Control Sony A100 DSLR using arduino

 
Sony DSLR cameras have a 3-pin remote port for use with a wired remote. Today, I’ll explore how we can use it to control the camera using our Arduino.

The Remote Connector
On the back of the camera is a 3-pin port, with pins on 2mm centers. From left to right, the pins are: Focus, Common, and Shutter.

  

We need a cable to connect this port to a breadboard. You’ll need to find a 2mm plug and crimp some pins on. I’ve not yet found a good source for a connector that fits nicely. The one I’m using is from my local electronics store, shaved down a little with an small blade. On the other end of the cable, just strip some extra wire and connect it to some screw terminals on a breadboard.
Even without fancy electronics, we can test out the port. On the breadboard, connect a button between Focus and Common, and another between Shutter and Common. Power on the camera, press and hold the Focus button on your breadboard. You’ll hear the camera coming to life and focusing, then the tell-tale click that it’s ready to shoot. Keep holding it down, and press the Shutter button. Bang! Now you have a photo.
The Circuit
Now our mission is to have the Arduino press these buttons. We cannot simply connect the Arduino pins directly to the camera, they have to be isolated. I’m sure there’s a really good reason for this, I just don’t know what it is 🙂 For this example, I’ve used a pair of 4N25 optocouplers, one for each line. There are myriad alternatives available, including some dual-channel units.

This is how we hook it up:
  

Note that the Common line is connected to pin 5 on the Focus circuit, and pin 4 on the Shutter circuit.
The Code
Once this circuit is set up, the code is dirt simple. Set pin 13 high to focus. Keep 13 high, and then set 12 high to shoot. Set them both to low when done.
The code for this is herehttps://gist.github.com/maniacbug/1917486.
Now What?
 

Panda board TV mount

 
For my new Pandaboard, I thought it would be nice to have a little 7-inch TV to go along with it. So I got a CoolLCD 619ah miniature TV with HDMI input. Then, I got the great idea to ATTACH the two. The little LCD comes with a VESA 75mm mount. And of course, the Pandaboard has mounting holes. From there, it was simple. In Inkscape, I laid out a 120mm square with holes in the right places, then took the files down for laser-cutting to Metrix Create Space in Seattle.
While I’m at it, I also realized it would be nice to have a protective backing panel so that nothing would bash into the exposed Pandaboard and damage it. And from there, I thought I’d add a little decoration for fun.

 Rear View

 
 Top View
From the top…

  

3D FPV camera The BlackBird

Hello! Today I want to tell You about the company’s product FPV3DCam (fpv3dcam.com), a little and beautiful, you can say first of its kind – 3D video camera for fpv. 
And thus, meet – The BlackBird is the smallest and cool 3D video camera real time.

Let’s begin the discussion with the appearance of The BlackBird. The BlackBird is the representative of a class without hull cameras and looks like a small box the size 34 x 34 mm, consisting of two video modules, connected by a two reliable 7 pin connectors. Such design allows to separate modules and change the length of stereo connecting them with connecting cable, as well as detachable design allows setting of convergence.

 
 On the front of The BlackBird are two lens 3.6mm ( maybe 2.5 mm, depending on set of delivery, lenses standard M12), led – indicator, holders of lenses, which are hidden ultra compact high quality video sensors OmniVision OV7950 on the sensor 1/4″ CMOS. The size of the array of pixels 656 x 492, image quality 470 TVL.

 
Rear 3D camera is a board to the locations of electronic components – all parts are soldered to the Board very efficiently and accurately. Also here is an interface connector to connect The BlackBird to the video transmitter (video glasses, monitor, etc) and voltage. By the way, the range of supply voltage camera from 5 to 12 volts, allowing you to use LiPo batteries 2S or 3S.

  

 

 The outgoing video signal from the camera is transmitted in the format NTSC 525/60, 3D – Field Sequential 3D, which allows to use standard video transmitter in FPV system. And get in the video glasses quality Video in 3D, which allows us to more accurately navigate in space. The person using The BlackBird in FPV, feelings when managing rc model become more real, he feels the speed, volume, perform any complex maneuvers, becomes an easy game… you Can tell people use The BlackBird in FPV begins to look at this world with two eyes that originally given to him by nature.

Apple Announces iOS 9

 
 It’s pretty much tradition for Apple to announce a new version of iOS at WWDC. For the past few months, rumor had it that Apple was taking a gap year to focus on fixing existing features and solidifying Apple’s mobile OS foundation. And it’s true that many existing apps received some much-needed refinement. Still, Apple announced new features, including a few unexpected ones.

