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24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once

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Offline reyalp

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Re: 24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once
« Reply #10 on: 15 / April / 2016, 13:38:37 »
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Quote from: halfpipe on 15 / April / 2016, 13:05:07
The usb cable lengths I would be using far exceed the passive distances
If you are using the "USB Remote" then exceeding standard USB cable lengths should not be an issue. All the camera cares about is whether there is ~5 volts or not, it doesn't involve actual USB protocol communication. AFAIK USB cable length limits are mostly driven by timing, which is not a concern in this case.
In my suggestion earlier, the hub would only be there to provide the 5 volts with a convenient switch and plugs.
Quote
-On another matter my understanding is that chdk will reside on the sdhc cards (4gb ordered earlier today) and no pc will be needed - am I right?
Yes, CHDK goes on the card. See http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Bootable_SD_card

Again, if you are using the USB remote, you do not need to have a PC connected when you are shooting. Trying to involve a PC in this configuration would make things significantly more complicated.

I would strongly suggest that you set up one camera first, get the basic process working to your satisfaction, then set up a few more before trying to configure all 24.

When you have a satisfactory setup, you can use disk imaging software to clone the SD card for the remaining cameras. This only works if all the cameras have the same canon firmware version, but in the case of a550 there is only one.
« Last Edit: 15 / April / 2016, 13:41:22 by reyalp »
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Offline halfpipe

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Re: 24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once
« Reply #11 on: 15 / April / 2016, 13:41:48 »
thanks kindly
what I wanted to read :)
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Offline halfpipe

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Re: 24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once
« Reply #12 on: 15 / April / 2016, 13:48:53 »
Back in 1996 I was messing around with 3d using photomodeler and could make photorealistic (square geometry) objects that I could display in a java applet but soon after we know what happened to java applets (damn shame if you ask me)
I bent  down the 3d learning curve but now 3d printing is getting close to where  it needs to be so I.m back and giving it another go
thanks again for helping
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Offline ahull

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Re: 24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once
« Reply #13 on: 21 / May / 2016, 08:22:04 »
Slightly wide of the topic, but I recently purchased a bunch of these to allow me to power some USB powered microcontrollers from a single 5V supply while also allowing me to access the USB data lines.

They might work for your situation too, you could switch all of the +5v lines on at once using a power adapter in to the PCB, and a bunch of hacked USB cables out, with a single relay or switch to enable the 5V to the 24 cameras. Using an off the shelf PCB keeps things a lot tidier than the clutter of electrical tape and pudding joints I often end up with.

Using a microcontroller's GPIO pins would be an alternative, as it would allow you to do things like fire all at once, or fire cameras in a very tightly controlled sequence, by toggling the gpio pins at set intervals, but that is a whole new topic.  :D   
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Offline halfpipe

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Re: 24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once
« Reply #14 on: 21 / May / 2016, 10:38:17 »
Quote from: ahull on 21 / May / 2016, 08:22:04
Slightly wide of the topic, but I recently purchased a bunch of these to allow me to power some USB powered microcontrollers from a single 5V supply while also allowing me to access the USB data lines.

They might work for your situation too, you could switch all of the +5v lines on at once using a power adapter in to the PCB, and a bunch of hacked USB cables out, with a single relay or switch to enable the 5V to the 24 cameras. Using an off the shelf PCB keeps things a lot tidier than the clutter of electrical tape and pudding joints I often end up with.

