X-Band Radar and IR Camera Synchronization and Monitoring System

By: Brett Snyder (Team Leader)John WilliamsRyan Kindred

Gavin St. John

Faculty Advisor – Dr. JamaliCourse Instructor – Dr. Serpen

Final PresentationDecember 8th, 2010

Organizational Responsibilities & Work Breakdown Structure

Motivation Project Overview Overview of Objectives IR Camera Positioning and Electrical Mechanical Design and Power System Embedded System and Capture Cards Software Design Recommendations Summary Q&A

Briefing Overview and Content

Recent growth in wind power10-40,000 bird deaths per yearEthical and legal consequencesEconomics

Motivation

Improve an existing system to gather info on migratory birds in the vicinity of off-shore wind turbines

Devices utilized:◦ X-Band Radar – altitude◦ IR Camera – x,y position

Record and use data to identify species

Project Overview

Capture and timestamp video feeds from IR camera and X-band radar

Transmit video data wirelessly to remote computer

Accurate positioning of IR camera from a remote computer

Objectives Overview

Used a stepper motor in lieu of a servo Arduino Uno microcontroller VEXTA motor driver Tolerances

IR Camera Positioning

Serial communication through USB port Wrote firmware to communicate with C# Single character commands to set rotation

direction and step the motor Used logic to control voltages of signals

going to motor driver

Arduino Firmware

Selection of stepper motor◦ Cost vs. Size

Holding Torque

Coupling Bearing

Mechanical Design

Mechanical Design

Components require 120VAC and 24VDC Power supply selection

◦ Stepper Motor: 2.9A@24VDC=70W◦ IR Camera: 16WPeak◦ Required Wattage:86W◦ Power Supply: 150W

Mains filter◦ Used to prevent the noise generated in the

driver from being transmitted externally via the power supply line

Power System

Selection◦ IR Camera

Winnov Videum 4100 AV ◦ Radar

Epiphan VGA2USB Features

◦ Onboard Processing Power◦ Support DirectShow

Capture Cards

Capture Card Interface

Cost◦ Custom Built vs. Pre-Built

Inputs/Outputs◦ Capture Card Interface◦ Networking Capabilities

Processing Power◦ Video Encoding

Embedded System

Three pieces of software were developed◦ Video Capture Software◦ FTP File Transfer Client◦ Motor Controller Software

All software written in C#

Software Design

Provides a common interface to capture from both capture devices

Timestamps files accurately within 10ms Uses DirectShow

Video Capture Software

Source Filter

Encoding Filter

File Writer

Video Capture Software

Uses FileZilla for FTP server Wrote FTP client that automatically polls

and downloads files

FTP File Transfer Client

Developed both a server and a client Motor controlled via USB to Arduino Can send commands both locally and

remotely Uses a network library called Lidgren Movement constraints Position messages

Motor Controller Software

Motor Controller Software

Weatherproofing Mechanical limit switch Improve manufacturability Printed Circuit Board (PCB) solution Relocate movement command loop to

firmware Use of a better encoder

Recommendations

Used frame grabbers to capture separate video feeds

Time stamped video for synchronization Created FTP client to download video files to

a remote computer Used a stepper motor to obtain positioning

accuracy within 1 degree Created UDP server and client software for

remote positioning of the IR camera

Summary

Questions?