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Problem with bad recognition SOLVED!

I am building a project with PixyCam in a robot that can sort small dinosaur toys into the right containers.

It can sort red, orange, green, blue and purple.

My main problem during this project was that PixyCam one day could recognize the toys’s colours perfectly and other times have no clue.

After a long time of troubleshooting and trial and error I happened to stumble upon a possible solution.

I realized that when I power on the project and PixyCam WITH the lens protector still on, and then take it off, PixyCam work without a wrong.

But when I then unplugg the robot and replugg it WITHOUT the lens protector on, it doesn’t work at all.

So my tip for all of you is to always have the lens protector on while you power on the project, and then take it off.

I think this has to do with the automatical white-balance settings.

Always having the lens protector on make the settings the same every time, as the white-balance sets automatically as soon as the PixyCam gets power.

Another thing that I’ve find helpful is re-setting the signatures occasionally. This helps PixyCam regonize them better.

I also suggest having a neutral background to be sure that PixyCam doesn’t take up colours from the surroundings.

Having a neautral background might also help with keeping the light as steady as possible, regardless of where the project is located.

I use a big white piece of paper glued to a standing wooden board as neutral background.

Good luck with all of your interesting projects out there!

1 Like

Hello Maand,
Thanks for sharing your experiences. If you are having trouble with the white balance (it sounds like you are). You should try disabling “Auto white balance on power up”

https://docs.pixycam.com/wiki/doku.php?id=wiki:v2:pixymon_index#camera-tab

This way the white balance will always be the same when you power up. This disabling this could create issues if the lighting is slightly different the next time you power up, but at least you won’t run into the problem of Pixy choosing a different white balance for the same environment/lighting, which can happen.

Edward