Dreaming Robots Camera Axe 5 User manual

Camera Axe 5 User Manual
Document Version: 5.2a
December 18, 2011
Authors: Andrew Morgan and Maurice Ribble

Introduction
Differences between Camera Axe 5 and Camera Axe 5 Shield
Hardware
Display
Power Switch
Activate Button
Select Button
Menu Button
Arrow/Cursor Buttons
Camera Flash Buttons
Camera/Flash LEDs
Camera/Flash Ports
Sensor Ports
USB Port
Menus
Advanced Sensor Menu
Projectile Menu
Valve Menu
Intervalometer Menu
General Settings Menu
Sensors
Light Sensor
Laser Sensor
Microphone Sensor
Projectile Sensor
Valve Sensor
Photogate Sensor
Motion/Distance Sensor
Camera Shutter Sync Sensor
Clip Sensor
Multi-Flash Board

Introduction
The Camera Axe is a tool for photographers to trigger cameras or flashes based on signals from
various sensors. It is useful for catching phenomena that happen too quickly for human reflexes,
like photographing a popping balloon, a shooting bullet, or a milk droplet splash. Other uses can
be to catch things photographers don't want to wait around for like birds flying to a bird feeder
or surveillance of people walking down a hallway. The possibilities are endless. This document
describes the operation of the Camera Axe 5 and the Camera Axe 5 Shield hardware and menus.
This manual was written for the Camera Axe 5.2 software. Other versions of the software function
similarly but there will be some small differences in operation.
For those who like learning from videos there is a large (and growing) collection of videos about the
Camera Axe at http://www.techphotoblog.com.
Differences between Camera Axe 5 and Camera Axe 5 Shield
The Camera Axe 5 is a fully assembled and tested device. It comes with a rechargeable battery and
a USB cable to do the recharging or to upgrade the firmware. It also comes with a custom designed
enclosure. The extra third LED on this board is used during charging. It is orange while charging
and green when charging is finished. The circuitry in this version is also optimized to use around 3-4
times less power than the Camera Axe Shield to enable long battery life.
The Camera Axe 5 Shield is a kit that must be soldered together. The user must supply an Arduino
Uno (or compatible) development board and a way to power the device. Since this version gets it’s
power from the Arduino there is no power switch. This version does not come with an enclosure.
This shield version does use the same software and has all the same functionality as the standard
Camera Axe 5 in a much cheaper package for the DIY/Maker crowd.
Hardware
The top of the both versions has a display screen, a number of buttons, a power switch (not on shield
version), and two LEDs. The third LED on standard Camera Axe 5 is used to indicate when the
rechargeable battery is fully charged by turning from orange while charging to green when charging
is complete. On the sides are two of plugs to attach the camera(s) and/or flash(s) and up to two
sensors. The standard version also has a USB port used for charging or reprogramming the Camera
Axe. The shield version gets it’s power from the Arduino board and the Arduino board has a USB port
for programming.
The microcontroller used in the Camera Axe is an ATmega328 with the Arduino bootloader installed.
Arduino is a common open source platform that makes programming microcontrollers like the
Atmega328 very easy. For more information about how to load new version of the Camera Axe
software or to start making your own modifications visit http://www.cameraaxe.com/wiki/index.php?
title=Programming.
Display
The Camera Axe uses a 2” X 1” LCD capable of displaying 128X64 pixels. This display is
used to provide input capability using the menu functions described below and feedback to the
user.
Power Switch
The shield version has no power switch. To turn the power on/off on the shield version you