Improved Siri With Proactive
Let’s be honest, Siri isn’t as good as Google Now. That’s why Apple is adding smarter features to its voice query feature. For example, you can now say “show me photos from Utah from last August,” and you will get these photos. With a new feature dubbed ‘Proactive,’ Siri will also optimize your phone use depending on what you are doing. For instance, it can automatically start an audiobook once you are in your car because you like to listen to audiobooks on the road. Like many smart calendars, Siri will take into account the time you need to get to your next meeting and alert you in advance.
All of this is bundled in a new UI that will also suggest apps and contacts based on where you are and what you do. “There’s more we wanted to do: adding intelligence throughout the user experience without compromising your privacy,” VP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said.

Improved Spotlight With Deep Linking
Spotlight also gets an upgrade, as third-party apps can now take advantage of Apple’s search feature. For instance, you could search for a restaurant in Yelp directly from your home screen, and go straight to Yelp’s app result page thanks to deep linking.
In other words, Spotlight becomes its own little search engine. If you can find something using Spotlight, you may end up relying less on Google searches, which is a nice side effect in the great mobile war between Apple and Google.
Apple insisted a lot on privacy for this feature as well. When you search for something, you don’t give data away.

Apple Music
“Today we’re announcing the Apple Music, the next chapter in music,” Tim Cook said at the very end of the keynote. Jimmy Iovine then introduced Apple’s much-anticipated new music offering.
Apple Music wants to tackle all your music needs, going head-to-head against Spotify, Rdio and all the others with a streaming service that will cost $9.99 per month after a 3-month free trial — you can also opt for a $14.99 family plan. The company is also launching Beats 1, a 24-hour radio station. It is also bringing human-curated playlists from Beats, with playlist recommendations tailored to you tastes.

News App
Let’s be honest, with this one, Apple just cloned Flipboard. The News app is a way to get web content in a native app. “The articles can come from anywhere, but the best ones are built in Apple News format,” Apple VP Susan Prescott said.
The company went into much detail to tell how great the user experience is. News is a very visual RSS reader, and publishers should quickly get on board if there is a way to display ads. There are already many publishers working with Apple on News. News will only be available in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia for now.

Trackpad For The iPad
Apple is differentiating the iPhone and iPad experience by adding a trackpad feature to the iPad. When you put two fingers on the keyboard, it becomes a trackpad and you can move the cursor around. Above the keyboard, there are new cut, copy and paste shortcuts if they are relevant to the app you are using as well.

Split-Screen Apps On The iPad
SplitView and SlideOver are probably the two most impressive new features. You can now run two apps at the same time, side by side. SlideOver lets you slide from the side to get another app, such as Messages. If you pull down from the top using the new app switcher, you can switch this app and select another one.
With SplitView, both apps stay active and you can do things in both at the same time. Even better, you can drag and drop stuff from one app to another, which should make sending photos much easier. If you swipe with four fingers, you can switch the two active apps. Apps can be 50/50 or 70/30 on screen. This is very reminiscent of Windows split-screen features. SplitView is only available for the iPad Air 2.

Transit In Maps
Slowly but surely, Apple is trying to improve its Maps app to bring it up to speed with the competition, namely Google Maps. This year, the company is bringing transit directions after acquiring Embark and Hopstop. Transit directions are coming for a few selected cities at first, but Apple should roll out more cities in the future.

Loyalty Cards For Apple Pay
As expected, Apple is still boasting about Apple Pay rollout. More stores, apps and banks will support Apple Pay in the future. Apple Pay is also coming to the U.K. as soon as next month.
There are a few new features coming to Apple Pay as well. You will be able to store your rewards cards in the Passbook app, which is now called Wallet. This is an interesting feature as these loyalty cards can help you build a habit, and you might end up using Apple Pay every time you need to pay for your coffee.

Rich-Text Notes
Small improvements as well, you can now make checklists, embed photos and draw sketches in the Notes app. You can also add links. In other words, Notes is no longer a text-only app, it’s a rich-text editor. Evernote users should like this update.

Other Stuff
Taking a cue from the Apple Watch, iOS 9 provides a new low power mode that switches off a few features in order to get up to three extra hours of battery, according to Apple.
iOS 9 will require 1.8GB instead of 4.6GB, making the update process much easier. There are also a lot of new SDKs coming, such as SpriteKit, SceneKit, GameplayKit, ReplayKit and Model I/O. Apple also unveiled and open-sourced Swift 2, the next major version of its new programming language.
iOS 9’s public beta starts in July, and the public release is set for this Fall. The new OS will support the iPad 2 and later, and the iPhone 4S and later. In other words, every device that supported iOS 8 will support iOS 9.

