Journey vs. Destination

I mentioned that I’m working on a Raspberry Pi project with video. It wasn’t going well.

I started with Python + SimpleCV because it looked easy and fun but then determined that frame rates of six frames per second would make it hard to show moving things. So I went a more native option: cross compiled C with OpenCV.

The problem with this path is that it feels like work.

While I strongly believe in life outside tech, I do some personal engineering-related projects. I consider the podcast my main personal project. But Element 14 has graciously been sending me hardware and the occasional check to write for them. This arrangement lets me learn new things and share my enthusiasm. It is pretty cool (zOMG, you guys, they pay me to goof off! If I whine enough, they send me even neater hardware! This is such a scam!)

But I do have a day job. Oh, don’t get me wrong, my billable hours are not totaling anywhere near 40. But I could be gardening, reading a book, writing a novel, designing my Halloween costume, or painting the ceiling; I could be doing other amusing things but I’ve opted to work on a technical project because I find it interesting. Getting paid is nice and directs my (often scattered) attention but it is not a large portion of my income (thus it is not motivation enough).

Having a project lose the joy of discovery and become a grind is not good for its prospects of completion. (Though I am excited about the end widget. But maybe it would be easier to do on my laptop. But then it isn’t embedded. Maybe there is an 8-bit microcontroller out there that needs me to do something with it. You know, my Halloween costume is likely to be pretty technical…)

Doing a project in Python on the Raspberry Pi is fun: hack it together, do a little experimentation, call it done enough, maybe revisit in a few weeks.  But it didn’t work, too slow. And then cross compiling and C felt workish, especially the starting over part. I actually had some things working in Python. I fought the evil of Linux video drivers. I learned about computer vision libraries too. It was fun in Python.

It was less fun in C. Though, realistically, I haven’t gotten to do much C, mostly build nonsense. But SimpleCV looks friendlier than OpenCV.

Imagine my disappointment to read that I can only expect ten frames per second in the C+OpenCV version. I don’t know how I missed that. It seems impossible. There is rasppivid video that is 30 fps, why can I get to something like 25? Oh, I know there is hardware acceleration and blah. blah, blah. But I want it. I want it more than they do. (Hey, you did read my Guardians review, right?)

So now I’ve found a different Python package, one with better Pi Camera integration. It is even linked from the Raspberry Pi Camera page. (Was it there before and I missed it? The idea of that makes me feel slightly insane. I looked around A LOT for Pi Camera stuff before deciding to leave Python).

The Camera Modes documentation shows some high frame rates.  The text later talks about all the interesting ways users can mess that up. And there is a section for rapid capturing and processing though I wasn’t clear that I could display them too. It would be interesting to try.

Ok, I think that, yes, I am going to restart the project but back to Python. All the paths are frustrating. But Python has the most potential for amusement and the chance that I’ll get beyond fighting tools and back to playing with gear. I hope.