yay, I look-ith, and then I find-ith. Have you posted the schematic for the oscillator that you have used?

good work,

I have something somewhere, it’s pretty simple – mine has 4 pins, Gnd, Pwr, output and enable (unconnected). I just use the 3.3v for the Pwr.

Eveything on the Pixart side is 3.3v – if you are using USB to power your arduino then you can use the 3.3v output from the FTDI chip.

Well, I’m trying to hook this up to the arduino duemilinove. (Im guessing this arduino outputs 5v for I2C)

I need to know how to hook up the 25MHZ oscillator (what components are used) because it’s not so obvious on the block diagrams found online at kako.

OR: can I get away with using the 16MHz oscillator off the arduino?

anyway, a schematic or explanation of components used would be helpful to my cause

thanks [making a robotic arm to be controlled by your own movements]

(I can be reached here)
dwyer2bp@cmich.edu

If you get the datasheet for the timer I used, there is an example circuit in there.

XO-54B.

I just used this circuit to hook up the oscillator, then connected the output line straight to the input of the Pixart sensor.

and for the I2C level conversion, how did you set that one up?

Thanks for your speedy replies!!

Take a look here:

http://stephenhobley.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/wiicam_schem.gif

top left image shows the pins to the pixart, and to the arduino, along with the pullup resistors.

Checked out the manufacture site, they didnt have the data sheet for the 25 MHz.

Do you think that just any oscillator would do. I have a 18Mhz oscillator that I found.

It looks like you hooked up 2 inverters to your oscillator, I’m guessing that came from the data sheet? Do you know why those were there?

Thanks

XO-54B is the series, all the oscillators have the same hook up.

http://www.vonero.com/categoriesdata/datasheets/Dale_Actives-and-Passives_8950552.pdf

I know someone has used a 20Mhz osc, but don’t know about lower, maybe it will work. But at 3.3v, NOT 5v – so you can’t use the Arduino.

Ok, I am going to try out the 18MHz oscillator.

“so you can’t use the Arduino.”
-My arduino has a 3.3V regulated output pin. Why do you say I cannot use the arduino?

Tell me if I’m wrong here:
1. I want to replace your 25MHz oscillator with my 2pin 18MHz oscillator.
2. I will replace your 2 inverter selection with some other type I find laying around…
[I don't understand what a hex inverter is...]

Then I should be able to use the arduino to communicate via I2C with the pixart right?

I have already successfuly communicated the arduino to the wii nunchuck. Powered the nunchuck at 3.3 V ,but did not regulate the arduino I2C (works like a charm), operating at 100KHz.

About inverters:
Ok, forgive my newbie-ness. Could you explain the inverters in the oscillator circuit. I think I’m mistaking the crystal for the oscillator itself?

Hello !
It’s an very interesting idea. and it’s work well !
Just a question, PixArt sensor using 25Mhz Oscillator so your arduino processor too ?
With Arduino 3,3V – 8Mhz, I Have to use 25Mhz additional oscillator or just plug the sensor on 8Mhz ?

Thanks a lot.

Basically the Arduino runs at 5v, and the Pixart runs at 3.3v. I would not try to connect the Arduino oscillator to the Pixart as the voltages are not compatible.

I know people have run the Pixart at 20Mhz, but not sure about lower than this.

Hi again,
Thanks for your recommandation.
I’ll try with 25Mhz oscillator for the PixArt sensor and an Arduino Pro mini(3.3v – 8Mhz).
Great laser harp by the way.

Hi again…Just got my 24MHz oscillator in the mail…but then it occured to me
-Why do I want to take this IR camera out of it’s already convenient package.

I’ve tested the SDL, SCL, and GND line of the IR camera, and they are connected directly to the extension port on the wiimote…the only 2 things to worry about are Vc(power) and the CLK. I can just use the old cable I’ve already chopped off of a nunchuck to use the IR camera.

I did some more poking around, and I noticed that the CLK line is not directly connected to the onboard oscillator…

Either way, if there is a problem with adding the new oscillator to that line, I can de-solder that pin only, and re-connect it to the new osc.

