Usb in Labview 6.1

[Hapenciuc]

Hello to everyone,

I would like to capture the images from two webcams in Labview, in the same VI.

I have managed to capture images from one webcam using solutions I have found here, but to take images from two is provin to be quite difficult.

I have LabVIEW 6.1 and Vision 6 (so the USB driver for IMAQ is not working)

Thank you in anticipation

[Nick_CH]

Hello,

Unfortunately, the LabVIEW 6 and NI-Vision6 do not support the USB Camera.
You must have LabVIEW 7 or higher with Ni-Vision 7.1 or higher

link: NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras

Best regards,
Nick_CH

[Jeffrey_P]

Good morning Hapenciuc,

Nick is correct in that NI-IMAQ for USB cameras will not work with the combination fo LabVIEW 6 and Vision 6.  Without a USB driver, your options are limited.  You  basically have two choices from here, without upgrading to Vision and LabVIEW 7.0. 

The first is to have some software application, or dll, developed by the manufacturer of the camera.  The software application could potentially allow you to access the camera.  However, it would not be available in LabVIEW.  To access the camera in LabVIEW, you would need to know the structure of the call commands that the camera is expecting.  This would be information that you would need to obtain from the camera manufacturer.  If there is a dll that is installed by the camera driver, you might be able to determine the structure of the calls in the dll, and make low-level VISA calls through the USB port.  Either one of these options will be extremely involved. 

For more information on the VISA solution, please post back and I will point you in the right direction!

I hope that this information is helpful!

Respectfully,

[Hapenciuc]

Thank you very much for answering me.

It seen that USB webcams and LabVIEW 6.1 don't get along to well.

I end up getting the image from the webcams by manualy opening the webcam interface, then I do PrintScreen and with a freeware program I get the info from the clipbord in a .BMP, and in labview I open the ,BMP file and do what I want.

If I do a loop it taking 3 sec to take one frame on 500Mhz Celeron!!! 😞

Now I see in Vision 6 is a Vi called "IMAQ clipboard to picture" but is usless since I don't get how to use it?!

[Jeffrey_P]

Good morning Hapenciuc,

In Vision 6.x, and all versions prior to Vision 7.0, there is no "image" datatype in LabVIEW.  The image data was stored in a cluster with a string and array.  The only way to "see" the image was to use the IMAQ Winddraw function.  I have attached a screenshot of how to use the IMAQ ClipboardtoPicture.VI. 

The first VI called is the IMAQ Create.VI.  This function creates a memory space to store the picture data in.  The next VI, IMAQ ClipboardtoPicture.VI, takes whatever picture is stored to the clipboard, and copies it into the picture passed to it.  The last VI, IMAQ Winddraw.VI, pops open a dialog window that displays the picture that is passed into it.

I hope that this information is helpful!  Please post back with any further questions!

Respectfully,

[Jeffrey_P]

Sorry, here's the attachment!

Thanks,