can either add a switch between the battery providing power to the Arduino or just unplug
power from the Arduino.
The power switch turns on/off the unit. When the unit is powered on it goes through a startup
sequence. In the startup, the microcontroller input and output pins are set up, the default
values are loaded from the EEPROM and the display is setup. If the Activate button is
depressed during the startup process, the unit will be reset to the factory default values.
The system stores changes to parameters in flash memory so the settings are saved even
when the batteries are removed.
Activate Button
The activate button turns on/off the monitoring of the sensors. When activated, the unit begins
monitoring the sensor status according to the design of the currently shown menu options.
This is known as the photo mode. When in photo mode, the other buttons are ignored except
where noted below in the descriptions of the menus. Pressing the activate button again de-
activates the monitoring and returns the system to the menu mode. In menu mode, the
system parameters can be adjusted as described in the Menu sections below.
The activate button will also turn off the display, to save power, when in the photo mode if the
display is set to turn off in 10 seconds.
If the Activate button is depressed during the startup process, the unit will be reset to the
factory default values.
Select Button
The select button toggles the edit mode on and off. When in edit mode, the value of individual
parameters can be adjusted using the arrow buttons. When not in edit mode, the arrow
buttons move from field to field within the current menu. Only one value can be selected/
changed at a time.
Menu Button
The menu button cycles the display between the different menu options. The various menu
options are described in detail below. Pressing the menu button also deactivates the edit
mode and resets the cursor position to the first item in the next menu.
Arrow/Cursor Buttons
In edit mode, the left and right button moves the cursor to the previous/next digit in the setting
being adjusted.
When the up or down button are pressed in the edit mode, the value at the current cursor
position is raised/lowered. Every time a value is changed on the display, it is written to the
microcontroller’s flash memory so if the power is turned off that value will be remembered.
When not in edit mode, the arrow keys are used to navigate around the display to move from
one menu parameter to another. The currently selected parameter is indicated by a flashing
cursor.
Camera Flash Buttons
There are two buttons by the Camera/Flash ports. These buttons will manually trigger the
Camera or Flash attached to these ports. Beyond being useful as a manual trigger, this is also

nice to test your scene setup to make sure the exposure is correct.
In general, the way the buttons are used is to use the Menu button to toggle to the desired menu
option (described below), then use the Arrow buttons to navigate on the display to the desired setting
to change. Once the cursor is on the setting value, the Select button is pressed to enter the edit
mode. Once in the edit mode the individual values can be adjusted. The up and down Arrow buttons
change the value up/down and the right and left buttons allow selecting the next/previous digit for
numerical values. Once the value is at the desired setting/value, the Select button is pressed again
to exit the edit mode. From here, the Arrow buttons can be used to navigate to another parameter, if
necessary. Once all of the settings have been adjusted as desired, the Activate button is pressed to
enter the photo mode. At this point, the sensors are active and a picture can be taken. When done
taking images, press the Activate button again to re-enter the menu mode and repeat the process.
Camera/Flash LEDs
The LED next to the Camera/Flash 1 and Camera/Flash 2 labels indicate when the device is
triggered. A green color means the focus line is active. A red color means the shutter line is
active. An orange color means both the focus and shutter lines are active. The focus line can
also mean that the camera is being kept in in a ready state if auto focus has been disabled
which will give a shorter shutter lag on most cameras.
Camera/Flash Ports
Two of the 3.5 mm jacks on the side of the Camera Axe are camera/flash ports. These ports
are labeled Camera/Flash 1 and Camera/Flash 2. These ports are used to connect either a
camera or flash to be triggered. The Camera/Flash 1 port is named Device 1 in the menus
and the Camera/Flash 2 port is named Device 2.
The way the Camera Axe triggers cameras and flashes is by allowing current to pass through
and the camera or flash provides the voltage. It works like a switch.
There is a wide range of camera cables and cameras supported by the Camera Axe. Look
at this page for more details on different cameras/cables: http://www.cameraaxe.com/wiki/
index.php?title=CameraCables
There is also a wide range of flash cables supported by the Camera Axe. Look at this page
for more details on using different types of flashes: http://www.cameraaxe.com/wiki/index.php?
title=FlashCables
Sensor Ports
The other two 3.5 mm jacks on the side of the Camera Axe are sensor ports. These ports are
labeled Sensor 1 and Sensor 2. These ports are used to connect a wide variety of sensors to
the Camera Axe. Several of the available sensors are described below.
The 3.5 mm jack for sensors provides power, ground, and access to an analog pin on the
microcontroller. The tip of the 3.5mm plug is +5V, the base of the 3.5 mm plug is ground, and
middle of the 3.5 mm plug is the sensor. Starting with Camera Axe 5 (Camera Axe 4 does not
support this) the power pin can also optionally be configured as another analog data pin which
is useful for some sensors.
There is input protection on the these sensor pins, but to be safe you should not exceed 40mA
of current on any of the sensor pins. There is an optional mode that can be turned on in
software for the tip of the sensor pin that can source up to 100 mA. Also make sure any input

