"OpenROV is a DIY telerobotics community centered around underwater exploration & adventure." One goal of OpenROV is to have onboard video for live viewing as the user operates the ROV. Enter: ROVision.
We designed the onboard video platform using several key technologies:
Combining these great technologies provides a lot of power and room for future growth. But is also provides well documented means to extend OpenROV. With Node.js and Socket.io, not only are we able to stream video to a web browser by updating an image, but we are also able to control the ROV and view valuable sensor information. This is just the beginning. Ultimately, we would like to move to a WebM (or similar) video stream from OpenCV, but we need your help. We're hoping that you, the community, are as excited as we are to explore the many uncharted areas underwater. We have many exciting ideas for the future
- BeagleBone: http://beagleboard.org/bone
- USB webcam: we're using the Microsoft LifeCam HD-5000
- Ubuntu 11.10 for BeagleBone: http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu#Demo_Image
- OpenCV 2.3: http://opencv.willowgarage.com/
- Node.js: http://nodejs.org/
- Socket.io: http://socket.io/
###For installation (pre-OpenROV-custom-image):
- g++
- make
- cmake
- svn
- pkg-config
- npm
We WILL be making a custom image to bypass this difficult process in the future.
I will warn you that this was a hairy process.
First, download and install Ubuntu (link above) onto a microSD card. Then, put it in the BeagleBone and plug the BeagleBone into a router. You need to SSH into the BeagleBone once it has booted:
$ ssh -l ubuntu 192.168.1.100
Where the IP address corresponds to the BeagleBone's current IP address. The default password is listed on the Ubuntu download page (linked above). It should be: temppwd
Make sure the BeagleBone has an Internet connection. Install dependencies:
$ sudo apt-get install g++
$ sudo apt-get install make
$ sudo apt-get install cmake
$ sudo apt-get install subversion
$ wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/numpy/files/NumPy/1.6.1/numpy-1.6.1.tar.gz - untar then install
$ sudo apt-get install pkg-config
OpenCV:
- http://opencv.willowgarage.com/wiki/InstallGuide
- http://thebitbangtheory.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/how-to-install-opencv-2-3-1-in-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-ocelot-with-python-support/
Install Node.js from source (we used v0.6.12): https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/Installation
$ sudo apt-get install curl
NPM: http://npmjs.org/
$ sudo npm install -g socket.io
Finally, download ROVision, then compile the C++ program using this command:
$ g++ capture.cpp -o capture `pkg-config opencv --cflags --libs`
To run,
$ NODE_ENV=production node app.js
As I mentioned earlier, one of our top future goals is getting a WebM (or maybe h.264) stream output from OpenCV (NOTE). However, we have so much more planned. Imagine being able to track a fish, or map underwater environments in 3D, or coordinate multiple ROV's using vision, or whatever you can imagine! Please fork & play. We'd love to see what you create.
UPDATE: we're sticking with a JPEG stream for the foreseeable future.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.