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Kickstarter Marketing Features that Aren't there?

Pixy Software
#1

  1. In the Kickstarter, one of the features was a live video with several colored balls, the PIXY recognized them and they all
    had names, ie, Blue Ball", “yellow ball”, “Red ball”, etc. The software we got, assigned them “S1”, “S2”, etc…
    What happened to the ability to name them?

  2. The camera washes out in daylight conditions, no matter what additional settings I (We) have tried based on other forum
    requests, comments. Will this be fixed?

  3. Facial Recognition is a feature that was advertised. When do you think we will see that?

All and all, I think this is a great device! But without the three features above worked out, I am at a standstill.

Thanks again!
Dan Thimm

#2

Hi Daniel Thimm,
You liked the little labels? :slight_smile: The code’s in there… we’re working on other stuff before releasing.

Regarding daylight situations— we want to improve this asap.

Facial detection (not recognition— we can’t answer the “who” question :slight_smile: That’s on our list, yes.

We made a decision to ship the current feature set – it’s a feature set that we think most people are interested in, instead of making everyone wait. Uploading new firmware into Pixy is very easy, so new features found in new version of firmware will be available to you. The things you mention will be there, sure. There are also other things, other capabilities that weren’t in the kickstarter video that will available too.

We just need to get through all of these messages, etc that you invariably get when you ship 4000 of something over a short period of time. :slight_smile:

#3

Thanks Rich!

Like I said, I think the PIXY is going to revolutionize Small Scale Robotics and open up a whole new world for Arduino Users.

Dan Thimm

#4

Any update on the multiple object tracking code used in the promo video?

I would love to test it out for some particle tracking… :wink:

Jeff

#5

Multiple object tracking? Pixy has always tracked multiple objects — maybe I’m not understanding your question— can you describe more?

#6

I am interested in using the IR-LOCK firmware to identify multiple objects with the same color classification. As far as I understand, it is close to what Donald Patrick has also described in his forum post:

http://www.cmucam.org/boards/9/topics/2649

Essentially, the goal would be to read the object center positions and use them for particle tracking in cases where the camera position remains fixed.

The promo video shows multiple objects with the same color code having different labels. Here the goal would be to have a single color code (using the IR-LOCK mods) with simultaneous blob tracking.

Jeff

#7

Hi Jeff,

Like Rich said, this is standard in Pixy. Pixy will detect and send data for all objects that match the color signature generated during training. By default Pixy will send up to 1000 objects (although you can increase/decrease this).

Scott

#8

Scott,

Thanks for the clarification. As soon as I get my hands on the IR-LOCK mod, I will follow up on this post.

Jeff

#9

Hi, My understanding of the Pixy Cam in tracking mode is that live video is disabled, and thus it is not possible to view the live video with the tracking blobs and control a pan tilt setup. I am interested in using a Pixy cam to control a camera gimbal, but would also like to see the blob tracking on live video as well. From my searching on the forum, it looks like the Pixy cam can output the blobs during tracking, but not the live video. If this is correct, would it be possible to use this information to set up an OSD overlay onto live video from a separate camera that would allow a live view of tracked objects with surrounding tracking blobs similar to that of the Kickstarter video? if so, do you have any pointers on where to start searching for information to build such a solution?

Thanks
Keith

#10

Hi Keith,
You want to use another camera to generate an OSD – so 2 cameras? I’m not sure I understand— can you describe your application? maybe we can help…

Regarding displaying raw video during tracking, check out this thread— short answer— it’s possible, and we cobbled together a demo, but performance was pretty sucky:
http://www.cmucam.org/boards/9/topics/2758?r=4375#message-4375

#11

Hi Rich,

I just typed a long reply and it didn’t go through and I lost it, but here’s a quick and dirty version that I hope helps…

I envision tracking an object with a Pixycam either using color or via IR tagging by using the IR Lock modification that was just funded on Kickstarter.

I have a multicopter with a gimbal to which I will mount the Pixycam as well as a separate FPV cam. I would use the Pixy to control the servos through a tracking script.

If my limited understanding of how the Pix works is correct, during the tracking script it is able to output the size and location of the tracked object. If this is correct, I would like to use that information to generate an overlay onto the FPV camera feed indicating the bounding box of the tracked object similar to what is seen in the cooked video on Pixymon as shown in the second video on the Introduction and Background page. I understand that the Pixy was sucky at providing this type of video by itself, but if it is able to just give the size and position of the tracked object(s) then I might be able to use that in a separate OSD system to overlay on the FPV feed.

I am planning to rely heavily on this forum posting to learn about how to make my own OSD, which might give you an idea of what I am thinking:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1473207

For the time being, I am just hoping to show the bounding boxes. additional information might be added as I gain experience with successful implementation of my original goal, it it is possible.

Does that make my goal any more clear, or did I make it worse?

Thanks for the quick reply,
Keith

#12

Interesting— just thinking about this, so if you mount Pixy on the same gimbal as the FPV camera and Pixy is tracking an object, that object is nominally in the center of Pixy’s image. The only time it isn’t in the center is when the object moves (or Pixy moves) but the tracking algorithm will re-center quickly. So it may be simpler than you think — Pixy is providing the size and location of the tracked object (you’re correct), but the position is almost always the center of the image. If the image axes of Pixy and the FPV camera are closely aligned, or slightly convergent, the object being tracked is also in the center of the FPV camera.

#13

Yes, exactly. The end result of the overlay is more of a neat-o sci-fi effect than anything especially useful, although if the Pixy registers other signatures that might confuse tracking, it could be useful to see those in the FPV monitor, possibly so that a manual overide of the gimbal can recenter an intended target signature.

In any case, since the Pixy is giving size and position, I suppose the challenge is on the end of interpreting that input and rendering through the OSD. Thanks for your help. I’ll try to update if I get it all working.