Capturing Video from Flir E4 to portable device

[Captain Morgan]

Hello,

I love my new upgraded E4 and would want to capture video to a portable recording device via the usb cable. I can stream this to the PC and view via the Flir Tools, but obviously I can't lug a PC around in the field. The best I could hope for would be a smallish netbook.

Does anyone know a way to capture this usb video stream to an Android device such as a 10" ASUS tablet?

Are there any suggestions for portable DVRs that will accept a USB input?

Thank for your suggestions!

[bronson]

A Raspberry Pi or any of its friends can do UVC streaming quite well if you don't need battery power.

Otherwise a netbook or tablet/laptop hybrid might be your best bet.  Unsurprisingly, there don't seem to be many promising Android results.  Here's a summary but it's a year out of date: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8963897/use-usb-camera-on-android-application

[Captain Morgan]

Thanks bronson. I had not consider a Raspberry Pi type device and not that familair with them. I can supply pwr via packpack etc.

If I could find something that writes to USB or flash and has low current draw then even better.

Something like this then? - http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=49530

[bronson]

Yea, I haven't done UVC on the Pi myself but that sounds right.

There's also this: http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=53530

[Captain Morgan]

Thanks again, I was just reading the note about "Model B Hardware Revision 2.0 and Revision 1.0 with ECN0001 change" in the RPi VerifiedPeripherals wiki.

If I'm just using the full USB end of the USB-micro cable, and plugging in to one of USB female ports on the PI, then I don't think there should be any issues since this would be high impedence and no draw. Any 5v on the PI end wouldn't hurt the Flir either?

With the correct drivers, I should be able to grab the twain or stream from the Flir and capture at some size and framerate according the script I use.

*i think*

Thanks again for youe time and efforts!

Cheers

[Captain Morgan]

Does anyone know what the signal is coming from the E4?

Is it a purely digital stream?

Does anyone know if this could be captured by a device using an adapter cable of some type?

THX

[mikeselectricstuff]

Does anyone know what the signal is coming from the E4?

Is it a purely digital stream?

Does anyone know if this could be captured by a device using an adapter cable of some type?

THX

There is a raw 60fps digital stream inside (see teardown vid), but you'd need to do quite a lot of processing (NUC, noise reduction, scaling, calibration) to get something useable. For something visual as opposed to accurate for measurement, a lot of these steps could be very simple.
 

[Captain Morgan]

Thanks Mike! Appreciate your feedback.

I guess the Flir Tools software handles the E4's raw 60fps output in Windows.

I do need to record something visual, an .avi or mpeg etc, but not seeing anything off the shelf for this.

Looks like learning Linux and going the PI route may be my only option.

Cheers

[Fraser]

The Ex series output 9fps, visual and digital, to avoid some ITAR restrictions. 60fps does not appear at the cameras USB port.

[Captain Morgan]

Thanks for the clarification. Even at 9fps, I want to snag that signal!

I don't currently have a scope, can anyone say which pin(s) on the USB end the video feed is on?

Maybe I can catch that and find something to consume the feed.

THX

[Fraser]

The E4 has a standard USB port that uses D+ and D- for USB data communication. There are no other communications or video stream pins present. From what I understand,  the only way to extract video from the E4 via that port is by treating it as a USB webcam operating as a UVC device.

[amyk]

If you connect the portable device to the E4 it will probably try to charge from it, unless its battery is full.

[Jolly]

Finally my E4 (E8) VCR is done. It is based on Raspberry PI with a patched Linux Kernel module. To get a video signal out, I lower the switch. To record, I raise the switch. If someone has an idea about how to use mplayer/mencoder to play and record at the same time, let me know.

[Fraser]

Nice implementation 

I note you have some video glasses connected...... I have several sets of Olympus  FMD700 EyeTrek glasses awaiting use in my projects, so this would be a good one to start with.

Any chance you can shared the Rasberry-Pi code

[Captain Morgan]

Jolly! You beat me to it!

My PI hasn't arrived yet, I already dl all the builds etc.

Would you mind working with me on various builds and peripherals etc?

I would like to know your implementation as well.

Please PM if you're interested and I'll shoot you an email address.

I would love to share and compare notes with you.

cheers

[pomonabill221]

If you connect the portable device to the E4 it will probably try to charge from it, unless its battery is full.

I found the E4 runs from the connected device, through the usb connector, whether it is charged or not.
This means that your device's battery is powering the E4 which draws about 500-700 mA depending on whether it is calibrating (shutter operating) or not, but still draws the 500 mA.
The battery does NOT power the E4 when connected!  not so good for portable use!

[mikeselectricstuff]

If you connect the portable device to the E4 it will probably try to charge from it, unless its battery is full.

I found the E4 runs from the connected device, through the usb connector, whether it is charged or not.
This means that your device's battery is powering the E4 which draws about 500-700 mA depending on whether it is calibrating (shutter operating) or not, but still draws the 500 mA.
The battery does NOT power the E4 when connected!  not so good for portable use!

Remember to turn the backlight down - this makes a big difference to power draw. As the sensor is heated, you may find that current draw reduces once the sensor has stabilised.
 
May be worth looking at how the backlight is controlled in hardware - if it was in a power manager on I2C, you could shut it off with a console command over USB.

[Fraser]

To solve this problem could you not modify a USB to Micro USB cable by disconnecting the +5V line. You would still have the 0v, D+ and D- for comms. I am not sure whether the +5v is used to trigger any 'external connectivity' mode in the E4 though.  The USB to Micro USB cables are very cheap to experiment with.

[mikeselectricstuff]

You can probably stop charging without affecting connectivity by reducing the voltage on the USB supply pin.

[Jolly]

Any chance you can shared the Rasberry-Pi code

Yes, I finally made an image of it. It is about 1 Gig. Once I have upload it, I will announce it here.

[Fraser]

Hi Jolly,

That would be great thanks you. I have not used the RPi before and this wil be a good excuse to buy one to experiment with 

Cheers

Aurora

[amigo]

Finally my E4 (E8) VCR is done. It is based on Raspberry PI with a patched Linux Kernel module. To get a video signal out, I lower the switch. To record, I raise the switch. If someone has an idea about how to use mplayer/mencoder to play and record at the same time, let me know.

Have you tried using VLC, as it can capture various kinds of streams while playing back at the same time?

[Captain Morgan]

I agree with snipping the +5v wire idea. This is an easy hack and can just recover with shrink tube.

@ Jolly, can you also share info about the switches you added, and the connections etc?

many thanks

.
 

[Jolly]

Here is the PI image (for video recording and output on the video out) and some quick README files: http://www.eversberg.eu/download/flir_vcr_v0.zip

It should explain everything that is required. If you have problems, let me know.

If someone can make it work to record and view at the same time without extra latency, he/she will receive a free E4 camera.  (That was a joke!)

[Jolly]

Finally my E4 (E8) VCR is done. It is based on Raspberry PI with a patched Linux Kernel module. To get a video signal out, I lower the switch. To record, I raise the switch. If someone has an idea about how to use mplayer/mencoder to play and record at the same time, let me know.

Have you tried using VLC, as it can capture various kinds of streams while playing back at the same time?

It is worth trying. Just install the VLC on the PI image that I submitted in the post above. The device of a connected camera is /dev/video0. It supports full frame rate with my patched kernel module. Unpatched driver only allows to capture 3.75 frames/s. (The driver patch is very dirty, so connecting other cameras than Ex might/will crash the kernel.)