USB Webcam with Control

[Shazlan]

Hi,

I just purchased a USB videoscope from here: http://www.fiberscope.net/servlet/the-56/USB-Video-Borescope%2C-usb/Detail. The videoscope has a camera at the end of the tube and two buttons on the handle to control whether to capture an image or record a video - This is using the supplied program. My first goal, which is to capture the images using LabVIEW, is a success using the NI's USB-IMAQ driver. The next task that I need to do is to include the functions of the two physical buttons into my program. I'm currently playing around with USB Raw thingie but am not sure whether I am doing this correctly (ie. reading the images using USB-IMAQ and reading the status of the buttons using USB Raw). I read somewhere that if I need to take this approach (using USB Raw), I need to know the protocols (commands) used by the manufacturers - this is something I do not have. Any suggestions?

Inputs are very much appreciated!


Shazlan

[muks]

---

The next task that I need to do is to include the functions of the two physical buttons into my program. I'm currently playing around with USB Raw thingie but am not sure whether I am doing this correctly (ie. reading the images using USB-IMAQ and reading the status of the buttons using USB Raw).

---

I am not very clear about  the above statement.Can explain it more clearly .Can you attach a block diagram of your vi that you have tried?

What do you exactly mean by two physical buttons? what should it do? what do you mean by "thingie"?

[muks]

Post vision,Camera and IMAQ realted stuff in machine vision section.You will get a better hit rate.

[Shazlan]

Hi Muks,

Thanks for your reply. Please refer to the attached image - Sorry, I do not have a better view as I left the videoscope in the office. On the handle of the videoscope, there are two buttons - A & B. These buttons act like a trigger. If I were to use the supplied program, it will automatically save the image (still picture) once I pressed button A. On the other hand, the program will start to record in video mode once I pressed button B.

I've managed to communicate with the camera using LabVIEW's USB IMAQ driver - my program can see what the camera sees. What I want to do now is to monitor the two buttons and replicate what it does as mentioned above. I've followed through the tutorial here (http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4478).

1. It mentions that a USB instrument can be classified into two categories: USBTMC and USB Raw. My question: How do I know which classification does my instrument fall into? For now, I assume that it falls onto USB Raw. How can I verify?

2. If my assumption on USB Raw is true, the article goes on and says that I need to "contact your device vendor for details about the communication protocol for your device". So far, this is not a success. What do I need to do to proceed?

I hope that this explanation is clearer. Please advice.