Using a microcontroller's GPIO pins would be an alternative, as it would allow you to do things like fire all at once, or fire cameras in a very tightly controlled sequence, by toggling the gpio pins at set intervals, but that is a whole new topic.  :D
well thanks that would be perfect because I now have 50+ cameras and the whole kit is coming together for activation around the end of June.
I have found that the usb firing method works ok on a few cameras hubbed together but still I am still amassing power supplies to complete the array. (batteries would be a big hasssle methinks)
The prospect of physically removing and downloading images from the sd cards has been a dark spot and you have provided light on the matter.
Now i have to figure out what you said and implement this great idea of yours :)

So I ordered up 60 of these  and will have to reconfigure the plan to accomadate those micro usb ports etc
Could you do a wee sketch? please and thanks for instance where the usb wires both i and o go to camera and back to hub I haven't got my head around the wiring nor the chdk caveat the usb data is not available if remote is enabled
« Last Edit: 21 / May / 2016, 18:34:03 by halfpipe »
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Offline ahull

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Re: 24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once
« Reply #15 on: 21 / May / 2016, 19:47:22 »
Quote from: halfpipe on 21 / May / 2016, 10:38:17
..
I have found that the usb firing method works ok on a few cameras hubbed together but still I am still amassing power supplies to complete the array. (batteries would be a big hasssle methinks)
The prospect of physically removing and downloading images from the sd cards has been a dark spot and you have provided light on the matter.
Now i have to figure out what you said and implement this great idea of yours :)

So I ordered up 60 of these  and will have to reconfigure the plan to accomadate those micro usb ports etc
Could you do a wee sketch? please and thanks for instance where the usb wires both i and o go to camera and back to hub I haven't got my head around the wiring nor the chdk caveat the usb data is not available if remote is enabled

Well a picture is worth a thousand words, so if I get a chance tomorrow I will sketch something. Meantime, perhaps one of the developers could answer this question. Can the remote be enabled and disabled in a script, and if so, would this permit the use of USB for data when disabled?

In other words, could the script start, enable the remote, take pictures, then once one or more pictures are taken, disable the remote function and at that point, re-enumerate the USB so the host can download the pictures?
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Offline waterwingz

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Re: 24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once
« Reply #16 on: 21 / May / 2016, 20:08:03 »
Quote from: ahull on 21 / May / 2016, 19:47:22
Meantime, perhaps one of the developers could answer this question. Can the remote be enabled and disabled in a script, and if so, would this permit the use of USB for data when disabled?

In other words, could the script start, enable the remote, take pictures, then once one or more pictures are taken, disable the remote function and at that point, re-enumerate the USB so the host can download the pictures?
see usb_force_active()
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Ported :   A1200    SD940   G10    Powershot N    G16
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Offline halfpipe

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Re: 24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once
« Reply #17 on: 21 / May / 2016, 20:26:17 »
so that's great as it seems as though dual use of the usb is doable
fantastic
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Offline waterwingz

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Re: 24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once
« Reply #18 on: 21 / May / 2016, 20:55:56 »
Quote from: halfpipe on 21 / May / 2016, 20:26:17
so that's great as it seems as though dual use of the usb is doable
fantastic
That's exactly what that patch was added for.
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Ported :   A1200    SD940   G10    Powershot N    G16
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Offline ahull

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Re: 24 or more A550 cameras to fire at once
« Reply #19 on: 22 / May / 2016, 04:48:19 »
Quote from: waterwingz on 21 / May / 2016, 20:08:03
Quote from: ahull on 21 / May / 2016, 19:47:22
Meantime, perhaps one of the developers could answer this question. Can the remote be enabled and disabled in a script, and if so, would this permit the use of USB for data when disabled?

In other words, could the script start, enable the remote, take pictures, then once one or more pictures are taken, disable the remote function and at that point, re-enumerate the USB so the host can download the pictures?
see usb_force_active()

Quote from: wiki 
usb_force_active(mode)
Forces the Canon firmware to see the USB 5V line as active regardless of its actual state.
 
  • mode = 1 or true for USB 5V power detect forced active
  • mode = 0 or false for USB 5V power detect normal
This function useful in multicam scripts that need to maintain PTP communications while the USB 5V line is switched on & off for USB remote shooting - particularly for precision sync.
Returns true if function is implemented, false otherwise.
Note : this function requires the CAM_ALLOWS_USB_PORT_FORCING option to be selected in the platform_camera.h build configuration file for the camera.

You will also need to check the camera supports this function, if so, then yes, dual use of the USB is possible although you may need a custom build of CHDK.
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