Ring acquisition with NI-IMAQ 1394

Our project requires saving captured images onto the hard drive with no frame loss, so Grab acquisition may not be sufficient. I wonder if there is a way to carry out ring acquisition with IMAQ1394 like that of the original IMAQ?
I was hoping to find equivalent functions of "IMAQ Configure List.vi", "IMAQ Configure Buffer.vi" and "IMAQ Extract Buffer.vi" in IMAQ1394, but none of them seems to exist.
"IMAQ1394 Get Image.vi" appears to be able to accept only one image at any one time, the option, image index, seems to be redundant to me. The example "Low-Level Sequence.vi" still runs after I removed the connection between the loop counter and "image index".
It is also unclear what the option, "no. of buffer" in "IMAQ1394 Configure
Acquisition.vi" could do. The example mentioned above uses multiple buffers, but nothing is connected to this option.
On a side note, I found that the buffering in IMAQ 1394 is not as logical as in IMAQ. Image(s) created along side the acquisition configuration would be used as its buffer frame(s) even though there is no connection between the two.
I would be very grateful if someone could share their ideas.
Regards,
Calvin Tsang
PS. I'm using IMAQ1394 version 1.1

Calvin,
This is one of the biggest problems I have had with IMAQ 1394. I was able to set up a continuous buffer, but there is no way to find out which buffer is the current one. The other problem with IMAQ 1394 is that it is software based instead of hardware, which means your CPU speed and operating system latencies can all affect it and make you miss frames.
What I ended up doing was making my own buffer, and using Grab to get each image. By checking the time elapsed between each frame acquired, I was able to detect missing frames. As long as the frame rates were low or I didn't update the display very often, I rarely missed frames.
My basic conclusion is that IMAQ 1394 is much better for snapshot type applications. Applications that require
continuous video with no missing frames work much better with the IMAQ boards than 1394.
Bruce
Bruce Ammons
Ammons Engineering

Similar Messages

Buffer acquisition with NI-IMAQ 1394

I would like to be sure that the acquisition frame rate is constant despite some image processing.
It's why i need to use a buffer (with more than one image) as it seems possible to do with standard NI-IMAQ.
I didn't find such options with IMAQ 1394 (similar to "IMAQ Configure List.vi", "IMAQ Configure Buffer.vi" and "IMAQ Extract Buffer.vi" in NI-IMAQ).
I read on a previous post entitled "Ring acquisition with NI-IMAQ 1394" that it is not possible.
Does the new version of Labview (7) or new upgrades of NI_IMAQ solve this problem.
Is it exist an alternative way to do that ?
Thanks

IVision can solve this problem. You can do realtime saving into avi file or buffer them up (by using different image names). Using the callback vis you can make sure to capture each frames without dropping. Get a demo version to try out at: http://www.hytekautomation.com/Products/IVision.html
Irene He

Buffered ring acquisition with IMAQ 1394 2.0 (beta)

Hi,
the IMAQ 1394 low level buffer access topic comes up again. National Instruments promised that low level buffer
access will be feasible in the 2.0 (beta) version of the IMAQ 1394 driver. However, I still encounter problems.
I want to run a continuous ring acquisition. The ring shall consist of 40 buffer cells. I configure the acquisition
using IMAQ 1394 configure acquisition.vi and wiring "40" to "number of buffers" and "continuous" to "continuous?".
If I am testing the ring, it appears that the ring only has 20 buffer cells. After an image had been written into cell
no. 19, the next image is written into cell no. 0 and not into no. 20.
Is there a maximum number of buffer cells implemented? In the online help, nothing is written about such a fact. In
addition, the help statements are quite puzzling. There they write:
Use the Continuous? and Number of buffers parameters to select the type of acquisition that you want to configure,
as follows:
Snap One-shot; one buffer
Sequence One-shot; multiple buffers
Grab Continuous; one buffer
The combination of "continuous" and "one buffer"
sounds rather antithetically. Is any beta tester around there who can make sense out of this?
Thankful for any hint,
Peter

