
VIMOS Recorder


Please read through this information before using the software.

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Before starting : There is a similar program 'Recorder' that works on
Non-VIMOS cameras and allows download of images from them - including
full-color images, triggered images, remote shutter control and more.
Since it works on (allmost) all VC-cameras we can not publish it as
freely as the VIMOS-Recorder. In case you are interested we can offer
it to you. The advantage over the program described here is the ease
of use (don't need an installed VIMOS). The VIMOS-Recorder has other
advantages of course :) ...

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This program can be used to capture images that the VIMOS 'Send image
area' tool sends over the serial port and to write them to disk under
names containing a incrementing number.

There are two main purposes :

1. For a new project : To be able to create a new VIMOS user-program
   that is intended to solve a real-world project you need images for
   the use in the VIMOS Simulator. Such images should be as close to
   the later 'real' images as possible.

   In that case you create a simple VIMOS user-program that waits for
   the trigger signal like the 'real' program will do later and after
   receiving it takes a new picture and transferes it (or the important
   part of it) using the 'Send image area' tool. The selected area in
   that tool is linkable to other tools, so that it can move and you
   can make sure, that only the important area is transfered. Smaller
   areas increase the transfer speed.

2. For testing : After creating the new user-program and uploading it
   on the camera you start working in the production cycle. If there
   are cases where the software is not behaving as expected, you would
   need such images for the Simulator so that you can see what is
   actually causing the behavior.

   To do this, you can put the 'Send image area' tool after an 'IF'
   operator, so that it is only executed, when a certain error-condition
   has been noted by the camera. So you make it part of the final user-
   program you created and just have a laptop sitting near the camera
   for some time.

To use the software, just copy it to a new directory an start it. The
options are fairly self-explaining ...

1. Select the right serial port and baudrate and click 'Connect'.
   You should make sure, that no other software is currently using the
   selected serial port and that you have selected the right baudrate.

   Of course higher baudrates give shorter transfer times, but if you
   have problems receiving the images please try a lower baudrate.
   The baudrate you select should be the same as you selected on the
   camera (see below).

2. After connecting you can select between 'Life Mode' and 'Recording'.
   The first option only displays the content of the received images,
   while the second option writes them to disk. In that case you can
   limit the diskspace that is used and you can decide to delete any
   images that were received with an invalid checksum.

After you clicked on one of the two buttons the software starts scanning
the selected serial port for valid image headers. If it receives the
right sequence of bytes, it receives the image, displays it and writes
it to the disk if seleted. If a valid header is received, you can see
some status information.

To stop the software from receiving just click 'Stop'.


On the VIMOS camera :

There are two important things that must be done on the camera in
order to receive images on the PC.

1. The serial mode must be switched form 'Mouse' to 'Other I/O device'.
   This has to be done in  the 'Configurations' menu in the VIMOS
   kernel. At the same place you can select the baudrate. You can
   do it in the Simulator before saving the user-program for the
   upload to the camera. Or you can do it on the  camera itself.
   After changing this option the user-program has to be saved to
   make the change permanent and then the camera must be restarted
   to switch from mouse to non-mouse operation. Use 'Exit' before.

2. The user-program must contain the 'Send image area' tool. You find
   it in the 'I/O tools' group. Here is some sample configuration :

   Source     : Frame buffer
   Quality    : 70
   Transfer   : ASCII (try Binary for faster transfer speeds)
   Blocks     : 0
   Checksum   : Yes
   Wait reply : 0

Of course it is neccessary, that images are taken and that a good
shutter value is used. So use a 'Take picture' tool in the program
or select 'Shoot & Show' or 'Life & Shoot' mode in the Configuration.

After you switched the serial mode from 'Mouse' to 'Other I/O device'
the serial port will normally not receive any mouse input after
restart of the camera. To regain access, you need to make some
mouse-movements during the booting of the camera (Startscreen).
Don't make to many - just some moves and a right-click or so.
Of course you must do it, while you are connected via serial port.
Ignore any 'Mouse : none' message you may see.


Speed :

Since a 'normal' JPEG image is still between 20 and 60 kBytes large,
it will take the serial port several seconds to transfer it even at
the maximum speed of 115200 baud. Therefor in normal cases this soft-
ware will not be able to keep up with the realtime production cycle.

So to achive the image download you will probably have to skip some
production parts going through while the camera is busy transfering
the image. This may be in conflict with the automatisation environ-
ment if for instance the PLC is waiting for a result from the camera
for every part. So you might need to make some changes there in order
to get your images. For most purposes it will be enough to get 50
images without the need that nothing in between is skipped. Up to
some extend you can get a full sequence by using the 'Freeze buffer'.

The Freeze buffer is a second video page. There are tools for transfer
of image information between the normal 'Frame buffer' and the Freeze
buffer ('Copy picture' and 'Image area' tools). If a lower resolution
is enough for your purposes you can use the 'Pyramide' operation of
the 'Image area' tool and create 4 or 16 tiles in the 'Freeze buffer'.
The same is true, if you do not need the full screen. After the
Freeze buffer is full, you can send it by the 'Send image area' tool.


Compression :

At the moment it all works only with the JPEG compressed images.
But you can set the compression (quality setting) to 99. It is our
experience, that for normal cases the image quality is good enough.
Should you need to transfer absolutely original images please let us
know. The current tools are perpared to be extended to such a work-
mode and we can attempt to help you quickly.

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This program is part of the VIMOS family of software and is published
under the same license and legal conditions as the other parts of the
VIMOS package. For full information please read the license agreement
of the main VIMOS installer. Since this software is of no use to you
without having installed VIMOS you should not start it before reading
that license information.

(C) 2002 atto-Systems OOD, Bulgaria

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For any questions or comments please contact : info@vimos.com

