laserspotcam

File

Date

Comments

laserspotcam-0.3.tar.gz

September 25, 2005

Patch received from Brian Dahlem:

Added new type of hotspot (bottom to top) for volume bars.
Added support for repeatable hotspots. Config file format has changed to accomodate this new flag.
The value was not appended to the command run by "left to right" hotspots. (But the right command was printed in verbose mode... Oops)

laserspotcam-0.2.tar.gz

September 20, 2005

Added new type of hotspot (left to right) for volume bars.
Added -t switch for test mode (commands not executed)
Hotspots now turn green when triggered in visual mode.

laserspotcam-0.1.tar.gz

September 18, 2005

Initial release.

Model

Interface

Driver

Info

Philips PWC 740

USB

pwc

Works perfectly. I suggest that you adjust the AGC (Manual) with SDLcam or camstream to prevent saturation in high light conditions.

logitech QuickCam Express

USB

Spca5xx

Works perfectly.

Logitech QuickCam Notebook Pro

USB

pwc

Works perfectly.

1: Compilation
You will need to have the sdl library installed. To compile laserspotcam, simply type:

# make

2: Start laserspotcam
In the directory where you compiled laserspotcam, type:

# ./laserspotcam

laserspotcam uses /dev/video0 by default. If you want to use another video device, use the -d option, like this:

# ./laserspotcam -d /dev/video1

Laserspotcam will open a window where you should see the video received from the camera.

3: Determining hotspots coordinates
You may have drawn buttons on the wall, of have sticked coloured sheets of paper, or you name it. Align your webcam on the wall or surface you want to use.

Write down the coordinates of all your rectangle hotspots by clicking each hotspot's upper left corner followed by the same hotspot's lower right corner iwth the mouse in laserspotcam's window. Each time you click somewhere in the window, the coordinates are outputted to the console.

4: Create a config file
The config file format is simple. Each hotspot is defined on one line. Each line contains 6 comma separated values. The first value defines the type of hotspot. Valid types are:
0: Normal hotspot. Command executed when hotspot is activated.
1: Left to right hotspot. The pointer's position is converted to the 0 - 100 range. Left is 0, right is 100. Useful for volume control.
2: Bottom to top hotspot. The pointers' position is converted to the 0 - 100 range. Bottom is 0, top is 100. Useful for volume control.

The second value is a boolean. If set to 0, the hotspot will not be retriggerable. This means that you will need to turn your laser off and back on to retrigger it (was the behaviour of version < 0.3). If the value is 1, the hotspot will be triggered approximately at one second intervals.

The next first 4 values are upper left X, upper left Y, lower right X and lower right Y. The last value is the command to be executed when the laser pointer enters the hotspot. Here is a sample:

0,0,174,111,242,164,xmms --play-pause
1,0,29,169,318,196,setmixer vol
0,1,0,0,50,50,echo -en "\\007"

In the first example above, the upper left coordinate is 174,111 and the lower right coordinate is 242,164. The command "xmms --play-pause" toggles play and pause on an xmms instance running on the same machine.

The second example implements a volume bar. The command setmixer will be appended a value from 0 to 100. eg: "setmixer vol 55"

The third example demonstrates the repeat function of hotspots. If laserspotcam is not running in background, you should hear a beep each time the command is executed.

5: Test
Now that you've written your config file, try it by specifying it on the command line when starting laserspotcam. The hotspots you defined will now appear in red. ex:

# ./laserspotcam -vVr xmms.hs

Of course, you replace 'xmms.hs' by your config file name.

6: Start laserspotcam in the background and enjoy!

# ./laserspotcam xmms.hs -b

Notive the -b for background mode. Try -h for more options.