how to generate stereoscopic 3d video using cheap board cameras
view live stereo
video using 3d
glasses on a tv
or vga monitor.
no software or
computer needed.
9 sections
50+ pages
26 photographs
18 drawings
5 diagrams
2 schematics
2 parts lists
applications:
stereo ranging
radio control
surveilance
telepresence
when you drive, do you close one eye while you navigate through traffic?
of course not. (at least, i hope not.) because there's a reason we have two eyes. a pair of eyes allows us to see depth, to see that we'll crunch the corner of that truck in front of us if we don't turn the wheel just a little more.
if you have ever put a camera on a radio-controlled vehicle, you can understand how hard it is to really see where you're going. the depth cues that tell you where you are in relation to other objects just aren't there in a two-dimensional picture.
however, if you add a second camera, you can tell that far things are far, and near things are in your way. the world becomes three-dimensional.
but there are important problems to be solved when adding that second camera.
for example:
- how do you combine the two pictures to get a 3-d view?
- how do you do it cheaply, and with commonly available materials, tools and skills?
- and what about computer vision? how do you format video so it can be used to get depth information for robotics applications?
that's what stereo video is all about.
stereo video is the result of a six-month project to develop a cheap way to generate stereo video. this book will show you how to add 3d-video capability to your next surveillance, machine vision, telepresence or radio control project.
build a stereo camera into an r/c vehicle, and you will be able to not just watch where your vehicle is going, but see where it's going, as if you're riding along!
build a stereo video camera that mounts next to the bird feeder, and see them in a way no ordinary camera can show you. with stereoscopic 3d, it's almost better than being there!
move a jumper on the circuit board and use the camera as the 3-d video source for stereo ranging.
the book contains over 50 8?" x 11" pages, over 40 drawings, diagrams and photographs, and online sources for cameras, components and equipment.
describes:
- how to identify board cameras useable for stereo 3d
- how to modify cameras to synchronize timing
- how to construct a stereo video camera module
- how video is formatted for use by robot vision software
get the key concepts. download section 2.
to give you an idea of how the system works, you can download section 2 of the book: how the system works. you will need adobe acrobat® reader™ to open it.
you can also click here to view section 2 in your browser.
section 2 explains how to synchronize two board cameras and how to combine their outputs to form a single video stream. it also describes the equipment and components needed to view stereo video on a television and on a vga monitor.
the table of contents page is available here, and finally, you can click here to find out how you can order a copy of stereo video.
imagine you've just turned off chain of craters road, and are now driving up the side of mount kilauea in hawaii. you look up and see plumes of bright orange lava shooting up hundreds of feet, practically over your head. the blue sky looks almost black in contrast.
you work your way around mounds of rock that look like giant mud pies. some are cracked and split. columns of steam rise from broken chunks of cooling lava that tower above you. you can hear the roar and sputtering as the lava shoots out of the caldera, and smashes into the ground around you like giant orange and black raindrops. you reach the volcano's crest, and now you can look down into the bubbling caldera. directly in front of you, just a few feet away, is a bright orange, almost luminescent, pillar of instant death.
over to the right you see a possible path down into the caldera. you want to get as close as possible. you drive slowly through a nightmare landscape of smoke and flame, rocked by sudden, unpredictable explosions as the lava smashes back to earth. you try to ease your vehicle down the craggy slope that leads into the bubbling pit.
now you're so close you can see blobs of lava shooting out and falling around you. you hear loud banging and hissing as some of these little blobs hit your vehicle. suddenly a bright orange ball shoots out of the plume and flies straight at you, head on. it smashes into the right side of your vehicle's windshield. in an instant the windshield is gone. the impact pushes you too far to the left, and the vehicle careens dangerously over the abyss. you watch helplessly as the horizon tilts. you struggle with the controls, but the vehicle rolls over and over, tumbling into the boiling hell below. in the last deafening seconds, everything is orange.
just as suddenly it's dark, and quiet.
a quarter mile away, in a van parked near the foot of the volcano, you sit back in your chair, pull off the head mounted display and earphones, reach over and start copying the captured video to the dvd drive. you lost a good vehicle, but that was expected, and the video you got was worth it. too bad you couldn't have gotten just a few feet closer.
table of contents download section 2 how to order contact us