GROK2 gets new cameras

I've been searching for possible replacement cameras for GROK2 for the last couple of years, and it's been quite tricky because the image quality of the Creative Webcam NX Ultra is quite hard to beat. Had it not been for recent kernel changes which meant that the existing cameras no longer worked on Linux I probably would have just carried on using them.

The new cameras are Quickcam Pro 9000's. These have an unusually elongated circuit board, so one of the cameras is mounted upside down with the image being inverted in software. The mounting holes on the circuit boards are asymmetrical, hence the rather skewed appearance of the wooden bar that they're fixed onto when one board is upside down.

The new appearance is nerdier and more Cog-like, and the protective hood will be reattached once I've replaced both sets of cameras.



Until recently I'd been thinking of using the Minoru stereo webcams as replacements, but after experimenting with these, including changing the lenses for wide angle versions, it seems that the 6cm baseline is just too short to get very good depth perception beyond a metre or so. The Minoru might still be used though on the Rodney robot.

I've increased the separation between the new cameras to 12cm, in order to get a little more ranging performance. For this robot close up recognition isn't the main research goal.



The new cameras are considerably smaller, and can be tilted almost vertically down towards the floor. They also have a wider exposure range, which means that in theory the robot could be used outdoors, although at present I'm not intending to do that.