Guide 2 - Software

Written By: OpenROV (Sofar)

Comments: 8
Favorites: 0
Completions: 3

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

00:30:00 - 01:00:00

Introduction

These are the instructions for putting together your Pro Camera-HD Upgrade. You can purchase this product from our store.

Step 1 Guide 2 - Software

Plug in the ethernet and USB cables to your laptop and watch your ROV power on!

Plug in the ethernet and USB cables to your laptop and watch your ROV power on!
The USB connector acts as the on/off switch for the ROV.
It takes a minute or two for everything to boot up. The first thing you'll see is lights indicating power in the top control box. Boards will light up in the electronics chassis -- this takes a little longer.
The ROV has a built in static IP address of 192.168.254.1, so to connect with it, your computer's ethernet IP address should be on the same subnet, i.e. "192.168.254.2". The subnet mask should be set to 255.255.255.0.
The version of software that shipped with the Pro Camera-HD Upgrade is meant to run off the SD card so should be left in the ROV.

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Step 2

Windows Vista: go to control panel -> network and sharing center -> click on "manage network connections" on the left-hand bar. Then r-click on "local area network" -> l-click on properties -> l-click on "Internet Protocol Version 4" -> l-click on "properties" and select the option "use the following ip address" and enter in 192.168.254.2.

Windows Vista: go to control panel -> network and sharing center -> click on "manage network connections" on the left-hand bar. Then r-click on "local area network" -> l-click on properties -> l-click on "Internet Protocol Version 4" -> l-click on "properties" and select the option "use the following ip address" and enter in 192.168.254.2.
Windows 7: go to control panel > network and internet > network and sharing center > click on "change adapter settings" on the left-hand bar. Then r-click on "local area connection" > properties > l-click on "Internet Protocol Version 4" and click on properties. Select the option "use the following ip address" and enter in 192.168.254.2.
Windows 8: go to control panel > network and internet > network and sharing center > click on "change adapter settings" on the left-hand bar. Then r-click on "Ethernet" > properties > l-click on "Internet Protocol Version 4" and click on properties. Select the option "use the following ip address" and enter in 192.168.254.2.
Windows 10: go to control panel > network and internet > network and sharing center > click on "change adapter settings" on the left-hand bar. Then r-click on "Ethernet" > properties > l-click on "Internet Protocol Version 4" and click on properties. Select the option "use the following ip address" and enter in 192.168.254.2.

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Step 3

OS X (Mac): Open System Preferences, click Network. Select "Edit Locations" from the Location drop down. Click the (+) and create a new location called "OpenROV". Select your ethernet adapter on the left and select Manually from the "Configure IPv4" drop down. Set the IP address to 192.168.254.2 and subnet mask to 255.255.255.0. Press Apply.
You will need to open Network and change the Location to OpenROV (and press Apply) when you're using your ROV. When you're done, you will want to change the location back to Automatic so your internet works normally.

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Step 4 Update Google Chrome

You need to be running Google Chrome version 53 or later.

You need to be running Google Chrome version 53 or later.
Click here to learn how to update Chrome.

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Step 5 Upload Firmware

We will now upload the firmware. This is the software that is on the controller board. We will load it from the BBB onto the Controller Board.

We will now upload the firmware. This is the software that is on the controller board. We will load it from the BBB onto the Controller Board.
We have a built in terminal to help with this process, called Wetty.
192.168.254.1:3009

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Step 6

openrov login: rov
Password: OpenROV
When typing your password the characters will not be displayed.

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Step 7

Once you have logged in your screen will look like this.

Once you have logged in your screen will look like this.

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Step 8

Next we will build the firmware.
Type the following:
sudo node /opt/openrov/system/scripts/BuildFirmware.js
You will be prompted for the password again: OpenROV

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Step 9

When it finishes it will look like this.

When it finishes it will look like this.

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Step 10

Now we will load the firmware.
Type the following:
sudo node /opt/openrov/system/scripts/FlashFirmware.js
This command is different from the first one.

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Step 11

When this finishes your screen will look like this.

When this finishes your screen will look like this.
Once this is complete, restart your ROV by unplugging the USB and plugging it back in.

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Step 12

The address for Cockpit is:
192.168.254.1/cockpit
Make sure that when you are typing the IP address you either remove the HTTP:// or are using HTTPS://

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$The video in cockpit will be blurry and a little distorted. There is a corrective lens over the camera to correct for the astigmatism caused by the different indices of refraction of light and water through the curved tube. Once your ROV is underwater your video will be clear and not blurry.$

The video in cockpit will be blurry and a little distorted. There is a corrective lens over the camera to correct for the astigmatism caused by the different indices of refraction of light and water through the curved tube. Once your ROV is underwater your video will be clear and not blurry.
You will need to add this URL to your favorites in order to make sure your video is not deleted by the browser, read more here.
These applets are for different features of the software. Some of the user interface design of these is rough around the edges.

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Step 14 Geomux Settings

The geomux controls are for the camera. These settings need to be tuned for your computer system.

The geomux controls are for the camera. These settings need to be tuned for your computer system.
Framerate: This is the number of frames per second.
Bitrate: This is the number of bits that the video stream is.
GOP Length: This is the number of frames between iFrames (reference frames)
Because this stream has to be decoded by your computer the amount of processing power you have dictates what these settings need to be. If you are seeing the video freeze, you should adjust these settings.
First drop the bitrate...this starts out at 10 Mb/s and can be lowered to 3 Mb/s without much noticeable quality loss.
The GOP length can be shortened to reduce the time the video is frozen (this does take up more bandwidth).
The last option would be to lower the framerate.

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Step 15 Recording Video

There are three ways to start and stop video recording.

There are three ways to start and stop video recording.
Use the "r" button on your keyboard.
Use the Switch Panel. Click the "REC" button.
Click the stacked disk image at the top of your screen.
While recording if you hover over this icon it will tell you how much disk space you have remaining.
All video is stored in the Google Chrome cache on your computer. Make sure not to delete your cache before saving all of your data.
The storage space is a smaller percent of the total available storage on your harddrive. This is a limitation that Chrome has set.

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Step 16 How to Save Video

You can access your recorded video and telemetry using the "data" applet.

You can access your recorded video and telemetry using the "data" applet.
From here you can export your video and telemetry data.
Due to a Chrome limit on the file size that can be downloaded at one time, your video may be broken into many segments.
When you first get to the data page your video segment might not initially show up. This is because it is still being processed by your computer, a refresh of the page after a few minutes should bring it up.
Some media players have issues playing the video files. We recommend using VLC (a free program) to view your video.

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Step 17 Software Patch

We have released a software patch to improve the camera performance. Please apply the patch by following these instructions.

We have released a software patch to improve the camera performance. Please apply the patch by following these instructions.

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Step 18 Feedback

This version of the software is still a developmental image and is rough around the edges.

This version of the software is still a developmental image and is rough around the edges.
We would appreciate your feedback on the software and if there are issues that you are having with any of the functionality.
Please send us an email at: support@openrov.com with the subject line "30.1.0 DEV Image Feedback."
If you are having issues with the video stuttering while operating the ROV, these will not show up in the recorded video. The recording is prioritized higher so that it is a smooth playback even if it was not during operation.
Based on the feedback we receive and changes we make, we should be releasing the final version of this software version in 1-2 months. You can follow the progress at this link.