What I want to do is to setup the camera and store the settings to the camera memory and do a flat-field calibration of the camera (and maybe also store the calibration image in the camera).
I will use your method to handle the default settings. Thanks!!!
Then I will remove the camera from the calibration setup and use it in a machine performing measurements not using LabVIEW. I could make all the setup in the machine again but that would mean more work than to use LabVIEWs functionality (I'm just lazy).
I just want to be sure that all settings have reached the camera memory and that they were stored there. It does not seem that the Property Node communicates directly with the camera like the "IMAQ1394 Write Registers" command does.
Richard

IMAQ 1394 with 12 bit color CCD

Hi,
I am using Labview 7.1 with the IMAQ 1394 in combination with a Basler
color CCD (A311fc) which has a resolution of 12 bits. When looking at
all supplied Labview examples I find no way to get beyond 8 bit
resolution (i.e. 32 bit images). How do I actually acquire and store
the full 12 bit (i.e. 64 bit) images?
Regards,
raclaser

Hello Raclaser,
Could you please send the acquired picture from your basler camera to
our vision specialist.
He will go further ahead with this issue. And contact you if he has
further questions.
Please send the picture to: [email protected]
Kind regards
Ulrich Möschel
Application engineer
NICER

Writing a Compressed AVI File in NI LabWindows/CVI with the IMAQ Vision Acquisition

I'm still facing some problems when I try to save pictures from a GigE Vision camera into a compressed avi-file in a LabWindows/CVI application on Windows7.
The task is to grab images from the camera with 30 fps to monitor a process, evaluate the grabbed pictures to find certain characteristics of the monitored process and save them in an avi-file to have the possibility to load and evaluate them once again Offline if necessary.
My questions: which compression filters can I get with the NI-Imaq Vision Acquisition and Vision Development Runtime 2012 SP1? Is a mpeg4 codec available to compress quickly and effective? Can I use a third party codec or only the ones delivered with NI-Vision?
I posted the problem two times already, but there is little response up to now. Thanks

The encoding algorithm, or codec, that's used for compression needs to present on your system. When I had done some research on this sometime back, I found that if your custom codec could align with the DirectShow architecture, then your codec would work with IMAQ AVI functions.The codecs that are available may vary from system to system, depending on what software is currently installed. Be sure to check out this article:
Writing a Compressed AVI File with the IMAQ Vision Acquisition Software
Adnan Zafar
Certified LabVIEW Architect
Coleman Technologies

Internal memory error using IMAQ 1394 ver 2.0

Hi Robert,
I apologize for the much belated response to your e-mail.
- When I was receiving the fatal memory error I was using the GRAB vi
to acquire the data. The problem seems to go away if I switch to
the SNAP acquisition method.
- I am not using the IMAQ vision FFT vi, I am using the FFT Spectrum vi.
- When the image acquisition code is removed I ran the FFT on simulated
data generated within the program not loaded from a stored file.
Thanks,
Ronen
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 8:20 AM
To: Feldman, Ronen (Contractor)
Subject: Re: (Reference#7084698) Phone Support E-Mail
Hi Ronen,
My name is Robert and I am one of National Instruments' IMAQ and Vision
supporters. Eric has forwarded me your email regarding the error
you are receiving as it looks like the problem may be related to the
image acquisition side of things.
In your last email, you noted that the fatal error does not occur if
you remove the FFT code or if you remove the IMAQ code. I was
hoping you could describe for me a couple of things in greater
detail. 1) In your typical code configuration, do you acquire
with a GRAB?
2) The FFT code that you mention, are you using IMAQ FFT VIs from the Vision Development Module?
3) You said if you remove the image acquisition code the program runs
fine. Does this mean that you are running your code on an image loaded
from file?
These answers should help us get to the bottom of the situation.
Additionally, how large is your program? Are all of the various
parts subVIs?
Regarding your other question, data parameters like those that you
mentioned can be changed during program execution, but those changes
are not saved to the camera's configuration file. If you make
these changes through the Measurement and Automation Explorer the
camera configuration file will be updated. This behavior is to
protect the configuration files from being corrupted by the program you
run.
Hope this helps. Let me know how things go with the IMAQ/FFT code.
Regards,
Note: Your reference number is included in the subject field of
this message. It is very important not to remove or modify this
reference number, or your message may be returned to you.

