Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => Video P*r*o*b*i*n*g => Topic started by: DavidCousins on November 14, 2007, 02:46:55 PM
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I have a How-To questions about the driver located in this thread. http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,4827.msg33471.html#msg33471
Can you provide a thumbnail of directions about how to install that driver?
Copy it into the Mach3 folder I presume. Which subfolder. It's been a while since in installed any Mach3 drivers.
Thanks in advance.
Dave
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Put the .m3p file in the mach3 folder, double click it to install it, and start mach3. It's more of a Plugin than a driver.
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Yup, M3P files stands for "Mach 3 Plugin" and they are autoinstalling, I just copy them to my desktop, and double click it. It will go away and install itself to the right spot..
After that, you need to run MAch3, select config/config plugins, check the enable box beside the "3d Probing Plugin" lline, and restart mach3. The video prober will then appear in your menus'.
Art
( M3S files are mach3 screens... same deal.. )
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Art,
I installed the driver. I started M3 and using Config/config pulgins, I enabled the 3dVideo. I immediately got this message:
"Error triggered, Error found, Art Code: 9991, Attempt Recovery" It was a little window popup.
I do not have a video camera hooked up yet, could that be the problem?
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I thought I bump this topic, as I still can't install the video probe. One more thing I did was reboot my computer after getting the error message. But after rebooting, I found Mach3 would crash during startup. To solve that problem, I deleted the video..dll file I found in the plugins directory. That fixed the immediate crash problem.
Any thoughts?
Dave
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I could only get it to work right with version 2.60, my previous version 2.58 gave the same error as you are getting.
It must also be stored in the C:\Mach folder.
Graham.
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Graham,
Thanks, that fixed it. Now, I'm off to figure out a mount for my webcam and laser.
Also, I realize that my camera appears to be B/W. I wonder if that will be an issue.
Dave
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I have more questions. I've got the camera operational, and the software running.
Actually the camera is marginally running. But it works well enough for the 3DVideoProbe to operate. Here's what I know.
1st, I calibrate and I get a Scan Angle.
2nd, I change the feed rate to 5 (assuming its in/min, what should it be?)
3rd, I change the StepOverX to .01 (What should it be?)
4th, I changed the ScanX to 2 (because my object is 2 inches wide)
5th, I press Scan (The table moves 2 inches at 5 in/min then returns).
What else am I supposed to do, and what indication do I get when the txt file is created?
I have aquestion about frame rates. Does 3DVideoProbe match one frame of video to each "StepOverX"?
Regarding "camera control", I'm assuming that once I configure the camera to get the best resolution, I can ignore the startVideo stopvideo.
When do I press Stop Digitizing?
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I thought I'd bump this thread.
Any comments about my questions above?
What should the StepoverX be?
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Hi David:
I
1st, I calibrate and I get a Scan Angle.
2nd, I change the feed rate to 5 (assuming its in/min, what should it be?)
>>Whatever you like.. Feedrate is in your current units/minute..
3rd, I change the StepOverX to .01 (What should it be?)
>>Leave it alone till next release, you shoudl be scanning in Y only..
4th, I changed the ScanX to 2 (because my object is 2 inches wide)
>>No, make the Y scan the 2"s , perhaps at .1 inch of YStepover
5th, I press Scan (The table moves 2 inches at 5 in/min then returns).
>>Y shoudl move, it will take 640 samples of the X with each Y movement..
What else am I supposed to do, and what indication do I get when the txt file is created?
>>The file points.txt is now in your mach3 folder..
I have aquestion about frame rates. Does 3DVideoProbe match one frame of video to each "StepOverX"?
No, it actually uses several frames per step, but as I say, stick with Y scanning only for now..
Regarding "camera control", I'm assuming that once I configure the camera to get the best resolution, I can ignore the startVideo stopvideo.
True, not needed to be used..
When do I press Stop Digitizing?
Only if you need to stop a scan or abort it..
Art
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On my machine, the StepOverY value causes the gantry to move in a hesitant, slow and go motion. Is this normal?
So if the video frame rate is constant, there will be more frames during the gantry slow period. Maybe you take that into consideration, or will I expect a denser cloud of points at each slowdown of the gantry?
And maybe I should get my system up and running so I can find out for myself :)
Thanks for your reply.
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The slow startr/stop moves are normal, its moving, waiting for a frame, then digitizing 640 points, then moving again.. Lost frames done matter, it only needs one when it needs one..
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If my camera resolution is less the 640x480, is that OK? If it is less, then Mach3 will digitize less data, is that a correct statement?
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yes , it uses whatever you give it..
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The slow startr/stop moves are normal, its moving, waiting for a frame, then digitizing 640 points, then moving again.. Lost frames done matter, it only needs one when it needs one..
Art,
I was just rereading your post and I gained some clarity the second time around. Your program/routine does not actual capture a movie, rather it captures a frame of data, a single frame, and processes it into 640 points. That actual frame of the video is then discarded. Then you move the gantry equal to the StepOverY value and process a new frame. Again you analyze and process 640 points, discard that frame and move to the next capture point. All the movie frames in between are lost. How am I doing?
I can't wait till my new laser pointers arrive.
Thanks for inspiration
Dave
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Yup, thats how it works..
