X-Band Radar and IR Camera Synchronization and Monitoring System

1. X-Band Radar and IR Camera Synchronization and Monitoring System By: Brett Snyder (Team Leader) John Williams Ryan Kindred Gavin St. John Faculty Advisor – Dr. Jamali Course Instructor – Dr. Serpen Final Presentation December 8th, 2010

2. Organizational Responsibilities & Work Breakdown Structure

3. Briefing Overview and Content • 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

4. Motivation • Recent growth in wind power • 10-40,000 bird deaths per year • Ethical and legal consequences • Economics

5. Project Overview • 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

6. Objectives 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

7. IR Camera Positioning • Used a stepper motor in lieu of a servo • Arduino Uno microcontroller • VEXTA motor driver • Tolerances

9. Arduino Firmware • 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

10. Mechanical Design • Selection of stepper motor • Cost vs. Size • Holding Torque • Coupling • Bearing

11. Mechanical Design

12. Power System • 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

13. Capture Cards • Selection • IR Camera • WinnovVideum 4100 AV • Radar • Epiphan VGA2USB • Features • Onboard Processing Power • Support DirectShow

14. Capture Card Interface

15. Embedded System • Cost • Custom Built vs. Pre-Built • Inputs/Outputs • Capture Card Interface • Networking Capabilities • Processing Power • Video Encoding

16. Software Design • Three pieces of software were developed • Video Capture Software • FTP File Transfer Client • Motor Controller Software • All software written in C#

17. Video Capture Software • Provides a common interface to capture from both capture devices • Timestamps files accurately within 10ms • Uses DirectShow

18. Video Capture Software

19. FTP File Transfer Client • Uses FileZilla for FTP server • Wrote FTP client that automatically polls and downloads files

20. Motor Controller Software • 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

21. Motor Controller Software

22. Recommendations • Weatherproofing • Mechanical limit switch • Improve manufacturability • Printed Circuit Board (PCB) solution • Relocate movement command loop to firmware • Use of a better encoder

23. Summary • 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

24. Questions?