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WiCam – Wireless iPhone Camera
Department of Computer Engineering
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY
Senior Design – Spring 2010
Anthony Blatner – Matthew Catanzaro – Thomas Knack
Project Description
Project Objectives
The WiCam application will be able to display images
from multiple webcams and change the selected
webcam's orientation if it is equipped with appropriate
pan and tilt capabilities.
•Allow for the addition of new webcams
•Select the video feed from available webcams
•Access webcam video feed remotely from the iPhone
•Pan and tilt the webcam using accelerometer data attained from the position
of the iPhone or through the use of the iPhone touch screen features
•Freeze or enable pan and tilt controls
•Provide username and password support for secure webcam viewing and
control
The accelerometer sensor, located within the iPhone,
feels acceleration from external forces such as setting
the iPhone in motion or stopping the iPhone from
moving. The pan and tilt functionality will be controlled
using the acceleration due to gravity felt by the iPhone
in the x, y, and z axis. Alternatively, the pan and tilt
functionality will also be available through touch screen
buttons on the iPhone screen.
User Interface
URL Parameter Passing
This technique was the main interfacing method used to
remotely control the webcams used within this project. URL
parameter passing first involves determining the address of
the desired webcam. This can be either an IP Address or it
can be a host name. The primary camera addresses used for
this project were:
Panasonic BL-C131A PTZ Webcam: ptzsenior.viewnetcam.com
(pan/tilt capabilities)
Axis 205 Webcam: axis205.rit.edu (no pan/tilt capabilities)
Following this, commands could be sent to the webcams by
appending the appropriate arguments to the end of the
address and entering it within the URL address bar. This
made for a very simple interface.
Design
Command
Description
Parameter Restrictions
Function
Determines the operation to
be performed
Func
Can be set to Pan or Tilt
Kind
Can be set to 0 (General User)
or 1 (Adminstrator)
DegMode
Can be set to 2 (Tilt Down), 4
(Pan Left), 6 (Pan Right) or 8
(Tilt Up)
Authorization Sets the authorization
Pan/Tilt
Direction
Determines which direction
the camera will move
URL parameter passing arguments used to interface to the Panasonic PTZ webcam
Example URL Command:
http://129.21.27.169/Set?Func=Tilt&Kind=0&DegMode=2
- Tilts the webcam down by 5 degrees
The Team
Project Costs
Component
Retailer
Retail Cost
Quantity
Comments
Total Cost
Wireless Pan and Tilt
Webcam
*
$300.00
1-2
iPhone
Apple
$99.00
1
Already Available
$0.00
Mac Computer
Apple
$999.00
1
Already Available
(CS Dept.)
$0.00
Apple iPhone SDK
Apple
$0.00
1
Apple Developer
License
Apple
$99.00
1
Free for students
$0.00
Wireless Access Point
Cisco
$100.00
1
RIT Network
$0.00
Total
$1,397.00
$300.00
$0.00
$300.00
From Left to Right: Anthony Blatner, Matthew Catanzaro, Thomas Knack
Acknowledgements
The WiCam team would like to thank the following individuals
for their support throughout the duration of course project:
1. Dr. Roy Czernikowski for providing consultation and general
support
2. RIT Computer Engineering Department for funding
3. Computer Science Department for supplying a Mac desktop
and iPhone development environment
4. Rick Tolleson for helping acquire parts, webcam installation
and general support
5. Joe Walton for helping with the webcam installation
6. Matt Prokop for his help installing the webcam and
configuring the wireless router
7. Jim Spoth for his advice and support
8. Barry Egerter for his iPhone development consulation