AIY Camera

Presentation

Python code - this is already loaded onto the camera

Building the AIY Camera

Follow these detailed instructions steps 1 - 66

Pay particular attention to the orientation of the ribbon cables, make sure they face the right way and are pushed in all the way before closing the clamp. Do not do step 66 and insert the microSD card that is in the set. Use the one from the bag with extra parts that is labelled orcspi-visXX where XX is a number from 01 to 16. Take note of the name as it will be your cameras hostname.

Powering up the AIY Camera

Make sure the SD card is inserted with the label up. Use the USB cable and plug it into the port labelled Power on the back of the camera. Use the included USB power brick or your computer to provide power. You should see the green LED on the RAspberry Pi blink as the camera boots up (see picture). If the green LED does not come on after a few seconds, power the camera off and check the trouble shooting section.

Note, booting the camera takes a few minutes, so be patient and wait. Keep it powered on. Eventially the green LED on the front of the camera turns on and you hear a chime. Point the camera at the face the the button on top should turn blue. As you smile, the color changes. If the button blinks red or the front LED never comes on (even after 10 minutes), check the troubleshooting section.

Congratulations you have a working camera 🎉

Connecting to your home WiFi

The last step is to connect your camera to your home WiFi. You will need a phone with the BerryLan App (iPhone link, Android link) installed. For the next steps - be patient, the camera's computer as small and slow :) Open the App and after a while your camera should show as OPi-XX (XX is the number onthe bag). Select it and on the next screen it will show you available WiFi networks. Select the one you want the camera to connect to. Provide the WiFi password. On the last screen take note of the IP address of the camera as you will need it to connect.

This step is only needed if you want to connect to a new network or your WiFi password changed. Otherwise the camera will automatically connect to the known WiFi network.

How to connect?

In all examples below, replace nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn with the IP address of your camera. Make sure your computer and the camera are on the SAME WiFi network.

nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn:4664 - this link opens the camera video stream. FAces have a frame and the color changes as you smile.
nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn:5555 - this link opens a Jupyter Notebook page for picture downloads, coding and opeing a terminal
ssh pi@nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn - trype this in aterminal program (command prompt) to connect to the camera.

For more details check the class presentation. If you forgot any password, email aiy@orcsgirls.org.

Shutting down the camera

The Raspberry Pi is a 'real' computer and just like a laptop or computer it needs to be shutdown before turning off power. Many times just turning it off will be ok, but it has the (small) danger of damaging the file system on the microSD card and not booting again. The proper way to shutdown is

Open a terming and connect to the Raspberry Pi (using Jupyter or ssh)
Enter the command sudo shutdown now
Wait for the green light on the Pi to stop blinking and turn off
Turn off power

Troubleshooting

Camera / Raspberry Pi does not turn on

So you built the camera, insert the microSD card and powered it up, but there is no green light blinking on the Raspberry Pi (see photo where to look). Here are some trouble shooting tips. Note if the camera gets too hot to touch or you notice a 'burned smell', unplug it immediately - you have some wiring issue. Here are things you can try, easiest first 🙂

Make sure you have power. Try another outlet or plug something else (like a lamp) into the one you are using and make sure there is power. Next find another device you can power by USB (e.g. if you have another Raspberry Pi or a MicroBit or anything else that uses this type of USB power plug) and see if that powers up. If not, the power supply or cable might be broken. If another device works, we know we get power to the camera ✅

Another common reason for the Raspberry Pi not to start is a missing or corrupted microSD card. Here is what to check:

First check it is inserted correctly and all the way in (see photo).
If it is in correct you might have a corrupted card and need to reflash it using the adapter and a computer. You need this program https://www.balena.io/etcher/ and the image file for the camera which you can download it below. Note the hostname for this image is orcspi-vis with no number.
Note- if you are using this new image, the joy detector will come on and turn off the first time and the Pi goes through some setup and then reboots. Be patient and wait!

AIY Camera Image file

WiFi connectivity

If the links above does not connect you to your camera, here are a few trouble shooting steps. Try them in order and check after every step if connecting starts working.

Make sure the Pi and your computer are on the same WiFi network.
Open the BerryLan App and see if your camera still shows up. If so, repeat the steps to connect to your WiFi.
If you have an Android phone, you can also download the AIY app and use it to connect to your WiFi (follow the instructions in the app) and it will tell you the IP address. There is no such app for the iPhone.
If all else fails, you can connect a monitor and keyboard to the Raspberry Pi. You will see a login (username Pi, password like before - ask me if you do not know). A desktop will come up and you can go to settings and connect to the WiFi. Note you will need a HDMI adapter and a USB adapter - both were included in the Pi Environment box for those who participated before. More details on how to connect can be found here.

Joy Detector not working (no green light or blue button)

Let's assume your camera seems to start up fine and you have WiFi connectivity, but there is no green light or the button does not change color when pointing at a face - this means the code running the joy detector has likely encourtered an error. Sometimes you might even see the button blink red.

If you have WiFi access, connect to it using a terminal (either in Jupyter or using ssh as described above). Once you are in run this command - systemctl status joy_detection_demo. If you see an error that mentions the camera it means it cannot connect to the camera. The most common case is that one of the ribbon cables came out or was instered wrong. Another possible cause is the camera itself not working, but that is much less likely.

In this case, you will need to disassemble the camera and double check all connections. Refer to the detailed instructions and check every cable and make sure it is secure. You can test the camera without putting all the pats back in the camera case while debugging.

Feel free to reach out for help and we have a small amunt of spare parts if something broke. Email aiy@orcsgirls.org.

Troubleshooting Video

Replacement parts

Here is a list of replacement parts for you AIY Camera

Raspberry Pi Zero or Raspberry Pi Zero 2 (faster version - it you need to replace the Pi, I would use this one)
Raspberry Pi Camera V2
Camera cable
Short connection cable - this is only part of the kit
AIY Vision Bonnet - this is only part of the kit
AIY Vision Kit - I can also sell you an kit for $30

Any questions or a cool project to share, email us at aiy@orcsgirls.org

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