Quality of supplied borescope cam

Hardware
#1

Hi all,

does someone have the same low quality on the supplied borescope cam than I have?
16

If I compare his to the picture in the docs:

they are of totally different quality.
@roryaronson: Could you share a picture of yours please?

#2

Came here for the same reason, the camera I got is not the best one…
The resolution is not great but the colours are far worse. (Can they at least be improved by software? - calibration hadn’t changed anything yet)
Guess that plant. With bare eyes it’s super easy, but through the camera…

open-uri20180701-2268-1jsumgy

#3

Does someone has a suggestion what camera to buy maybe?

What about a better boroscope cam?: https://www.amazon.de/Somikon-Fingerkamera-Wasserfeste-HD-USB-Endoskop-Kamera-UEC-5070-hd-Schwarz/dp/B00BPTGX6U/ref=sr_1_8?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1530464522&sr=1-8&keywords=Ăśberwachungskamera+hd+usb+wasserdicht

Or one of those little things?: https://www.amazon.de/Original-Sansnail-Camcorder-Nachtsicht-Wasserdicht/dp/B078HTYKLW/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1530464522&sr=1-1&keywords=Ăśberwachungskamera+hd+usb+wasserdicht

#4

I think these are fundamental problems with these “USB Borescope Cam’s”

  1. The USB port: In my opinion this is just for “SOHO”. Not for unguarded 24 hours operation. If the driver needs to be re-synced, you have to unplug the plug and plug it in after a few seconds.
  2. Adjust the image sharpness: Is mostly fixed and can not be adjusted by driver. Example quote: “Optimal recording distance about 4 - 10 cm” (If a special driver for the camera exists, that is probably not for the operating system of the Raspberry Pi.)
    But it is a very reasonably priced opportunity to play with different possibilities, to learn and then to look for something better.
    (Translated with the help of Google Translate)
#5

Would be really interested if you’d try another one. Just wondering again what the farmbot team used in oder to try fool someone who thinks that this comes out of the FB cam :wink:

The action cams, I guess you will have difficulties with power supply and getting the data off. Normally they would only support WiFi connection, right?

Cheerio!

#6

Yeah the more time I spend with the farmbot the more I wonders what those farmbot guys thought :laughing:
I guess a lot of Americans are good salesmen…

1 Like
#7

The borescope cameras supplied with the kits have relatively low resolution and image quality compared to a smartphone or the Raspberry Pi Camera. That’s the tradeoff we made in order to include a camera that was cost effective, readily available with a long enough cable, sufficiently small in size, and didn’t require additional waterproofing components.

If you look back at v1.1, you’ll see that we experimented with using the Raspberry Pi Camera with a plastic mounting bracket, plastic cover, and somewhat cumbersome ribbon cable to HDMI adapters in order to achieve the cable length we needed:



(Sorry that there aren’t photos of the actual prototypes we built)

While the Raspberry Pi Camera solution produced better quality images, it required a complicated installation process, was significantly more expensive, and was bulkier on the z-axis. That’s why with v1.2 (the first kits we shipped to people), we went back to using borescopes. Because we ordered 500 of them, we were able to have the manufacturer customize the focus to 1m, rather than the 5-10cm that borescopes are usually adjusted to. While the borescopes do not produce as great of image quality, it is sufficient for running the weed detection software which was our primary need.

Should you want higher resolution/quality images, you can still use the Raspberry Pi Camera or a better USB-based webcam. If your bot is outdoors you’ll need to provide adequate rain-proofing for it.

In regards to the image used in the docs - that image was either taken with the Raspberry Pi Camera or maybe just my smartphone, I can’t remember. We used it for illustrative purposes and I can see now how it is misleading. We will update the v1.4 docs to include an image taken with a production borescope.

All the images shown in this GIF are from the production borescope camera:

2 Likes
#8

Rory first of all thanks for the explanations provided!

Could you tell me how you got to the specification of 1m? My z axis would never support this, I am currently at 60 cm and I guess that is why I see kind of a blurry image…

#9

We wanted the cameras to work for both medium-distance imaging from the z-axis/gantry looking down (20cm to 100cm distances or so) as well as long-distance imaging (1m+ distances) for potential whole-FarmBot/whole-garden views.

Because the aperture on the camera is so small (like a smartphone camera), a focus distance of 1m will actually result in a focal range sufficient for both medium-distance and long-distance imaging.

To get the best photo results, ensure your z-axis is not moving or vibrating while taking a photo. You may try adding a 1-second wait command in-between the last movement and the take-photo command to allow the system to stabilize. Also, take photos in good lighting (no direct sun/harsh shadows). I’ve found early mornings and late afternoons to be the best because that is when my FarmBot is not in direct sun. Cloudy days also work nicely.

#10

So I had bought one of those improved boroscopes and the quality is far worse as it is very much out of focus.
I guess I will turn to the Raspi cam then.
Thanks for the link to the extension cable. That would have been my next question otherwise :wink:

#11

Please post a picture when you own one :wink:

#12

I own one and I got the parts to print out from onshape (which worked great), also I could change the farmbot from USB cam to Raspi cam, but I was not able to make a picture that way. It first told me it made successfully a picture but then there was an error with the camera farmware and no picture has been uploaded.

Edit: Somehow the extension is not working properly. With the camera plugged in the Raspi directly it is working just fine. And here might be the explanation why:

Edit 2: It is working now :slight_smile: And the Quality is so much better than the boroscope. Pictures will follow

#13

Some pics would finish this thread nicely…