As previously discussed in the challenge planning post, vison was one of the key elements to poli:droid, giving it the eyes for all the autonomous challenges. We wanted to be able to easily disconnect and re-connect the camera between docks, without the need to fiddle with cables. As previously discussed, we would be using the Pixy Cam 2 with integrated pan/tilt servo control, enabling us to programmatically and reliably position the camera for courses.
Introducing Vision Container!
The connector on the dock 
The connector on the base of the camera 
visionContainer
Using Pixy Cam’s somewhat vague sizing we designed and printed vision container, featuring a pan/tilt servo mechanism. We created a custom cable, terminating into a connector, which meant the camera could easily be connected to the docks without having to fiddle around with any of the cables. In addition to this, we keyed the connector to ensure it couldn’t be plugged in the wrong way, potentially damaging the camera!
We wired the camera up using SPI, which meant it could directly be controlled via the Raspberry Pi’s GPIO’s! keeping everything nice and tidy!
Although the camera is now sorted, we need some docks to attach it to! So that is my next priority!
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