Hello everybody
I am planning to build a cheap device with 8 (or more) micro cameras HD not boxed , without a microphone and with at most 100 degrees of "view range".
All i want to achive is to shoot 8 pictures from different prospective all at the same time , and storing the pictures ( in jpeg) in to a single Micro SD memory .
I would like to understand which components i should buy , where i can find em and how to plug everything .
I do not have many knowledges in electronic , but i have wish to learn and great motivation.
Does anybody have any useful advice ? or the will to help me on this project ?

Thanks in advance to anyone would offer his contribute.
PS
My apologizes for my bad english

 

I would recommend that you start with one camera and learn how to save images in a micro SD card.

 

I will look for some tutorial on the tube !
Do you suggest any good channel to follow ?

 

So far i understood that Arduino or Rastberry is the key ,
I have found this : http://www.arducam.com/arducam-porting-raspberry-pi/arducam-pizero-3/
Any idea on the material s costs of this kind of project ?

 

How should i plug the other cameras ?

 

One step at a time.
Learn how the Arduino works with the camera and SD card.
Learn how to write a file to the SD card.

To connect the other cameras you will have to either create new connections to each camera's TX, RX signals, which means getting access to the Arduino source code, or you will have to multiplex all eight TX, RX to the Arduino signals.

 

I have read the program written on that project... i don t know the language but it s easily understandable where the infos are.
What i dont understand about the wiring of the other cameras is:
is a 5 volts signal enough for all that stuff ?
do the others TXand RX go into different input "holes" ? ( i have seen a similar thing that looks like it could be mounted in parallel , but it will have an SD for each device . and this is not what i wish to achieve, and in anycase i cant find the project ! ) .
what do you mean with multiplex ? :/

 

VC0706 camera module requires 5VDC @ 75mA.
For 8 cameras, you will need a power supply that can deliver 600mA.
Hence make sure that your power supply can provide at least 750mA to 1000mA.

The camera uses UART communications on TX, RX.
Yes, the other cameras will be connected to different "holes". There are not enough connection points on the Arduino Uno for this. You will have to move up to the Arduino Mega. The NewSoftSerial( ) library function will allow you to choose which connection points to use.

Instead of this you can use the single TX/RX pair on the Arduino Uno and have a selector circuit that switches the TX/RX pair to the camera from which you want to capture. This is called multiplexing.

Note that you can only capture one image at a time.

Reference:
https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/downloads/pdf/ttl-serial-camera.pdf

 

Asuming the OP could desire the 8 pictures taken simultaneously, could it be possible that he later reads each camera in sequence? Pretty much what some micros do with simultaneous ADCs.

 

VC0706 camera module requires 5VDC @ 75mA.
For 8 cameras, you will need a power supply that can deliver 600mA.
Hence make sure that your power supply can provide at least 750mA to 1000mA.

The camera uses UART communications on TX, RX.
Yes, the other cameras will be connected to different "holes". There are not enough connection points on the Arduino Uno for this. You will have to move up to the Arduino Mega. The NewSoftSerial( ) library function will allow you to choose which connection points to use.

Instead of this you can use the single TX/RX pair on the Arduino Uno and have a selector circuit that switches the TX/RX pair to the camera from which you want to capture. This is called multiplexing.

Note that you can only capture one image at a time.

Reference:
https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/downloads/pdf/ttl-serial-camera.pdf

Thank you , you are giving me something to start learning/working on.
The multiplexing is what i want evoid , the system itself needs portability and it s ment to speed up the aquisition process of Hundreds pictures of the same model.

When i have seen the arduino uno project of the picture , i ve started worring if it was not enough for my project.

I will read and learn more , keeping posting what i learned and the progresses , hoping your assistence.

 

I am sorry guys.. i messed up the links .
The project i am talking about is this:

https://create.arduino.cc/projecthu...camera-72c3da?ref=tag&ref_id=camera&offset=23

 

As I said, start small.
Use the Arduino Uno with one camera and play with that. There is much that you can learn from that.
Then add another camera.

