Drive your MonsterBorg from a smart phone or web browser

Submitted by Laure-Anne Jacobs on Tue, 06/16/2020 - 13:32

Forums:

I can't connect with smartphone or other device to drive the Monsterborg.

I'm on the same Wifi network, I put the IP address of the Monsterborg as url to connect with smartphone.

I made following point:
Run at startup

Open /etc/rc.local to make an addition using: sudo nano /etc/rc.local Then add this line just above the exit 0 line: sudo /home/pi/monsterborg/monsterWeb.py & Finally press CTRL+O, ENTER to save the file followed by CTRL+X to exit nano. Next time you power up the Raspberry Pi it should start the script for you :)

I can't reach the url or website (webapp) to drive Monsterborg.

Thanks for helping me.

Images: 
piborg's picture

piborg

Wed, 06/17/2020 - 12:46

It sounds like the script has failed to start for some reason.

What result do you get when you run this in the terminal:

sudo /home/pi/monsterborg/monsterWeb.py

Rowan

Wed, 06/17/2020 - 19:43

Hi... I tried to control the MonsterBorg using the web APP by running the same code. I can control the robot in ease, but I'm not getting the video output. I did also try opening it in different web browsers, but it had the same issue. And also http://ip_address/cam.jpg doesn't work, it results in "Page Not found error".
Please help.

piborg's picture

piborg

Wed, 06/17/2020 - 19:54

That is not a problem we have seen before, usually a "Page Not found error" means the script failed to run entirely.

What output do you see on the terminal when you try to open the http://ip_address/cam.jpg page?

Rowan

Fri, 06/19/2020 - 17:39

I did try again but facing the same error.
Also not getting video stream on the web app.
I have attached the screenshots, please have a look.

Images: 
piborg's picture

piborg

Fri, 06/19/2020 - 17:59

The only possibility here is that the script is not getting camera images from the capture_sequence call on the PiCamera object. I would normally expect some kind of error message setting the camera up in this case.

  1. Can you check the camera is working?
    The command raspistill -w 240 -h 192 -o check.jpg should create an image file if everything is working,
  2. Have you changed any of the settings in the script?

Rowan

Sat, 06/20/2020 - 02:01

Thanks for your reply,
- I checked the camera status using the command u sent me and it works perfect.
I was able to save a jpg image on my desktop. (screenshot attached below )

- No, I didn't make any changes to the code.

And These are directories used.
To run:
(1. /home/pi/monsterborg/examples/monsterWeb.py)

Where thunderborg is saved:
(2. /home/pi/thunderborg/examples/files)

Images: 
piborg's picture

piborg

Sat, 06/20/2020 - 09:52

It seems like the PiCamera module is probably having problems.

The first thing I would try is setting the resolution to a more standard size in the script:

imageWidth = 640   # Width of the captured image in pixels
imageHeight = 480  # Height of the captured image in pixels

If that does not help try updating the software on your Raspberry Pi:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo reboot

Rowan

Thu, 07/02/2020 - 00:07

Hi, I spent a little time getting a new camera module & another RPi 4, and tested it. I did everything perfect as per the instructions, but still, I'm not able to get the video on the Web App.
I tried in two different RPi ( 3 & 4) and also with two different camera modules(NOIR & normal), both gave me the same result.

I tried to change the resolution as instructed, but still no improvement at all!

I can actually get a video stream on my web page using a different app.
But I want both control and video feedback on the same page, sadly which is not happening :(
Checked in both Android & IOS devices & in various web browsers.

For Reference:
I'm using
Hardware:
- RPi 4 (2GB)
- another spare RPi 3B+
- Raspberry Pi Camera Module V2 (8MP)
It's capable of 3280 x 2464 pixel static images, and also supports 1080p30, 720p60 and 640x480p90 video.
- Raspberry Pi Camera NOIR Module V2 (8MP)

Software:
Latest Raspberry Pi OS
Version: May 2020
Release date:2020-05-27
Kernel version:4.19

I have also attached the code that I'm using.

Attachments: 
monsterWeb.py_.zip
piborg's picture

piborg

Thu, 07/02/2020 - 01:37

It looks like you have an older version of the script which is missing a bugfix for compatibility with newer versions of Raspbian.

The following lines need to be updated.

Replace

if sendFrame != None:

with

if sendFrame is not None:

Replace

if captureFrame != None:

with

if captureFrame is not None:

Rowan

Thu, 07/02/2020 - 12:15

Hi Thank you very much,
now I'm able to get the video output in my browser.

Yes, I think I have wrongly downloaded the old version of the code,
for some reason after downloading the code zip file using this command:
bash <(curl https://www.piborg.org/installer/install-monsterborg.txt)
I was not able to open or run that file.

So I had to create my own file and download the code from PiBorg forum.

If possible, could you please send me the new version of code for both MonsterBorg & ThunderBorg.

piborg's picture

piborg

Thu, 07/02/2020 - 13:11

Glad to hear it is now working :)

These links have the latest scripts.

ThunderBorg code: http://www.piborg.org/downloads/thunderborg/examples.zip

MonsterBorg code: http://www.piborg.org/downloads/monsterborg/examples.zip

Rowan

Fri, 07/03/2020 - 11:42

:)

Laure-Anne Jacobs

Wed, 06/17/2020 - 15:42

Thanks for the solution.
It's working again.

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