Art
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hi every time i try to start the video window or video probe i get DRIVER WATCHDOG TRIGGERED what is this & can i get over it?
thanks mick winship
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hi every time i try to start the video window or video probe i get DRIVER WATCHDOG TRIGGERED what is this & can i get over it?
thanks mick winship
Mick,
What version of Mach3 are you running? It must be R2.60.
I take it that you have a camera installed? Is the camera installed correctly? Does the camera's video software run without Mach3 and run correctly?
Dave
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Hi:
Just select config/general, and turn off "Use Watchdogs" , thatll cure it..
Art
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hi thanks for the reply !! i left the machine alone for a couple of ours when i came back & tried again everything works fine in both the video window & the video probing window it must have been having an off day
cheers for the reply
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Graham,
Thanks, that fixed it. Now, I'm off to figure out a mount for my webcam and laser.
Also, I realize that my camera appears to be B/W. I wonder if that will be an issue.
Dave
Hello graham,
All other things being equal, B/W is better than color. Usually B/W cameras have better characteristics like sensitivity, noise, contrast etc. There is no useful color info to be had with laser triangulation. The laser is about as monochrome as light gets and all other sources of light should not be seen by the camera.
More on how to eliminate lighted background later.
Tom Hubin
thubin@earthlink.net
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Tonight I hooked up the laser the camera and I:
1st, I calibrate and I get a Scan Angle. (mixed results and never got the correct angle and correct z distance at the same time)
2nd, I change the feed rate to 5
3rd, I change the StepOverY to .01
4th, I changed the ScanY to 3 (because my object is 2 inches wide)
5th, I press Scan (The table moves 3 inches at 5 in/min then returns).
6th, I run MachCloud and view the results. My results actually look like my object except the thickness is zero. My cloud is laying on the zero surface.
I'll try to get an image in just a minute.
I've got problems viewing the video on screen both left and right hand monitors.
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be seeing in the right monitor. What ever I'm seeing, it doesn't look correct.
There is a slider between the monitor screens. What does this do. When I raise it, I seem to get some speckles on the right screen.
The format and source buttons are not reliable. I crash about half time when I touch these buttons.
Those are some of my results.
Over all, success, I'm making progress.
Dave
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On the right monitor screen, I have been able to improve it some. But I get a double line. One red and a parallel white line. I doubt if this is good.
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Here's a picture of a knob. The txt file is also included.
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Dave:
The white line in raw data, the red is processed data.. just debugginmg stuff for me thats all, quite normal..
There will be an update to make it all make more sense as soon as I finish a bit more on machcloud..
The knob doesnt look too bad. When machcloud is done itll clean it up alot..
Art
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Art,
If you also open up the "point knob.txt" file, you will see that all z values are about 2.5xx inches in elevation. I have another file that all z values are exactly at 3.500 inches.
In other words, the output is roughly equivalent to a xerox copy. :) I'm almost there. Just one more dimension.
Thanks,
Dave
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I have the laser and camera mounted. I set the x to 1 & y to.01 stepovers. I did the calibration and set the speed to 5. it has a good solid line red and white which changes as it moves. How do I get it to produce a file?
Don
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Don:
If the laser line is in the X direction, then leave X at 0, set Y to the range of the scan.. 4 or 5 inches, and just hit scan..
The pointcloud will show up in the mach3 folder..
Art
(I recommend only scanning in the Y direction right now, unless the laser from right to left is in the Y direction.. )
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Art, If I leave the x at 0 it comes up with set less than 0.
Thanks
Don
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Don:
Leave the XStep at 1, just set the X scan at 0..
Art
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Thanks
Don
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Is there a way to zoom in on a scan. I seem to get a line in x,y,z plane. this is in mach cloud or is a way to rotate the scan.
Thanks
Don
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Same as LCam, center mouse button to rotate, shift and ctrl to pan and zoom..
Art
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Thanks Art
Don :)
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Here's a picture of a knob. The txt file is also included.
I thought I'd bump this thread. In reply #23 of this thread I posted a txt file of a knob. I was hoping somebody would open that file and see if they could help me trouble shoot the results.
I'm looking forward to getting my first real scan complete.
Dave
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Dave:
It may be me, I use metric, so the calibration block I use is 52mms, your using inches? And the calibration block may be too small.
Im gogin back in as soon as I finish meshing to make it more tolerant of several things. But try a larger calibration block, and make sure
that when you calibrate, the camera height is approximatly correct.. Turn off the lights when calibrating, and slide the tolerance bar up all the
way if necessary..
Art
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Art,
What is the tolerance bar, is the the slider in between the two screen monitors?
Regarding the camera height, how close is good enough? If I measure 8 inches and Mach3 reports 6.5, is that close enough to get some accuracy?
As implied above, I have an 8 inch (200mm) camera height. I will try a larger block, but I think the short focal distance will make it impractical for the block to grow larger then 65 mm.
Have you posted any version revisions yet?
Thanks,
Dave
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Dave:
Yes, thats the bar..
If camera height look soff by more than 1/4" , adjust your FOV of the camera entry, sometimes its 60 degree's..ect.. adjust that till the height looks correct..
No revisions yet, very complex stuff this 3d meshing..
Art