Camera Not showing on DiddyRedWeb

ojd233's picture
Submitted by ojd233 on Fri, 11/25/2016 - 15:28

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I just got a camera module for my raspberry pi so that i could mount it onto my DiddyBorg Red. I tried to do the diddyRedWeb program. The program ran fine (I was able to move the Diddy Borg), although for some reason the camera image isn't showing up, it just comes up with a black screen. I have checked the camera works using raspistill -d and it was fine. Although if I have the script running this will not work. I tried also changing how many time the camera refreshed per second and it still won't work. I was wondering if anyone could help me with this.

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piborg

Fri, 11/25/2016 - 17:34

We have seen this problem before, it seems to be a software issue with Raspbian which has been fixed already.

I would suggest trying a full update of Raspbian using these commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo rpi-update

You can view the steps we went through with the last person that had this problem here:
No Camera Picture

ojd233's picture

ojd233

Sat, 11/26/2016 - 14:41

Thanks that worked the camera is showing now, although for some reason after I press a couple of the commands I loose control. I.e. The camera feed stops and the motors are continuous. I was just wondering if you know why this is happening.

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piborg

Sat, 11/26/2016 - 19:14

This sounds like it might be caused by the Raspberry Pi resetting when power is applied to the motors.

Did you have any luck fixing the trouble you were having trouble with the Raspberry Pi resetting before?

ojd233's picture

ojd233

Sat, 11/26/2016 - 19:42

I just looked at the script I edited and I got it down to 60% percent to the motors and it still powered down. I have also put in new batteries, this delayed the time it took to reset but still reset. By the way I'm talking about the Diddy joy script here

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piborg

Sun, 11/27/2016 - 10:57

It sounds like all of the problems are power related in some way.

I have some questions which might help diagnose the problem:

  1. If you put your Red Edition upside-down so that the wheels are spinning freely do you still have the same resetting problem?
  2. Do all of the wheels seem to move at the same speed when going straight forward, or are there some which are slower than others?
  3. Do any of the wheels turn the wrong way when going straight forward?
  4. Do any of the motors sound different to the others?
  5. Can you tell us what batteries you are using with your Red Edition?
  6. Are there any devices attached to the USB on the Raspberry Pi?
ojd233's picture

ojd233

Sun, 11/27/2016 - 11:26

1. The problem still occurs when upside-down
2. They look to be going the same speed as far as I tell, although it does seem to go slightly to the right after some distance if going forward and slightly if going in reverse
3. No they all go the same way
4. They all seem to sound the same
5. I am using Kodak Heavy Duty AA batteries
6. Only the controller wireless adapter and the Wi-Fi dongle

piborg's picture

piborg

Sun, 11/27/2016 - 19:40

It sounds like everything is basically working with your Red Edition, I suspect the batteries are not up to the task.
With the robot upside-down the workload on the batteries is significantly reduced, so it is quite surprising that you still have the resetting problem when this is the case.

Just to confirm I beleive these are the batteries in question: http://www.kodakbatteries.strandeurope.com/PD/18/Zinc_Chloride-Extra_Hea...
These batteries are of an old type, zinc-chloride. Despite the "Heavy Duty" name they are actually weaker than the typical Alkaline batteries:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc%E2%80%93carbon_battery#Zinc_chloride_...

We would usually recommend either:

  • Good quality NiMH rechargables, we find Eneloops work very well
  • Good quality Alkaline non-rechargables, we have found Duracell Procell work well without being too expensive

Personally I use rechargables as much as possible, a little more expensive at first but the good ones last for many years these days.

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