Hi Ronen,
I guess using the forums works for me too! I'm just glad I found it
To clarify, you are first acquiring with a Grab (does not work) or snap (works fine) and then performing an Image to Array. After Image to array you use the intensity information within the FFT Spectrum.vi? When the program errors out, do you know which step you are running?
In addition, you should be able to whittle the program down to just these basic steps, and see if the error continues to occur. If the problem you are having can be consistently reproduced with these three or four steps, I would be interested in seeing if I can reproduce the problem here.
Regarding one of your other questions, changes made to the camera configuration file from Labview will not be permanent. This is to avoid the possible hazard of overwriting the file with a non working configuration.
Hope this helps,
Robert

IMAQ 1394 Grab setup and Grab acquire

Hi, everyone
I am very new to Labview and have a general question on grabbing images using my CCD camera.
I set "IMAQ 1394 configure trigger.vi" before " IMAQ 1394 grab setup.vi" and then achieve the most current using " IMAQ 1394 grab acquire.vi". The configure trigger is on Mode 0 (Low activity) and my digital trigger is a pulse train with a trigger frequency of 10Hz.
My questions is as follows:
1. How many images will the camera grab when the trigger turns to a falling edge? Just one or the camera will grab continuously?
If the camera grab continuously, which image is copied when a "IMAQ grab acquire.vi" is called?
2 Does the image grabbing process stop when the trigger turns to the rising edge?
Thanks!
Attachments:
IMAQ1394grab.jpg ‏99 KB

Hi Haiyueli,
The NI-IMAQ for IEEE 1394 has been replaced by the IMAQdx driver. We usually recommend that you upgrade your driver. That being said, I would recommend looking at the help to determine what the mode does. To do this right click the VI and select Help. This should give you a more in-depth look at the function.
Here is a forum post which describes mode 1:
http://forums.ni.com/t5/Machine-Vision/Problem-with-IMAQ-1394-trigger-mode-1/td-p/300534
Paolo F.
National Instruments
Applications Engineer

IMAQ 1394 version 2.0 - setting the shutter integration time

I am using IMAQ 1394 version 2.0 with a CCDdirect firewire camera. I am trying unsuccessfully to set the shutter attribute in absolute mode to a value of several seconds. I cant seem to get an integration time greater then .13 seconds to be accepted, even when I try to set it in MAX. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am also using Labview 7.1 Developers suite
thanks,
Ronen

Hello Ronen,
I'm not familiar with CCDdirect cameras. Is there a particular model that you are using?
What happens when you set the value greater than 0.13 seconds?
Some cameras that I have worked with in the past require that the camera be placed in an "extended" shutter mode in order to use long integration times. Does your camera offer any additional shutter modes that will allow you to increase this value?
What shutter/integration time attributes show up in MAX? These attributes and there values/ranges are read directly in from the camera. I have also worked with some cameras in the past that have additional attributes that do not show up in MAX. Typically these are attributes/features that are not part of the DCAM compliance. MAX and the IMAQ 1394 driver only access DCAM specific features. If the correct values do not show up, perhaps the camera manufacturer can show you how to set these attributes.
Let me know the answers to the above questions if you are still unable to accomplish what you need. I would be more than happy to help out in any way possible.
Best Regards,
Jesse D.
Applications Engineering
National Instruments

Acquisition with vendor and without vendor

Dear All,
This is my first time using FA in SAP Business One.
I have a lot of question about FA in SAP B1 especially in FA Acquisition.
There are two kinds of acquisition. With vendor and without vendor.
If we choose the aquisition with vendor, we must enter the vendor and the JE will be created like this
                                  Debit             Credit
V01                                                 1500 USD
Asset Computer       1500USD
It seems the the JE create like AP invoice, so we can continue the out going payment for the vendor.
But the problem is in Acquisition without vendor.
I have a scenario.
I buy a car. I create PO > GRPO> AP invoice--> Out going Payment.
After that if i run the acquisition without vendor.
The JE will be created like this
                                                                Debit       Credit
Clearing Acc. Asset Acquisition                             1500Usd
Asset Car                                                 1500 USD
( Please correct me if my Journal is wrong )
From this Journal Posting, i find some thing odd.
When i buy a car and i created the GRPO.
The JE will create the Asset car position in Debit.
After that i create the Acquisition without vendor. The Journal also posting the Asset Car account in Debit. So the Asset Car account balance become 3000 USD.
So what must i do to avoid this problem.
I check the document FA. It is said that before create the Acquisition without vendor, the AP invoice must already be created.
In the documentation, they create the AP invoice in service type. Is it a must to create the AP invoice like this ?
Please tell me what should i do if create the Acquisition without vendor.
Any suggest or solution would be great.
Thanks in advance
Regards
KK