Google’s massive humanoid robot can now walk and move without wires

US defence-developed Boston Dynamics Atlas robot upgraded to run untethered for up to an hour on batteries 
Google’s new version of its US defence-developed 6ft 2in, 25st Atlas humanoid robot can now operate for up to an hour without wires.
The Atlas robot was developed by Google-owned Boston Dynamics with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for its robotics challenge, designed to negotiate rough, outdoor terrain in a bipedal manner, while being able to climb using hands and feet as a human would.
The first version, released in July 2013, required an electrical and control tether to power and operate the robot. The new generation of the robot, dubbed “Atlas unplugged” as it can operate on battery power and be controlled wirelessly, has been developed for the Darpa Robotics Challenge finals, which are set to take place in June.

Each of the seven Atlas teams in the DRCwere given a new robot, 75% of which has been upgraded from previous units making it stronger, more powerful and more dextrous.
The original pump that drove the pneumatic movements of the robot that required the operator to wear ear protection has also been replaced to make it much quieter.

The teams are set a number of challenges within a real-world disaster scenario to overcome, and have to  balance power with longevity through software and programming.
“The introduction of a battery and variable-pressure pump into Atlas poses a strategic challenge for teams,” said Pratt. “The operator will be able to run on a mid-pressure setting for most operations to save power, and then apply bursts of maximum pressure when additional force is needed. The teams are going to have to game out the right balance of force and battery life to complete the course.”

 
 The battery pack within the new Atlas robot should last for around one hour of “mixed mission operation”, which includes walking around, standing and using tools and performing tasks at the Fairplex site in Pomona, California.

Each team is competing for a top prize of $2m (£1.3m) with a $1m and $500,000 prize for runners up.
“During periodic reviews with the DRC teams we’re already seeing them perform at a much higher level than they were last year. We’re excited to see how much further they can push the technology,” said Pratt.
The competition is designed to develop the Atlas robot as a platform for useful assistance in disaster scenarios, entering dangerous situations where humans should not or cannot operate. Robots have proved useful in the Fukushima nuclear disaster site, although most operating in real-world sites currently are limited by their relatively simple tank-track design.

See the best view yet of Apple’s new ‘spaceship’ campus

 
Courtesy of the City of Cupertino

Get a drone’s-eye-view of the company’s future headquarters
Apple is hard at work on its new headquarters slated to open by the end of 2016, as this new drone video from Apple Insider shows.

Apple’s new so-called “Spaceship” campus is being built in the company’s current hometown of Cupertino, Calif., near the existing headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop. Campus 2, as it’s officially known. It is expected to house 12,000 more Apple employees than the current campus.
This new video shows progress on the auditorium and a parking structure nearing completion.
Apple posted revenue of $74.6 billion last quarter, a 29.5% jump over the same period last year. It sold 74.5 million iPhones in the quarter, a number bolstered by the introduction of the Apple’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models. 
 

The Computer Revolution/Artificial Intelligence/ASIMO

 
What is ASIMO?

ASIMO is a humanoid robot which can simulate the motions of the human body. ASIMO is designed by the Honda corporation and has been under development since 1986. ASIMO initially started off as a set of legs to simulate walking and since than has come under change into a complete robot with legs, a core unit, arms and head.

How ASIMO moves

ASIMO moves through the use of a Prediction Movement Control system. This system allows ASIMO to anticipate it’s next step and even shifts it’s center of gravity to maintain balance these adjustments can all occur within real time. Although ASIMO’s legs are important , they are not the only part which enables ASIMO to move dynamically. The hips which ASIMO uses are specially design to flex for quick adjustments in movements.
  

Other functions of ASIMO

Other functions of ASIMO include climbing stairs, face recognition, voice recognition and the ability to grasp objects. All of these functions have been developed over years of modification to ASIMO. The current development is the ability for ASIMO to run and maintain balance. Even though the pace of the run is quiet slow compared to a person, ASIMO can run at a pace of 5.9 miles per hour.

  

The future of ASIMO

The future of ASIMO is further development into complete dynamic movements along with prolonged battery life. ASIMO is expected within the next thirty to forty years to be released to the public for everyday use and assistance. Already ASIMO has been incorporated into specific companies and museums as greeters, and has made it’s way over into North .Where it currently is involved in a fifteen minute show that introduces ASIMO to people and the benefits of ASIMO’s capabilities. 

