iPhone to BlackWidow connection

[meken]

Hi,

I just found out about this board. It seems I'm lucky since it only just got out and I'm just now wanting to start a project with it.
I want to make a remote camera control for my Canon EOS 5D mark II. Mainly to do HDR image capturing. There is another project that uses a Nintendo DS, but I would like to use my iPhone.

So, before I purchase the BlackWidow, I'd like to make sure that it'll work as I expect it. Does the BlackWidow create a Wifi network (adhoc, or other) that the iPhone will be able to connect to? Is communicating with it from the iPhone easy?

And a second question: what board should I get (that's compatible with the BlackWidow) to act as a USB host to control the camera?

Thanks for all your help.

Marijn

[GregEigsti]

Yes the AsyncLabs wifi products will work in infrastructure or adhoc modes with the iPhone (I have done both).

Which one to get? I guess whatever one meets your needs/skills. I am currently enamored with the BlackWidow (all in one Arduino/WiShield @ normal size) and the YellowJacket (all in one Arduino/WiShield @ micro size).

For host USB action I think you will need to get an Arduino USB host shield; I have not seen that it is possible to put the Arduino USB port into host mode and the fact that a USB host shield exists makes me think that it is not possible to put the Arduino USB into host mode. Just make sure to research the host shield to make sure that it does not conflict with the Wishield pins/interrupts.

Greg

[meken]

Thanks Greg for the info. I think I'm going to order my BlackWidow straight away. Can't wait to play with it.

Ah, the Arduino USB host shield, looks like a good option. Good tip on checking the pins. But what if they conflict? Would it be possible to re-route those? Remember, I'm a newbie to Arduino, so I may be asking the obvious here. I'm not a newbie to electronics though.

Marijn

[meken]

Upon further inspection, there indeed DOES seem to be a conflict between the boards. I've already sent an email to Circuits@Home to ask how easy it would be to change the pins.

The conflict is either between pins 8, 9 and 10 or between pins 2, 9 and 10. So, I'll ask the same question here. How easy would it be to change the BlackWidow to use different pins? Could I just edit some of the source code? Could I rewire some PCB lines? (sounds like a bad plan anyways)

Thanks for helping me out.

[GregEigsti]

You'd have more luck "rewiring" a Wishield than a BlackWidow since the BW's traces are right there on the board. Or you could figure out how to make the Arduino built in USB work in host mode and make me really happy

Greg

[SirPoonga]

I haven't looked at homebrew DS programming for a couple of years, not sure how far along networking is. It was pretty simple when I last looked at it. it only supported connecting to an AP at the time. Not sure if they implemented ad hoc now.

You can do either networking structure with the iPhone. Just remember with the iPhone if you do ad hoc you need to know the blackwidow's IP you programmed it with. If you use an AP that is supported by OpenWRT or DD-WRT you can set it up to forward http requests to a specific IP. i am doing this with a project. I want anyone who connects to be able to control my project with as little instruction as possible. I am using a fonera router because it is small and can run on 3.3v or 5v. I installed dd-wrt and will have it forward http requests to the wishield address.

USB host mode required a USB host chip. Why do you want to connect the camera through USB to the arduino?

[meken]

You'd have more luck "rewiring" a Wishield than a BlackWidow since the BW's traces are right there on the board.

I got an answer from Circuits@Home. A lot of the pins aren't actually used and the ones that overlap can be modified to use a different pin. So much for the good news.

The bad news is, that both the WiFi and the USB Host Controller use SPI. Oleg from Circuits@Home thinks that they will probably conflict, especially because the WiFi is using interrupts and could interfere with the 2 byte transfers of the USB Host Controller.
I did a little bit of Googling and it seems a lot of people are having difficulties getting multiple SPI devices to work at the same time.

[meken]

USB host mode required a USB host chip. Why do you want to connect the camera through USB to the arduino?

I want to use this 'in the field', so an AP is not really an option. I will have to use ad-hoc mode. It's not a big deal that I would have to know the IP address and hard code it.

I want to connect the camera through USB, so I can control the shutter/iso/f-stop and fire the camera multiple times to get different exposures. There is a device that does what I want, but it's not very cheap: http://www.promotesystems.com/products/Promote-Control.html

And I like a bit of a challenge.

[SirPoonga]

Is there specs on how to control the camera? commands? I have an idea but it depends on how the camera is controlled. In theory, you could use a portable access point that supports openwrt and has a usb port. This assumes there is a way to talk to the camera from linux.

For the ad hoc iPhone connection - worst case scenario is you will bookmark the IP of the wishield. You could have a portable AP, that's what I am doing for my project (see the post I just put up in the projects forum).

My original plan was to use the router as the web server and use phpserial to talk to the arduino over the router's serial port. But this would require the router to be on all the time if I want to control the LEDs and it sucks up a lot of battery power. That would still be a great idea, however, using the wishield to connect to the router I can eliminate a set of wires. I can then use a separate rechargeable battery for the router and remove it from the system at any time with ease. The router just needs to be within radio range of the system to allow access to it instead of tethered to it.

[meken]

Well, SirPoonga, you hit another 'hurdle' in this project by asking about the USB commands. I haven't fully looked into it yet, but from what I read, Canon is keeping the USB commands a secret. They provide an SDK to talk to the camera's, but I guess it's not open source. So people have snooped the USB bus to find out what commands are being sent. Hopefully I'll be able to figure that out too.

Hmm, never thought of progamming an AP, but it's an interesting suggestion. In the mean time I've found a board that supports C# programming and has WiFi and USB Host onboard. So, if all else fails, I guess that could also be an option. My BlackWidow is on its way, so I'll try that first.