micropython-camera-driver

This repository adds camera (OV2640) support to MicroPython for the ESP32 family.

NEW: The camera uses now the PSRAM. Thus, you are able to take photos with more resolution. The standard mode is without PSRAM you can activate that using the argument fb_location=camera.PSRAM. Thanks @mocleiri for the info and the MicroPython PR.

I follow the advice of #32 and modify the repository to fit to those requirements.

For more information about installing MicroPython visit this tutorial: https://lemariva.com/blog/2022/01/micropython-upgraded-support-cameras-m5camera-esp32-cam-etc

The MicroPython example codes are included here:

• Webserver
• Timelapse Camera

Example

import camera

## ESP32-CAM (default configuration) - https://bit.ly/2Ndn8tN
camera.init(0, format=camera.JPEG, fb_location=camera.PSRAM)

## M5Camera (Version B) - https://bit.ly/317Xb74
camera.init(0, d0=32, d1=35, d2=34, d3=5, d4=39, d5=18, d6=36, d7=19,
            format=camera.JPEG, framesize=camera.FRAME_VGA, xclk_freq=camera.XCLK_10MHz,
            href=26, vsync=25, reset=15, sioc=23, siod=22, xclk=27, pclk=21, fb_location=camera.PSRAM)   #M5CAMERA

## T-Camera Mini (green PCB) - https://bit.ly/31H1aaF
import axp202 # source https://github.com/lewisxhe/AXP202_PythonLibrary
# USB current limit must be disabled (otherwise init fails)
axp=axp202.PMU( scl=22, sda=21, address=axp202.AXP192_SLAVE_ADDRESS  )
limiting=axp.read_byte( axp202.AXP202_IPS_SET )
limiting &= 0xfc
axp.write_byte( axp202.AXP202_IPS_SET, limiting )

camera.init(0, d0=5, d1=14, d2=4, d3=15, d4=18, d5=23, d6=36, d7=39,
            format=camera.JPEG, framesize=camera.FRAME_VGA, 
            xclk_freq=camera.XCLK_20MHz,
            href=25, vsync=27, reset=-1, pwdn=-1,
            sioc=12, siod=13, xclk=32, pclk=19)

# The parameters: format=camera.JPEG, xclk_freq=camera.XCLK_10MHz are standard for all cameras.
# You can try using a faster xclk (20MHz), this also worked with the esp32-cam and m5camera
# but the image was pixelated and somehow green.

## Other settings:
# flip up side down
camera.flip(1)
# left / right
camera.mirror(1)

# framesize
camera.framesize(camera.FRAME_240x240)
# The options are the following:
# FRAME_96X96 FRAME_QQVGA FRAME_QCIF FRAME_HQVGA FRAME_240X240
# FRAME_QVGA FRAME_CIF FRAME_HVGA FRAME_VGA FRAME_SVGA
# FRAME_XGA FRAME_HD FRAME_SXGA FRAME_UXGA FRAME_FHD
# FRAME_P_HD FRAME_P_3MP FRAME_QXGA FRAME_QHD FRAME_WQXGA
# FRAME_P_FHD FRAME_QSXGA
# Check this link for more information: https://bit.ly/2YOzizz

# special effects
camera.speffect(camera.EFFECT_NONE)
# The options are the following:
# EFFECT_NONE (default) EFFECT_NEG EFFECT_BW EFFECT_RED EFFECT_GREEN EFFECT_BLUE EFFECT_RETRO

# white balance
camera.whitebalance(camera.WB_NONE)
# The options are the following:
# WB_NONE (default) WB_SUNNY WB_CLOUDY WB_OFFICE WB_HOME

# saturation
camera.saturation(0)
# -2,2 (default 0). -2 grayscale 

# brightness
camera.brightness(0)
# -2,2 (default 0). 2 brightness

# contrast
camera.contrast(0)
#-2,2 (default 0). 2 highcontrast

# quality
camera.quality(10)
# 10-63 lower number means higher quality

buf = camera.capture()

Important

• Except when using CIF or lower resolution with JPEG, the driver requires PSRAM to be installed and activated. This is activated, but it is limited due that MicroPython needs RAM.
• Using YUV or RGB puts a lot of strain on the chip because writing to PSRAM is not particularly fast. The result is that image data might be missing. This is particularly true if WiFi is enabled. If you need RGB data, it is recommended that JPEG is captured and then turned into RGB using fmt2rgb888 or fmt2bmp/frame2bmp. The conversion is not supported. The formats are included, but I got almost every time out of memory, trying to capture an image in a different format than JPEG.
• The firmware was compiled without BLE support. Otherwise I got region 'iram0_0_seg' overflowed by xxx bytes.

Firmware

I've included a compiled MicroPython firmware with camera (check the firmware folder). The firmware was compiled using following versions and hashes:

• esp-idf v4.4.x - b64925c56
• MicroPython v1.18-63-feeeb5ea3-dirty - feeeb5ea3
• esp32-camera - 093688e

There is also a more current firmware based on MicroPython v1.21.0, ESP-IDF v5.0.2 and esp32-camera v2.0.5.

To flash it to the board, you need to type the following:

esptool.py --chip esp32 --port /dev/ttyUSB0 erase_flash
esptool.py --chip esp32 --port /dev/ttyUSB0 write_flash -z 0x1000 micropython_camera_feeeb5ea3_esp32_idf4_4.bin

More information is available in this tutorial.

If you want to compile your driver from scratch follow the next section:

DIY

Read this section if you want to include the camera support to MicroPython from scratch. To do that follow these steps:

• Note 1: if you get stuck, those pages are a good help:

  • https://github.com/micropython/micropython/tree/master/ports/esp32
  • https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/stable/esp32/get-started/index.html#installation-step-by-step

• Note 2: Up to micropython version 1.14, the build tool for the esp32 port is Make. Starting with this PR, it is CMAKE. You can find more discussion in this micropython forum blog post

• Note 3: The steps below now also work for MicroPython v1.21.0, ESP-IDF v5.0.2 and esp32-camera v2.0.5.

1. Clone the MicroPython repository:

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/micropython/micropython.git
   

   Note: The MicroPython repo changes a lot, I've done this using the version with the hash mentioned above.

   ⚠️ If you want to directly replace the original files with the provided in this repository, be sure that you've taken the same commit hash. MicroPython changes a lot, and you'll compiling issues if you ignore this warning.

2. Copy the files and folders inside the boards folder into micropython/ports/esp32/boards. Or use a symbolic link ln -s [...]/micropython-camera-driver/boards/ESP32_CAM micropython/ports/esp32/boards/ESP32_CAM (recommended - change the [...] to the right path).

3. Clone the https://github.com/espressif/esp32-camera repository inside the ~/esp/esp-idf/components folder.

       cd ~/esp/esp-idf/components
       git clone https://github.com/espressif/esp32-camera
       git checkout [CHECK-HASH-ABOVE]

4. Compile the firmware by typing following commands:

   cd micropython/ports/esp32
   make USER_C_MODULES=../../../../micropython-camera-driver/src/micropython.cmake BOARD=ESP32_CAM all
   

   Note that the folder micropython-camera-driver should be in the same folder level as the micropython. Otherwise, you'll need to change the path (../../../../micropython-camera-driver/src/) to the micropython.cmake file.

5. Deploy the firmware into the ESP32 by typing:

   cd micropython/ports/esp32
   esptool.py --port /dev/ttyUSB0 erase_flash
   esptool.py --chip esp32 --port /dev/ttyUSB0 write_flash -z 0x1000 build-ESP32_CAM/firmware.bin