ITEE Innovation Expo 2008 : Project Details

Camera Controller

This project involved making the controller for a video camera that will reside on a pole. The camera will have 5 parameters that will need to be controlled. These consist of the height of the camera on the pole, a tilt motion, a pan motion, zoom and focus. The controller should also be able to remember locations and at the user's request, return to such a position. Furthermore, the controller will be able to recognise faults that arise from the mechanical unit that is driving the movement of the camera on the pole.

Much thought was given to an appropriate interface for this controller. It was imperative to create a user interface that was simple to understand, so that intuitive actions on the controller produce desirable results on the camera when the user may have little or no technical training. It was appropriate as well to liken the controller to industrial equivalents and such research was undertaken to ensure this was the case. The final product has achieved this goal, as it is both simple to use and maintains features of other similar products.

The overall system has been separated into distinct modules for ease of development, each module has a hard and soft component. The project, in its simplest form is a number of peripherals communicating directly with a microcontroller. The hardware for the project has been completely finalised and manufactured, the software provides usable functionality, both have been developed with room for expansion.