voltages are within the range of 0 to 5 volts.
USB Port
On the standard Camera Axe there is also a USB port. This port is used for programming the
Camera Axe with new firmware and to recharge the internal battery.
On the Camera Axe Shield the USB port is located on the Arduino board. This can be used to
power the Camera Axe shield or to reprogram the board. The Arduino also has a 2.1mm dc
jack that can provide power. It accepts 6-12V DC power.
Menus
The Camera Axe provides several different sets of menu operations as described below. Based on
the pressing of the Activate button, the Camera Axe will either be in the “menu” or “photo” mode.
When the Camera Axe is in the menu mode, the various settings can be adjusted according to the
description below. When the Camera Axe is in photo mode, the unit is monitoring the sensors and is
ready to trigger an image.
NOTE: Except for the settings in the General Settings menu, the settings in each menu are
independent. For example, the settings in the Advanced Sensor menu do not affect the
operation of the Camera Axe when using the Projectile, Valve or Intervalometer menus.
Depending on the menu function, there are two different ways that the Camera Axe reads
sensor values.
Depending on the menu function, there various ways the middle sensor pin works:
● analogRead – This returns an analog value between 0 and 1023 proportional to the sensor
voltage of 0 to 5 volts. The Camera Axe displays values from 0 to 999. This is the slower way
to read the sensor value (still quite fast at 20 microseconds) but it provides the ability to read
the range of values from the sensor. This method is used by the Advanced Sensor menu to
allow triggering on a setting or threshold value.
● digitalRead – This is the fastest way to read the sensor state. It only returns a high (1) or low
(0) value. This method is used by the Projectile and Fast Trigger menus.
● Digital out - In this mode sensor pin acts as a digital output sending 0 or 5V. The maximum
output current is around 30 mA. This mode is used by the valve sensor to trigger to allow the
Camera Axe to trigger the valve.
The tip of the sensor has all the functionality above plus the ability to optionally switch in a larger
current (up to at 100 mA). This larger current is used to power various sensors that may require more
power.
Advanced Sensor Menu
The advanced sensor menu is shown in the image below. Due to the display size, the entire menu
shown below is not visible at the same time. Pressing the up and down arrows will scroll the display
to show the rest of the menu. This is a flexible mode that works well with most sensors. As described
above, the select and arrow buttons allow the user to navigate to the different parameters to set up
the menu functions.

The top area of the menu sets the device settings. Devices are the camera or flash plugged into the
ports on the side of the unit. Device1 refers to the Camera/Flash 1 port and Device2 refers to the
Camera/Flash 2 port. The bottom area selects the sensor that is associated with a particular device.
For understanding how the menu is configured, the menu consists of four sections that work together
to configure the device and sensor setting. Each device can be triggered by either (or both) sensor.
The upper left section configures device 1, the upper right section configures device 2, the lower left
section configures sensor 1 and the lower right configures sensor 2. See the example configurations
below for more information on the configuration of this menu.
The table below shows the different settings available for each parameter and a brief description of
the function of that parameter.
Parameter Options Description
Trigger Sensor Sensor1
Sensor2
S1_or_S2
S1_and_2
None
This setting determines which sensor triggers the
device. For example, if Device1 is set with Trigger
Sensor = Sensor1 then when sensor 1 is triggered,
device 1 will fire. When S1_or_S2 is selected,
the device will fire if either sensor is triggered and
when S1_and_2 is selected, the device will fire
only if both sensors are triggered. The setting of
None will turn off triggering of that device.
Delay ms Numeric value
between 000.0 and
999.9
This is the number of millisecond delay between
when the sensor is triggered and the device will
fire. Using the Select and Arrow buttons allows
changing one of the four numeric values at a time
until the desired delay is set.
Bulb sec Numeric value
between 00 and 99
The number of seconds that the device will be
activated.
Prefocus No If set to Yes, the pre-focus pin will be pulled high

