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Webcam32 and RCM


New in V 5.0.5

Webcam32 supports a Remote Camera Mount (RCM) from Surveyor Corporation.

An RCM is a physical piece of hardware which connects to a PC's serial port.  A video capture camera can be easily attached to the RCM.  Under software control, the RCM can pan and tilt the camera.

The Webcam32 support provides the ability to control the RCM from within the Webcam32 application.  From the Preferences menu, select RCM

The following window will appear:

Webcam32 RCM Dialog

From within this window, the camera may be panned left or right or tilted up or down by pressing any of the arrow directional buttons.  If the buttons are held down, motion continues in the desired direction.  The center button centers the position of the camera.  At the bottom and side of the buttons, positional status indicators are displayed showing the current position of the pan or tilt.

The COM Port to which the RCM device is connected may be changed with the COM Port button.


RCM Control via HTTP Requests


A new method of RCM control that uses http requests similar to those used by TrueTech's Webcam2.2.

Execution

RCM HTTP Command Set:



 Pan Transit left by [num]
     /rcm/left=[num] 
 Pan Transit right by [num]
     /rcm/right=[num]
 Tilt Transit up by [num]
     /rcm/up=[num]
 Tilt Transit down by [num]
     /rcm/down=[num]
 Center Transit
     /rcm/center
 Pan Transit to [num1], Tilt Transit to [num2]
     /rcm/goto=[num1],[num2]

Please note that the IP address "127.0.0.1" is used for demonstration purposes only.

 Example:
    
		
Please be sure that under "TCP/IP SETTINGS" "Remote RCM Control" is checked!

		

		

		

		


		Remote Applet Control

		
A Java applet is now available for beta testing which allows the RCM to be remotely controlled from a web page.

		
Installation

		
Download rcm.jar (right-click and select Save As...) to your Webcam32 installation directory. This is usually C:\Program Files\ Surveyor Corporation\Webcam32.

		
Execution

		
Create an HTML page which contains the following applet code:

		
Please note that the IP address "127.0.0.1" is used for demonstration purposes only.

		

		

			

				
					











				

			

		

		

		
Make sure that:

		
    
			
  • In the Webcam32 TCP/IP settings port 8888 is defined as the remote access port
			
  • In the Webcam32 TCP/IP settings, RCM Control Enabled is checked
			
  • You replace the "127.0.0.1" with your current IP which can be found within Webcam32, File>Preferences>TCP-IP>Access Menu
		

		
Prior to using the remote access applet, make sure that you can access the RCM from within Webcam32 by testing with the RCM entry in the Settings menu.  This includes setting the COM port for the first time.

		

		

		

		


		Additional Support for RCM ...

		
If demand for RCM support is high, additional functions are being considered:

		
    
			
  • Joystick support - The ability to control the RCM through a joystick or other game controller
			
  • Java Applet control - The ability to control the RCM through an applet hosted by a remote web page
			
  • Image tracking - The ability for Webcam32 to track movement in a scene and automatically position the RCM to center the principle source of the movement in the image
			
  • Prerecorded movement - The ability to have the RCM panned and tilted automatically from left to right and left again as well as up and down and other motion patterns
			
  • Prerecorded positions - The ability to have the RCM move to positions pre-recorded