Fixed Assets are created in the add on, not the item master.
Your choice is that
1. all fixed asset puchases go through a clearing account and a different team is responsible for creating the assets & performing the acquisition, (1 step for one team, two for another) or
2 that the person acquiring the asset creates the master data item in fixed assets, then the acquisition with vendor (one two step process)
Depends on the size of the organisation and the roles & responsibilities within the organisation

I want cRIO to start and stop acquisition with push of physical button on cRIO, is that possible?

When using my cRIO 9024 on the field, I prefer to be able to start and stop acquisition with push of a physical button on cRIO.
I mean I don't want it to be "as start-up," I don't want cRIO to start acquisition as soon as the power is supplied.
Is that possible?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi Cashany,
you surely can read that switch status. But there are easier (but more expensive) ways to switch a button. Fiddling with a pen or small screwdriver to switch USER1 isn't what I call "user friendly"...
- You have atleast 2 voltage inputs on your module available. Use a switch to supply voltage to those inputs. Use a "real" button!
- You have a serial port available. You could set some pins to GND or voltage and check their status inside cRIO/RT target...
Best regards,
GerdW
CLAD, using 2009SP1 + LV2011SP1 + LV2014SP1 on WinXP+Win7+cRIO
Kudos are welcome

Text Ring misbehavior with ALT key - Win 7

This may not be a LabVIEW problem, but maybe somebody knows a workaround.
LV 2010.0
I have a text ring, populated with only one item.
I intercept the MOUSE DOWN? event on this control.
Upon that event, I look at the MODIFIER keys (Shift, Ctrl, Alt) and populate the control's menu (STRINGS & VALUES) according to which key(if any) is pressed.
(The point is to offer channels in alphabetical order, or in order of units, or in order of hardware type, etc...)
After populating the menu, the menu pops up and the user sees the list rearranged in whichever fashion.
The user chooses one, and the VALUE CHANGED event triggers removal of the full menu and insertion of the single chosen item.
This worked fine..... until I moved to Win 7.
Now, when I try the ALT option - the menu just flashes and then disappears. The first time you ALT-click, it appears for maybe 0.3-0.5 second and then drops. Subsequent times it just draws the frame and then drops - it's just a blip - maybe 0.1 second.
Clicking on it without ALT works normally, and then the next ALT click will restore the long (0.3-0.5 sec) behavior.
If you release the ALT key during that 0.3-0.5 seconds, the menu sticks and works OK, but that's not something people are expecting to do.
It's not my code at fault: try this yourself:
Place a TEXT ring or a MENU ring on a new panel.
Enter "A", "B", "C" as your items.
without even running the VI, Alt - click on the thing.
In Win 7, it flashes the menu, then takes it away.
I've looked for some Easy Access feature that was turned on by mistake - Mouse Keys, Sticky Keys, Toggle Keys, Filter Keys, they're all OFF.
Is there a "don't be stupid" preference somewhere that I could turn on? Or do I have to switch to another key?
(I'm using ALt, Ctrl, Shift - maybe I could use the Win Key...)
Steve Bird
Culverson Software - Elegant software that is a pleasure to use.
Culverson.com
Blog for (mostly LabVIEW) programmers: Tips And Tricks

Attached is a VI which shows the SHIFT-ALT-CTRL states when the ring is clicked on.
Here is a JING which shows the behavior: http://www.screencast.com/t/2Xh5loKW
The JING doesn't capture every flash, as the flash is sometimes quick. But it shows some of them. It happens every time.
Steve Bird
Culverson Software - Elegant software that is a pleasure to use.
Culverson.com
Blog for (mostly LabVIEW) programmers: Tips And Tricks
Attachments:
Alt-Weird.vi ‏11 KB

Crosspost: Has anyone used a Redlake camera with LabView/Imaq?