 

I wish i could have the time for plaing around with that... but unfortunally i need this project asap , and yes..starting with 1 camera is what i will do , but as you suggested me with an arduino mega ( if its not that different in terms of setups and programmation ). I just hope to don t waste my money on usefull stuff !

PS do you know any free simulator ? fritzing is a nice software for sketching but i wish to know if i am making damnages before wiring anything !

 

You are not likely to damage anything if you follow proper instructions and connect power and ground correctly.
That is why you start small and learn how to do things properly before adding more expensive items.

 

With regard to the Arduino Megs...

First, it is identical in setup and programming. That’s a significant feature of the Arduino family. It uses the same IDE as well.

Secondly, the Mega can support over sixteen serial ports. But not natively. There is a library, Software Serial, which you’ll need. This library provides additional serial ports beyond the Arduino built-in pins.

However, it likely won’t work for you. Read the link in the previous paragraph. It links to the official Arduino reference page for Software Serial. Within the description, it states that you can only receive serial data on one port at a time.

 

With regard to the Arduino Megs...

First, it is identical in setup and programming. That’s a significant feature of the Arduino family. It uses the same IDE as well.

Secondly, the Mega can support over sixteen serial ports. But not natively. There is a library, Software Serial, which you’ll need. This library provides additional serial ports beyond the Arduino built-in pins.

However, it likely won’t work for you. Read the link in the previous paragraph. It links to the official Arduino reference page for Software Serial. Within the description, it states that you can only receive serial data on one port at a time.

Thank you for your advice .
Writing the program isn't it possible to set priorities to the inputs ? doesn t arduino have a RAM for those kinds of things ?

 

Thank you for your advice .
Writing the program isn't it possible to set priorities to the inputs ? doesn t arduino have a RAM for those kinds of things ?

What do you mean by “set priorities to the inputs?” You write the program to poll the inputs. Any priority interrupts, on the Arduino, is under the covers so to speak.

It’s my understanding that there are limited interrupt handling pins. The hardware serial ports use some. A limited number of pins are available for user interrupts. And of course, there are timer interrupts. This is why SoftwareSerial can only receive one data stream at a time. The library shares one interrupt amongst all the software serial ports. (I could be wrong)

Your question about RAM on the Arduino suggests some limits to your understanding. The Arduino is a microprocessor family and development environment. One writes programs (sketches) on a laptop or PC and loads them into the Arduino. Without your software, it doesn’t do much. RAM is a type of memory. There are two different types of memory on the Arduino. Flash (program memory) and RAM memory, used to store data values.

But, I repeat. What do you mean by “set priorities to the inputs?”

 

i read that to take the picture and store it needs 32 seconds .... It s not what i wish to achive ! i need to make the subject confortable while i take the pictures.

 

I try to explane my locic (there is nothing technical behind .. nothing )
Arduino takes a pic from each cam one by one , process it, and store it :
What i mean using a random access memory is :
arduino take the pictures from every cam simultaneusly and stores them in to a Ram
so that can be processed and stored one by one .


i am speculating as ignorant in the field..
Trust me my understanding limits are higher than what u think !

 

I try to explane my locic (there is nothing technical behind .. nothing )
Arduino takes a pic from each cam one by one , process it, and store it :
What i mean using a random access memory is :
arduino take the pictures from every cam simultaneusly and stores them in to a Ram
so that can be processed and stored one by one .


i am speculating as ignorant in the field..
Trust me my understanding limits are higher than what u think !

I don’t know the details about your cameras. I.e., how much memory each picture takes.

But, let’s make some educated assumptions. Researching the issue, a 6 megapixel picture takes a little less than 2Mb. 640x480 (pixels) or VGA Is about 307K That’s just raw pixels and no color data.

The largest RAM available on an Arduino is 8K. Most are only 2K.

I see a problem.