Honda’s upgraded ASIMO robot is faster and smarter but still won’t scare Sarah Connor

 
 Honda’s been working on its ASIMO robot for the better part of two decades, but only now is it finally beginning to look like a useful project. The latest version of the droid, similar to the one we saw two years ago, comes with a raft of physical improvements, including new legs that’ll cope with uneven terrain, walk backwards and even run at speeds of nearly six miles an hour. Then there are the redesigned hands, which now have 13 degrees of freedom, enabling the ‘bot to hold and manipulate objects without crushing or dropping them.
It’s not just physical improvements either, since Honda has also been working hard on ASIMO’s artificial intelligence. For instance, the machine can walk around without the aid of an operator, and can observe human behavior and predict the outcome. That means that if ASIMO sees someone hurtling down the corridor, it can work out that it needs to move out of the way. The droid is also capable of picking out multiple voices and faces from crowds and identifying multiple voices when they’re all talking at once. Even more impressively, however, is that the automaton can even communicate in sign language thanks, in part, to those redesigned hands. The only question that remains, of course, is if we’d take one of these over SoftBank’s Pepper? We know that the rival device is nowhere near as useful, but you have to admit, it is a lot cuter.

Honda’s new Asimo robot can run, jump and sign

 
Honda’s Asimo robot has grown up – with its latest upgrade giving it enhanced intelligence, added dexterity and the ability to run 5.6mph (9km/h).

The first Asimo was created in 2000, and is seen as one of the leading attempts at creating a humanoid.

The latest version is able to change its actions depending on what happens around it – such as moving out of a person’s way.

The 4ft (130cm)-tall robot is also able to do complex sign language.

Asimo – which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility – is eventually intended to help people in various situations of need, such as the elderly, or those in disaster zones. It can not yet be bought in shops.

Parts of the technology developed by Honda for the Asimo project have been used to help clean-up efforts at the stricken Japanese nuclear plant Fukushima.

But in the humanoid robot, upgrades have focused on making Asimo better understand the world around itself.

  

The new artificial intelligence unveiled in Belgium on Wednesday included the ability to be able to distinguish different voices in a room, even when multiple people are talking at the same time.

But some question the viability of Honda’s plans, and whether we are likely to see humanoid robots in our lives any time soon.

“It’s great to see the results of research in human-robot interaction that Honda is doing, but the reality is that Asimo needs to be a lot cheaper before it’s a household robot,” said Andra Keay, managing director of Silicon Valley Robotics and a columnist for Robohub.

Instead, she thinks ideas such as Jibo – a lamp-like assistant for helping around the house – will hit the market sooner.

“Perhaps the direction that Jibo has taken is the most appropriate one right now – minimum viable robot product to get maximal learning from human interaction.

“We’re entering a rich age for deep machine learning from humans.” 

Yaskawa robot makes the cuts like human master in sword demo (w/ Video)

 
 Awareness, focus, precision, speed—highly desirable qualities not only for human workers but for robots. Yaskawa Electric Corporation recently issued a video that is turning heads as to just what present-day robotics engineers can accomplish.

They have presented a video showing what happens when their industrial robot—Motoman MH24—is placed in competition with a world-famous sword master. Welcome to a Yaskawa challenge, featuring a robot and human expert engaging in a display of skills around bamboo poles. Essentially, this is a challenge where viewers can witness the performance reach of a modern-day industrial robot. Qualities such as “agility,” “accuracy” and “flexibility” were on trial—could the robot stand up to the real sword master?

The video shows a team member readying the Motoman-MH24 industrial robot. (“Motoman” is actually the company’s line of Motoman industrial robots and robotic systems.)
In comes Isao Machii, iaijutsu ( a sword technique cultivated from ancient times) Master, and five-time world record holder. As a sword technique, iaijutsu teaches how to draw quickly. Machii’s fans worldwide know him for his feats, and supporters say he can take the level of eye/hand coordination higher than anyone else. Case in point: his having cut a speeding bullet in mid-air with his sword. At a firing range outside the hills of Los Angeles, he was shown a BB gun pellet which he was to slice with his sword. He did.
The Malay Mail Online said the robot and Machii were surrounded by a manmade bamboo grove “and to make it even more authentic, the MH24 was equipped with a real katana, made in the Edo period.” (The Japanese sword, katana, is a martial art discipline in the education of the classical warrior. The katana is a work of high craftsmanship.)

“We analyzed Machii’s sword technique in 3D,” said the company team. They reproduced the movements in their industrial robot. Test sequences carried out to test the skills of Machii against the robot’s were to cut in four directions; a diagonal cut; rising cut; horizontal cut; and the show-stopper, a thousand cuts.

“While Machii looks visibly tired towards the end of the final ‘1000 cuts’ scene, his mechanical counterpart could probably go on for at least an extra 2000,” commented Emiko Jozuka in Motherboard.
The video is entertaining, and it serves a strategic purpose too, to remind the company’s customers and potential customers about their engineering talent. The Malay Mail Online noted that the video appears as the company celebrates its centennial. “What better way to commemorate it than by a video that highlights its top-end Motoman-MH24 robot?”
Yaskawa competes in the international automation market. Today, according to Japanista, Yaskawa produces machines for handling complex tasks, which range from assembly to welding, and from painting to surgery.