotoPC 500: A factory refurbished model only costs about $75 more than a Quickcam and it has better image quality. It will require an AC adaptor, but I already need an inverter to run my computer. It also has the advantage that I can use it as a point-and-shoot camera after I'm done with this little project.
The individual images captured will be compiled each day and saved to Zip Disk. At the end of the trip, all of the .jpg images will be converted into some kind of animated movie file.
If I have the option, I'm also going to take GPS data simultaneously with the capturew of each image. Then, if I get motivated enough, I can synch up this data with the images in the movie file that I create to show the progress across the country.
On Timer {
Trigger Image Capture Sequence {
Get GPS Data
Take Snapshot
Download Snapshot
Erase Snapshot From Camera Memory
}
}
7/30/98: Well, I got back to Troy last night and the system I
had set up seemed to work OK. I had the PhotoPC hooked up to my
laptop and both were powered from an inverter. There will be definite
holes in the video, however, since I had several problems with various
things getting unplugged,ignitions turned off, etc. The GPS data
wasn't gathered, however, because I didn't get a chance to rig up
either a switch to allow both the GPS and Camera to use the same
serial port or a system to access the GPS via the parallel
port.
Questions, comments, etc. can be directed to:
dahlt@rpi.eduStill To Come
I need to merge the individual frames (.jpg images) into a video. I'm
guessing that I'm going to have to do some significant playing with
the video to make it look good. (Remove frames, add in some to buffer
holes, alter the speed, etc.
I'm going to post the actual C++ code I used.
I would also like to see if I can get the program setup so that it
could use the GPS.
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