Point Grey Research Cam: FL2-14S3C

[Mek E.]

To whoever can help;

      Greetings. Several months ago I had updated my computer from LV8.6 to 2010. I have since begun the process of converting all of the old VIs to 2010 and adjusting them as need be. Unfortunately, I hit a snag with this one (see attached). There are 2 VIs that do basically the same operation - control a series of electromagnetic coils and return video from the mounted camera (Point Grey Research FL2-14S3C). I know the camera works fine because its own software & drivers (provided by the PGR disc that came with the camera) can display the video feed. Also, I was assured the older version (8.6) worked well before the upgrade. 

     I understand my question may be vague but can anyone assist me in getting LV to display the video in either one of the attached VIs. Even if this means only narrowing down the source of the issue, your aid will be greatly appreciated. 

     If I have left out any crucial information to complete this task i.e. specific drivers, software packages, etc. please notify me.

Thank you for ANY help you can provide,

Mek E.

[Vimal_F]

Hello Mek E.

Thank you for bringing this issue to the forums. Looking through your two VIs I have a couple questions.

For the Control V3.vi:

There is an Open Lab Jack.vi, the first VI all the way to the left, did this VI come with PGR driver? Also, is this driver compatibile with LV 2010? You might have to contact PGR to get some of this information.

For the MicroRobot Controller Manually.vi:

I see here that you are using LabVIEW VISA VIs. Are you familiar with the specific VISA calls you are suppose to pass to your Point Grey Research FL2-14S3C cam?

A few general questions:

How are you connected to this camera? TCP/IP? Ethernet?

Does this camera show up in NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX)?

Thank you,

Vimal Fernandez 

[Mek E.]

Vimal,

To clarify:

1)      Any sub-VIs addressing LabJack (LJ) pertains to the interface between the coil system (output of the VI) and work fine. I doubt they are the issue as they should have no part of the video feed.

2)      Yes, LabJack is compatible with 2010. I can assure you of that – it works in several other VIs I have made.

3)      I am not entirely certain on the LV Visa VIs relative to PGR. If you can enlighten me on any specifics I am missing, that would be great.

4)      The camera uses a 1394 firewire connection to the PC.

5)      Unfortunately the camera does not appear on NI Measurement & Automation Explorer.

Hope this will help and thank you again,

Mek E.

[Vimal_F]

Hello Mek E,

In your first post, what exactly do you mean by "snag?" Does the VI execute? Does the VI execute but the camera doesn't display any video? Have you tried to turn "highlight execution" on to pinpoint an error you may have? 

You were saying that you got a similar setup to work in a different VI? Was this VI created in LabVIEW 8.6 as well and brought to LabVIEW 2010? Also, have you gotten these "IMAQ" VIs to work in LabVIEW 2010? Try to create a simple VI that just creates a connection to the camera and displays a video feed or a snapshot.

Thank you,

Vimal Fernandez 

[Mek E.]

Vimal,

     I created a simple vision VI off of V3 (see attached). The error it returns, starting at IMAQdx Open Camera, is error -107360311 - NI-IMAQdx: (Hex 0xBFF69009) Camera not found. I am certain this is the source as I can not locate the camera through LV only the PGR software.

Please advise.

Mek E.

[Thør]

Hi Mek,

In order to use a Firewire camera in LabVIEW, you'll need the correct version of the IMAQdx drivers.  Those can be found here.

On top of that, it's possible for the camera's drivers to be interfering with the IMAQdx drivers.  You should be able to see the FireWire camera in MAX without the manufacturer's drivers present.  Sometimes the manufacturer's drivers interfere with communication, and make it so the IMAQdx cannot properly access the camera.  The next step from here, after installing the most recent IMAQdx drivers, would be to uninstall the manufacturer's drivers and then work on getting communication to work properly in MAX.  From there it should be simple to then get the camera into LabVIEW.