"I can't seem to find any drivers or utilities for the Redlake camera i'm using in my project.
Only this: http://www.imagemill-tech.com/Redlake/ Fr_Redlake.htm
But there's no info on how to get that VI (I've e-mailed them, of course).
Any additional information on using the camera with LabView/Imaq would be much appereciated"

"Kasper B. Dall" wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "I can't seem to find any drivers or utilities for the Redlake camera
> i'm using in my project.
>
> Only this: http://www.imagemill-tech.com/Redlake/ Fr_Redlake.htm
>
>
> But there's no info on how to get that VI (I've e-mailed them, of
> course).
>
>
> Any additional information on using the camera with LabView/Imaq would
> be much appereciated"
I just find the section out for you about remote control of your
camera:
1.7.1 Remote Control.
Redlake Imaging also supplies the Serial1 program that enables a
computer to control the
MotionScope system from a remote location through the serial port.
Refer to Manual Addendum
9400-0014 for detai
ls of the Serial1 program and how to control the
MotionScope system from a
remote computer using a standard communications program.
So you need to find the serial command (for RS232) in manual addendum
9400-0014. I couldn't find it in website maybe I did not search
throughly, but you may have it if you own the camera. And these
commands are just for controlling the camera system, not grabbing the
image, so you may need a frame grabber to get the image into your
computer and do the further processing.
Irene
[email protected]
> http://www.geocities.com/irene_he/IVision.html

Can I set camera registers in version 1.1 of the IMAQ 1394 driver to values outside of the DCAM 1.3 specs?

I have an imaging system that includes a Pt Grey Dragonfly camera. I know that using the manufactures SDK, I can set different camera parameters outside of the DCAM specs by setting camera registers. If I am using version 1.1 of the IMAQ 1394 driver can I set, say the frame rate to a value outside the DCAM specs?

http://exchange.ni.com/servlet/ProcessRequest?RHIVEID=101&RNAME=ViewQuestion&HOID=5065000000080000009B580000&ECategory=Vision

I am searching a VI for AC acquisition with a PCMCIA DAQ card 6024E

Hi,
I am searching a VI for Alternativ Current acquisition with a PCMCIA DAQ card 6024E.
I have tried several availble examples but they are unfortunately not compatible with this card.
I am a beginner with Labview, as a consequence any help and support on that topic would be really appreciated.
Thanks,
Alban Cotard.

I think you wann measure Alternating Current?!?
what want you know, the period, amplitude, rms.....?
e.g. use the "cycle average and rms.vi" or other VI in this palett
regards timo

USB Framegrabbers that are known to work with NI-IMAQ-dx

Does anybody know of any (preferably compact) USB framegrabbers, whether in a finished package, or in chip / development board form, that are known to be compatible with the IMAQ-dx capture? I am currently using a Zarbeco Videolink USB Framegrabber, but I get an unknown error message when attempting to interface with it through NI-IMAQ-DX in both Labview 8.5 (kept around for some legacy programs), and Labview 2012. Other USB webcams work just fine with the VI, so I know it's not an error in my code - just a problem with this particular framegrabber talking to Labview. I also know that the framegrabber works fine, because it can be viewed in other video capture programs such as AmCap. I'd prefer to figure out if a replacement USB framegrabber would be suitable BEFORE I make a purchase, so if anyone knows of any USB composite video framegrabbers that work well with NI-IMAQ-dx, I would appreciate the info.

Hi James,
In order for any USB camera or USB video adaptor to work with the IMAQdx driver it must be DirectShow compatible. If your Video Adaptor advertises DirectShow compatible then it should work with our IMAQdx driver. Please follow the guide lines from the link below to find a proper device.
What Cameras are Supported by the NI-IMAQ for USB Cameras Driver?
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/89E33B77CFE244E986256F8E004E0F13
If you device is DirectShow compatible and you are having issue please look through the link below.
Troubleshooting USB (DirectShow) Camera Installation Problems
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/C1BC2D93ADC392BB8625768C0060AFE7?OpenDocument
Tim O
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

Ring acquisition with NI-IMAQ 1394

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