First Linksprite Photos!

Connected my LinkSprite camera directly to my Arduino to investigate the photo quality and software. I was using the sample software from the Sparkfun product description page. The image streamed to the serial monitor, which I copied and pasted to TextEdit and saved as a .txt file (plaintext). I used the python script from an instructables Bird Feeder project to convert this to a usable jpg file. This I was able to open directly.

During my testing I made a number of observations. Running at 38400 baud between the camera and Arduino was creating some errors (Fig. 1), so I changed to 9600 baud which eliminated the errors (Fig. 2). I also played a bit with the delays in the sample code, and moved some functions around to (hopefully) improve the speed of data transfer. My modified code is available here. Connections to the LynxSprite camera are: +5 and gnd to respective pins on Arduino. TXD to Arduino 4 and RXD to Arduino 5.

Fig. 1. Some transmission errors cause image to appear improperly (due to jpg encoding). Transfer rate: 38400 baud

Fig. 2. No transmission errors noted at 9600 baud.

Next I will connect and get my radio's working (including my battery powered radio unit) and test out some wireless photo transmissions.