Camera trigger logging

ArduCopter Copter 3.6
1

I would like to have arducopter log my camera trigger from the hotshoe of my camera. My setup triggers the camera trough the gimbal controller, not arducopter, but i would like arducopter to log the event. Is it possible or it is only possible to log the hotshoe feedback when arducopter itself triggers the camera?
Hope it is clear, basicly i would like arducopter to log the camera trigger from the hotshoe to a digital pin but not triggering it with arducopter.
My fear is that the feedback log works only if the event was triggered by arducopter itself.

thanks,
Corrado

2

No one has any hint?

3

I found this:
“By default, the pins are digital outputs as outlined above. A digital pin will instead be a digital input if it is assigned to a parameter that represents a digital input. For example, setting CAM_FEEDBACK_PIN to 50 will make pin 50 the digital input that receives a signal from the camera when a picture has been taken.”
Here:
https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-pixhawk-overview.html#pixhawk-digital-outputs-and-inputs-virtual-pins-50-55

4

I read that too but i can’t understand if the arducopter trigger is necessary or not. Will try and post my findings here for future reference.

5

If I remember correctly, the feedback pin is active at all times. Manually triggering a camera (outside of ardupilot) is still logged as a CAM event. It’s helpful in diagnosing double-triggers when one trigger fires the camera twice. It’s also helpful for test-shots.

6

Tried all afternoon, i haven’t been able to log any cam event triggering the camera by hand.
I followed instruction step by step, Board pwm to 4, used aux 6 and indicated 55 as feedback pin.
Tried both pos and neg but to no avail.
Looking at what happens on the oscilloscope, i see 3,2 volts and goes almost to zero when i trigger the camera by hand but arducopter doesn’t log anything.
I have log disarmed enabled to make my tests.
The only difference i see is that i do not use the hot shoe of the camera but the cable out of the sync (used for external flashes) and on the scope it does exactly the same as the hotshoe.
Really at a loss right now.
Some help would be greatly qappreciated.

Corrado

7

I use Aux3 as trigger, Aux4 as feedback. Worked well on plane 3.9; haven’t tested it lately.

BRD_PWM_COUNT,2
CAM_FEEDBACK_PIN,53
CAM_FEEDBACK_POL,1
CAM_RELAY_ON,1
CAM_TRIGG_DIST,0
CAM_TRIGG_TYPE,1
CAM_TYPE,0
CAM_AUTO_ONLY,0
RELAY_DEFAULT,0
RELAY_PIN,52
RELAY_PIN2,-1
RELAY_PIN3,-1
RELAY_PIN4,-1
RELAY_PIN5,-1
RELAY_PIN6,-1
SERVO11_FUNCTION,10
SERVO11_MAX,1900
SERVO11_MIN,1100
SERVO11_REVERSED,0
SERVO11_TRIM,1500
SERVO12_FUNCTION,0
SERVO12_MAX,1900
SERVO12_MIN,1100
SERVO12_REVERSED,0

8

Only other IDEA would be that ardupilot requires a GPS lock otherwise it might error when writing the log… but that’s pretty far-fetched and based on no evidence.

9

I trigger mine manually because when at work it’ll be triggered by basecam and not from ardupilot.
I’ll test other pins to see if by any chance on aux 3 it works.
Thanks for your help.

10

@WickedShell I have seen an answer to a post similar to this from you a while back.
Do you confirm that if the camera is shooting on its own with an intervallometer than it is not possible to log cam messages?
If i false trigger an event at the start of the mission than the loop starts and keep getting cam messaages and log them or each cam message needs a trigger?
In case it isn’t working with cameras with intervallometer it would be nice to have an option to enable cam logging without trigger.

regards,

Corrado