Pi Robot Kit - Camera Not Working?

[JTeagle]

When I connect to the web page that operates the robot, although the joysticks work (once I got the motor connections the right way around), the camera image does not show - all browsers show the 'broken' or 'missing' image icon. A refresh of the browser window makes no difference.

I believe I have the camera plugged in correctly (the connector only seems to go one way around into the socket, which is good) and it's in firmly, so I don't know if there's a fault in the software pre-supplied on the SD card or if my camera is having a problem.

How might I be able to tell which?

[Alan]

Hi there,

A couple of things to look at

- Does the red light on the camera come on when you connect to the web interface? This signifies that the camera is active.
- What are you using to power the robot? Anything less than 6xAA NiMh (rechargeable) batteries will cause problems, although the fact that you seem to be saying your motors work makes power problems unlikely.
- Are you connecting with a modern (HTML5 capable) browser such as Chrome or Firefox?

Regards

Alan

[JTeagle]

- Does the red light on the camera come on when you connect to the web interface? This signifies that the camera is active.

No - I can see no light on the little mounted camera board.

- What are you using to power the robot? Anything less than 6xAA NiMh (rechargeable) batteries will cause problems, although the fact that you seem to be saying your motors work makes power problems unlikely.

I am only using brand new Duracell alkalines. Not ideal, but a temporary measure until I get the rechargeables. Unfortunately the first company I tried to get some suitable ones from have let me down so I'm waiting for an alternative source.

The pan and tilt servos work and the Pi has its power light on so I'm hoping the power isn't the issue.

- Are you connecting with a modern (HTML5 capable) browser such as Chrome or Firefox?

I have tried Chrome, Firefox and IE10 - all bang-up-to-date. Since Chrome auto-updates I can't imagine that the browser is the problem.

[Alan]

Hi there,

So if the red light isn't coming on, that means that perhaps the camera isn't working, or that perhaps the Python script which activates raspistill is malfunctioning.

To check that the camera is working, could you try logging into the Pi, either by using ssh, or by attaching a monitor and keyboard, and seeing if you can get raspistill to work. The command of

raspistill -o image.jpg

should save a picture file that you can look at, and cause the red LED to flash.

Regards

Alan

[JTeagle]

Do I need a user name and password for SSH? Most of the clients I try ask for one and only one ever seemed to let me get in to a terminal and that was a poor implementation that kept closing on me. If you can suggest an SSH client that works under Windows 8 (or in a web browser) that you think would be reliable please let me know.

[Alan]

The modified version of Raspbian on the SD card has the standard user name and password of 'pi' and 'raspberry'.

I haven't much experience of using Windows 8 yet, but I've always found Putty to be very good.

[JTeagle]

Thank you - I eventually found that I needed to use pi and raspberry but your reply came in while I was typing this

Now that I got in, this is the unfortunate result:

Last login: Tue Mar 18 11:58:46 2014 from *********
pi@raspberrypi ~ $ raspistill -o image.jpg
mmal: mmal_vc_component_create: failed to create component 'vc.ril.camera' (1:EN
OMEM)
mmal: mmal_component_create_core: could not create component 'vc.ril.camera' (1)
mmal: Failed to create camera component
mmal: main: Failed to create camera component
mmal: Camera is not detected. Please check carefully the camera module is instal
led correctly


I'm going to try taking the connector out and reseating it tomorrow. Can you confirm that it only goes one way? The tutorial here (http://blog.dawnrobotics.co.uk/2014/01/ ... /#more-440) doesn't say [how it should be orientated] or show it for reference.

[Alan]

On the Pi, my cable has the blue reinforcement strip facing towards the network connector. On the camera, the blue reinforcement strip is to the back of the camera, with the pins facing forward.

When reconnecting the cable, perhaps also a good idea to check it carefully to make sure that it's not damaged.

[JTeagle]

OK, rather embarrassing, but I had plugged the camera into the wrong socket on the Pi. Can I please ask you to enhance your tutorial blog to make it absolutely clear *which* of the two black & white sockets it goes into, and which way around the blue strip goes? For someone who's software-orientated like me, it was far too easy to get it wrong. Luckily the camera and board weren't damaged by that mistake. The only reason I realised it was the wrong socket was that when I again looked at the photo in the blog - but more closely this time - then I realised I wasn't seeing the network connector behind the socket... I didn't even notice there *was* another socket like that on the board. A top-down diagram pointing out the correct socket relative to the other connectors would be ideal.

I also didn't realise that the white part of the connector lifts up to loosen, and then pushes down to clamp the strip in place. Please add this information to the blog as well.

At least now I can move forwards with the project. Shame it took a week.

[JTeagle]

Well, except that the camera works properly for about 2 minutes and then goes very dark. I'd attach a snapshot but I can't see how to insert / attach images to posts.