Adding Backup/360 Cameras

[Aernan]

This is a HowTo and general discussion of Cameras on the LMTV.

My truck came with a camera and screen pre-installed but due to odd wiring it made/making my voltmeter not work. In another thread: https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?176889-adding-new-circuits-to-the-fuse-box-how we discuss how to add a new circuit to power things like a backup camera.

After some google search I found out that you can get a camera setup that takes 4 cameras and turns them into a 360 degree image.
https://www.rearviewsafety.com/safe...60-surround-view-camera-system-rvs-77541.html

The feature is really impressive and would make parking/offroading the truck a whole lot easier. I have recently discovered that you can get the same functionality from other providers. An ebay search will turn up. Try the search "bird view cam".

It looks like the system consists of these components.

• Screen
  • this could be an in dash infotainment system or any S-Video capable screen
• Video mixer to screen (usually 3 inputs)
  • provided with some screens allowing for multi input selection via screen
• 4x video combiner
  • takes the 4 cameras and "stitches" the image together
• 4x cameras
  • regular CCTV 720x480 S-Video Cameras usually 120 degree view

It looks like the various vendors sell different size/quality of cameras and camera combinations. There are of course a few monitors available as well (sizes). Since the base image is so low resolution and fed by S-Video an expensive screen does not improve the feed.

The base CCTV cameras all have between 700-800 scan lines so regardless of brand/model you won't get significant resolution. The big choice is housing (shape). All cameras have 3-4 wires. Video, 2x power, audio. The cameras all seem to run on 8-24V which is provided by vehicle power as far as I can tell.

The last optional component in the system is the DVR which is used to record the video. It looks like you can buy them by varying number of input channels and some offer integrated 3G/4G radios and an app to remote view the feed. I'm just starting my research on those components.

The video stitching module takes 4 video inputs and generates a single video output that can be saved via DVR and sent to a single screen. A supplied remote (infra red) makes it possible to pan/tilt the view. If you get the one from RVS that output goes to the 3 input switcher that goes to the screen. When you initially install the stichter you need to manually calibrate/correct the distortion per camera input. This is done with either taped lines on the ground or a special mat with lines pre-printed.

Some other options included adding 2.4Ghz wireless parts to avoid running the video all the way back to the monitor.

At this point I am doing the research to add the 360 video to my existing backup camera and screen.

 

[Suprman]

Can you feed it into a recorder like a dash cam.

 

[Aernan]

I think they use a video splitter to take either the screen output or the video direct from the cams and send it to the DVR. The DVR I have seen clearly have onique inputs per camera. I have not seen any outputs. I'll look into it more.

 

[coachgeo]

Been thinking of this too but a camera of 4 different scenes split onto one monitor. My thought was going with undersized side mirrors so can get thru wooded areas easier... but with side view cameras to add in more detail. That is two of the four cameras. Then one or two rear camera's as well. Maybe a camera underneath for off road... or looking down to make hook ups to trailers easier. You can actually take a front camera (with the right camera) and go semi night vision for stealthy no headlight night driving lol. (off road of course)

Not sure if you can record Will. would think there was an output for it. but then you would need your own recorder and software. Like anything. matters how much $$$ your willing to spend. there is alot of these 4way set ups on ebay. Also some very professional high quality units are sold for RV and trucking industry and they probably record too.

 

[Aernan]

I know for certain he video stitcher box takes 4 inputs and generates one output. You can run that to a 2-4 port DVR and you will get the stitched image recorded along with any other optional cameras you have. If you want to record the 4 cameras by themselves before stitching you can split the video via RCA splitter (passive Y cable) and send those 4 feeds to a 4 port DVR. It looks like the DVR has a single video output.

Here is an idea for a complex/big system:

4x 120 degree cameras for 360 effect - top down see around vehicle
4x 120 degree cameras for 360 effect - facing ground for off roading
2x 90 degree view as artificial side mirrors

In cab have 3 monitors
left display artificial mirror (uses single dedicated 90 degree camera)
right display artificial mirror (uses single dedicated 90 degree camera)
central display 360 at street level. When in reverse display only rear camera. If you have a central screen for a navigation system you could re-use it. Alternatively you use an old tablet or ipad and digitize the feed but it would add lag.

For DVR you probably only want to record each camera independently at street level. To get this just split the video as it comes from the raw cameras and run it into a 4 input DVR. Or alternatively use the stitched view as an input to the DVR + backup + front only. Some DVR advertise you can attach IP cameras at higher resolutions to them as well. Need to read more about that.

