Hey all,
I’m thinking about starting a project to wirelessly control a camera system, and wanted some opinions/comments/questions answered.
I’ll start out by describing the current system. There are 4 basic components to the camera system:
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The camera itself (can rotate and angle up and down)
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The control board for the camera. Joystick for moving camera is on here
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The VCR for recording the output from the camera
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The TV for viewing the camera output
What I plan to do is have a controller (similar to an RC car controller, except it needs to have more commands that it can send) with a color LCD built into it be able to control the camera and VCR. On the camera system end, I’ll have a relatively simple (and a bit roundabout, I suppose) method for actually sending the commands to the devices: I’ll solder to the different ends of the input and output of, for example, a button, and when a command is received, the hardware will create a short-circuit, thus creating the same effect as if the button was pressed.
Two things that I need to be able to do to make this work that I have no idea how to do are to be able to transmit and receive composite video wirelessly, and then take that signal and display it on a color LCD screen.
I’ll also need some extra hardware on the camera system end to receive the commands from the controller and then translate those into creating short-circuits on the board of either the camera control board or the VCR with the appropriate power. I’m considering using a LEGO Mindstorms NXT, as it would be easy to splice its sensor input and motor output wires. The only problem with this is that there aren’t enough input and output “ports” needed for this system. I could use two…
I’m giving myself a large timeframe to complete this project, as this will just be something I’m doing on the side. Then again, this could be an outlandishly complex project that is too complicated for me to ever complete. (well, maybe not ever, maybe just after I take a college course pertaining to something related to this)
Any comments or criticism of this project is accepted. Any help with figuring out how to transmit composite video wirelessly, how to use a composite signal with a color LCD, and a way to send and receive the wireless commands (other than repurpousing RC controllers, which wouldn’t quite give me enough controls for this system) will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
trey