Video from your Armortek model

[Stephen White]

The explosion of interest in so-called First Person View technology on drones and RC aeroplanes has created a demand for ever smaller but high quality video cameras and on-board recording. These small camera systems can now record very high definition video, capture still images, transmit both video and still in real time via wifi or radio transmission and display the images on a smart phone, tablet, monitor or FPV goggles. This opens up the possibility of creating images taken from on board our models for later use or to display in real time. The wifi or radio links also allow remote control of the camera to start and stop recording and switch between stills and video. And it's not expensive. Magic.

The Technology

The biggest challenge is navigating through the mass of products available and selecting the components of a coherent system. The following is one possibility, based on the new RunCam Split 2 camera and recorder.

The camera unit and control/recording board are separate, which opens a range of possible mounting options on or inside our tanks.

Video Transmission The RunCam Split 2 comes with a wfi dongle (seen below the camera/board above). This can be used to transmit images from the camera to a tablet or smartphone. It also provides a receive channel for camera control. Wifi is however limited in range but that may not be a problem for us. The alternative is radio transmission via a video transmitter card. This requires an Omni-directional antenna which is a bit obtrusive but is a better option if you wish to use FPV goggles (see below). It is possible to have both wifi and radio links simultaneously and it makes sense to do so on our models, where space and weight aren't an issue. I've used a Quanum ELITE QE58-6 5.8GHz Selectable 25mW - 600mW Wireless AV Transmitter, with an Omni-directional antenna by Menace.

PowerThe camera has a voltage regulator and will accept 5-17V. It makes sense to have the whole system self-contained, by providing a dedicated battery, so that it can be moved easily between models. There are a couple of options for power supply. The camera could be powered direct from a 2S or 3S LiPo. If you choose to add the radio link (which has far greater range than wifi), most video transmission cards accept 7-20V (2S-5S) and output a regulated 5V to the camera. This is probably the best option.

These are the system components:

Camera Control. The camera board has on-board switches to select power on/off, video/still, record/stop and a menu selection of camera functions. For remote control via wifi, the RunCam 2 provides an app (see below) for Android/IOS which duplicates these functions and displays real time images on smart camera or tablet. The camera can also be controlled via the RC transmitter but this would require the addition of a flight controller board to the system.

Installation

The installation has to protect the components, provide a stable and fixed base and be positioned to give the required view. Given the small size of the split camera, there is a wide range of possibilities on our models. On tanks, perhaps the most obvious views are to simulate the view of the commander, heads up in his cupola or the driver, with the gun barrel appearing over his head. You could also mount the camera internally and it might be possible to view through a hatch or even through simulated optics. To protect the electronics, a simple enclosure can be used:

For the RunCam 2, freeware 3D print designs are available, which offer more compact options for some of the components:

(Thanks to Adrian Harris for printing them).

In order to put the camera into the right place, it might need a simple bracket. This is an area to be developed as we gain experience. This is one solution:

First Person View/Image Display

With both wifi and radio links available, the options for display are: smart phone, tablet, monitor, FPV goggles. For the RunCam 2, an app is available for Anroid or IOS here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/runcam- ... 12292?mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... 2&hl=en_GB

This enables the wifi connection and allows selection of video/still, camera on/off and control of camera functions such as focus, exposure etc. The picture is displayed in real time on the screen:

There are many FPV goggles available. These present the image to binocular screen and give an immersive experience. This might be good for running our models on rough terrain. I've trialled the Quanum Fatshark Genesis and (despite the weird name) am very impressed:

Summary

This is a field of fast moving technology. It's now possible to create a simple and relatively cheap system well suited to image recording and transmission in real time from our models when running. It opens up many possibilities, yet to be explored. The biggest challenge is navigating through the hardware options to produce a system that will work. The rest is up to the imagination.

For a sample of FPV recording, see this video:



Stephen

[simon_manning]

a funny thing happened on the way to the forum, my son has these 3d occulus goggles, all i can say is the shape of things to come, mind blowing experience, very disorientating, and very life like, the simulation is convincing, if you get a chance to try them do so, a game changer i think is the expression, regards simon manning.

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

Nice writeup!
Thanks Stephen!

[Gerhard Michel]

One guy here already used FPV (first person viewing) for driving his tank. Others (like me) use onboard-cams only to create driving videos.

Hier you can see Olaf driving his Jagdpanther per FPV. The model was about 400 m (!) away from him and -of course- not on this pic. Unfortunately he ignored a little rift and the model spinned over! (the Porsche turret Kingtiger carries an action cam)



This is the Jagdpanther carrying the FPV cam: