Arduino Camera Controller
Today, I’m writing about two more pieces of digital camera control firmware that have being posted to PTP gihHub repository. Alex Gluschenko, the author of PTP library for Arduino, developed two sketches, one called EOSRemote and the other EOSCamController to demonstrate PTP library capabilities. The code allows requesting camera settings, such as shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc., change them, as well as take shots. It supports Canon EOS cameras and was tested on EOS 400D, 450D, and 7D; other cameras with similar command set ( see my collection of PTP device info dumps ) may work as well.
This is how the code works: when connection is established, camera sends back an initial packet with all its current settings along with a list of all possible values for each setting. Possible values depend on a camera model as well as lens that are mounted. For example, some cameras may have exposure compensation range from -2 to +2, others from -5 to +5; some lens have max.aperture 1.4, others – 3.5, an so on. The list of values received from the camera is placed in built-in EEPROM of Arduino microcontroller. After that, values are used in setting (called “property” in PTP lingo) change commands sent to the camera. When camera mode, such as Av, Tv, or lens is changed, camera sends initial packet again. The Arduino code tracks changes and updates the list stored in EEPROM.
Hardware requirements for both controllers are pretty standard. The EOSRemote sketch uses Arduino serial port facility for I/O, and the only hardware necessary is Arduino Duemilanove, Uno, or compatible clone, as well as USB Host Shield. User interface is designed with simple terminal emulator program in mind. It can be used with a PC connected to Arduino directly or over some distance utilizing a pair of serial to RF converters, such as ever-popular Xbee. The following screenshot shows top-level menu with camera connected and recognized.
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