All i have to do is add a power switch, oscillator, and power source to the pkg…

wish me luck

There might be a problem doing it that way – there is already an I2C master on that bus – and it might steal away the connection to your I2C master.

If you remove the camera completely then you are sure that there is no one competing for the camera.

aha…But if I don’t supply power to the wiimote (only to the IRcam) then there would be no competition…

Wait, can it run entirely on the Arduino, or does it have to be connected to the PC to run?

Sorry for what is probably a question with an obvious answer, but I just need clarification.

thanks,

-Dr. Horrible

Yes it is possible to have the Arduino be the “brains” behind an embedded solution. The PC is just requesting the coordinates and then plotting them on a screen.

Another question:

Would it be possible in the programming to invert the sensor? as in, make it track dark objects rather than light? If so, where would this modification be made?

Thanks again,

-Dr. Horrible

Not really, it’s designed to track up to 4 finite blobs of increased illumination. That is hard coded into the chip.

Your best bet for arbitrary image processing is to use a conventional camera and either a PC/Mac/Linux platform.

Oh, I was hoping it was part of the Arduino’s programming. Even still, I only wanted to track anything other than light (I’d test against a white background).

In any case, I suppose this isn’t the sensor I need. You wouldn’t happen to know any other blob-tracking-sensors, would you?

I’m trying my best to create a security system that doesn’t require a laptop, only an Arduino. I still need a sensor capable of detecting an anomaly and tell a servo the scaled coordinate/degree to move to.

Thanks for all your help (again),

-Dr. Horrible

Hi Guys,

I’m trying to interface the camera to my PIC24F, which is 3.3V

When I send 0xB0, the camera just won’t toggle the SDA pin low to acknowledge the address. This is from looking on the scope. Anyone ever have this issue? Is there something I’m missing?

I’m trying to get this running on a PIC32, so if you get your project working, I’m interested.

My camera wouldn’t generate an acknowledge. Turns out I’d forgotten to pull the reset pin on the camera high, which I believe fixed it.

Have you found any other instructions on how to do this with a PIC?

Hi there,

I was able to get the camera running on my PIC24F yesterday!

I fixed the nack issue by just sending a stop and start sequence to reset the address transmission.

I followed the steps from Johnny Chung here:

http://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2008/09/working-with-pixart-camera-directly.html

Follow his pseudo code, BUT SEND 0X38 instead of 0×37, as mentioned by some of the responses. I haven’t tried 0×37 though.

Let me know if you want my source code.

btw, I just cut off the board and soldered wires to the pcb traces like this:

http://web.uvic.ca/~gleung86/courses/499/tracking/problem1.jpg

@Gerald
Is it directly connected to the ATMEL CHIP without any I2C level conversion?

Kurt,

I am using the PIC24F, not Atmel. The PIC24F operates on 3.3V, so no voltage level conversion is necessary.

Refer to my website for source code and how I mounted the camera. If you want the complete project, post your email and I will send it to you and help you if you have problems.

http://web.uvic.ca/~gleung86/courses/499/tracking/

does the libary will work with pic18?

[...] source code is available here, and requires the Pixart/Wiimote sensor library by Steven [...]

Hi,

I used the same hardware configuration as mentioned here. Howver, I have run in to this problem;

I read it somewhere, that the Pixart camera returns any value only when it sees a IR Blob. So, accordingly, the Pixart Library mentioned here should also return values only when the camera sees any IR blob, right?

But, in my setup, as soon as I power Arduino, my serial port monitor starts displaying,

Blob 1 detected x=0, y=0, size=0
Blob 2 detected x=0, y=0, size=0
Blob 3 detected x=0, y=0, size=0
Blob 4 detected x=0, y=0, size=0
.
.
.
.
.

I dont show it any IR source, yet I keep getting this. When I give it an IR source, it doesn’t track it and still I keep getting the same result!

Please help, I dont seem to be getting to the root of problem.

Thank You

I had this problem too, your communications are not working. Either the sensor is bad or your line level conversion is not working.

You will need to attach a scope to find out which.