Yes when the Activate button is pressed, to put the unit
into photo mode, causing the camera to pre-focus
(if the camera supports this capability).
NOTE: Leave this set to No for flashes.
Device Settings
Prameter Options Description
Trigger Type Low
High
Threshld
Digital
A setting of Low will trigger when the sensor
reading is lower than the setting.
A setting of High will trigger when the sensor
reading is higher than the setting
With a Threshld setting, when you activate the
sensor it records the base value and then a trigger
happens when a difference greater than the
threshold value is recorded. Then once the bulb
has finished, a new base value is recorded. See
the example in the Light Sensor section of the
document for how this would be used.
A setting of Digital will cause digital readings to be
taken instead of analog readings. So instead of a
reading from 0 to 999 you will only get a 0 (low) or
1 (high). This mode is faster, but will not work with
sensors that depend on analog readings.
Trigger Value Numeric value
between 000 and
999
Or Hi/Low if
Trigger Type set to
Digital
First value is the trigger value you set, and second
value is the current value read by sensor. The
current sensor value, which is displayed to the left
of this value, is updated every 500 ms.
When set to a trigger type of Threshld, the
updating value is the difference between the high
and low sensor readings during that sampling
period.
If trigger type is set to digial then this will dislay Hi
or Low instead of a number.
Power On
Off_Dev1
Off_Dev2
This setting allows the sensor to be turned off
when the device associated with that sensor is
triggered.
For example, if there is a laser sensor connected
to the Sensor1 port and a light sensor connected
to the Sensor2 port. You could set Device1
(camera) to trigger based on input from sensor2
(light sensor). Then if Sensor1 (laser) turns it’s
power off based on to Device2 (camera linked to

light sensor). When the laser triggers the lights
sensor the laser will turn off. You can also use the
more powerful “and” or “or” trigger modes of the
devices to make very flexible decisions on when to
turn off the power to a sensor.
Sensor Settings
An example of using the Advanced Sensor Menu with a microphone is described below in the
Microphone Sensor section of the document.
Projectile Menu
This menu is a special purpose menu for the projectile sensor. The menu parameter settings are
described in the table below.
Parameter Options Description
Distance Numeric value
between 00.0 and
99.9
The distance from the second sensor LED to
the position of the projectile when the flash
fires.
Low/High Trigger Low
High
Determines whether to trigger on low or high
sensor values. The projectile sensor has high
values when nothing is between the sensors so
this should be set to a value of Low when using
the projectile sensor described below.
Distance Units Inch
Cm
Set to determine whether the user provided
distance is in inches or centimeters. The
distance is measured from Sensor 2 to where
you want the projectile when the flash fires.
See the section below for more details and example of how to use this menu with the projectile
sensor.
Valve Menu

Due to the display size, the entire menu shown below is not visible at the same time. Pressing the up
and down arrows will scroll the display to show the rest of the menu. This is a special purpose menu
for the valve sensor. The menu parameter settings are described in the table below.
The following settings are useful for a 1 valve setup. The valve sensor should be plugged into the
Sensor1 port.
Parameter Options Description
V1 Drop1 Size Numeric value
between 000 and
999
The number of milliseconds that the valve will be
open to release a drop.
V1 Drop2 Delay Numeric value
between 000 and
999
The number of milliseconds after the first drop to
start the second drop.
V1 Drop2 Size Numeric value
between 000 and
999
The number of milliseconds that the valve will be
open to release the second drop.
Flash Delay Numeric value
between 000 and
999
The number of milliseconds to wait after the
second drop to trigger the flash.
Flash Delay Auto
Inc
Numeric value
between 0 and 9
The number of milliseconds to automatically
increase the flash delay between each shot.
Each time you press Activate the valve will be
activated and the “Flash Delay” menu setting
above will be updated with a new value if this is
non-zero.