For best night vision use regular IR LED floods independent of the cameras or get them integrated into the cameras.

For the side view cameras just get independent screens and single backup camera with narrow view. You can get these as cheap as $20 for a display + camera.

 

[DiverDarrell]

I bought the Pyle two camera system, worked great only installed one camera. Now that once camera has dust and moisture in it all the time and camera night vision function doesn’t know when to work. I think a raspberry pi setup with home brew cameras feeding a dvr, will be in my future.

 

[Aernan]

The camera I have does get dirty often and the night vision only works well if there are no other lights around. To make the night vision more effective I plan on using IR LED flood lights. I hope I can find ones that will survive well.

I do have a raspberry pi and camera setup. The camera is great but I don't know what kind of enclosure to use.

Regarding the DVR. I have found open source software to do that. https://zoneminder.com/features/ I haven't tried it and there may be others available.

 

[Suprman]

I have a cheap backup cam in my m1078. The RVS brand you linked to above is decent stuff. A system that records also is ideal. Or get a separate dash cam. If the backup cam gets dirty down low you can mount it up high behind the cab and still have a semi decent view. I had what I thought was a good dash cam in my civ truck. A stolen (didnt know it at the time) car hit me on the highway and took off. Ended with them crashing into 2 state police cars. **** dash cam decided not to record any of it. Would have gotten some good footage.

 

[Shark Bait]

In my HET I did a monitor capable of four cameras. I only installed three though. The monitor can do one, two or four pictures at a time. There was also available, a digital video recorder that took SD cards and could be locked. It was four channel capable as well. I'll try to find some pics.

 

[oregonfirefighter]

Make sure you get the proper wavelength of IR illuminators as there are a few. I learned this with my home security cameras

The camera I have does get dirty often and the night vision only works well if there are no other lights around. To make the night vision more effective I plan on using IR LED flood lights. I hope I can find ones that will survive well.

I do have a raspberry pi and camera setup. The camera is great but I don't know what kind of enclosure to use.

Regarding the DVR. I have found open source software to do that. https://zoneminder.com/features/ I haven't tried it and there may be others available.

 

[oregonfirefighter]

I am looking for a good quality backup camera ( very dusty area) any brand suggestions?

 

[Suprman]

The rvs brand in the first post is good quality.

 

[Aernan]

Looking at amazon you can get some very high LED count ones like:
https://www.amazon.com/CMVision-IR1...&qid=1520573869&sr=8-2&keywords=ir+floodlight
or something cheap and possible
https://www.amazon.com/CMVision-IR5...&qid=1520573869&sr=8-6&keywords=ir+floodlight

I have never heard of or had any trouble with LED flood lights not working on night vision capable cameras. Anyone else know anything about that?

 

[scabskunk]

I have seen the RVS branded systems for sale on flebay for like 299.
Looks to be the same exact unit as rvs. There is also a cheaper unit for 130 but looks a bit less quality.
All of them are super low resolution. I have been dreaming of something like this.
https://www.vivotek.com/website/fe9382-ehv/#views:view=jplist-grid-view
For the network cameras it would be easy to have the be on a network in the truck and use tablets connected to view and adjust the cameras
One of the big things i found for network cameras was having the cameras do the live dewarping vs in the app or with post processing effects.

 

[Aernan]

Scabskunk. Any recommendations on network cameras? I have installed and used a few generations of entry level IP cameras and I know the quality keeps going up and price going down. The early generation it was hard to use them on all platforms due to dedicated apps but I think they are fixing that.

If I have a choice of adding POE IP cameras over CCTV I would pick the higher resolution option.

 

[Aernan]

Now onto completely experimental setups. It looks like you can stitch images from cameras (stills and video) in real time or in post production using opens source software: https://www.pyimagesearch.com/2016/01/25/real-time-panorama-and-image-stitching-with-opencv/
It should be technically feasible to take any camera(s) and make the 360 image. If that is possible you can certainly start with much higher resolution cameras like modern IP POE cameras which are also cheap and commonly available.

Even better it would be trivial to record the streaming video from the cameras because it's already IP and most IP cameras do the video compression in real time so the computer that you are doing the recording on does not need to MPEG the video which can be processor intensive (lots of power).

 

[scabskunk]

The only good ones i have found are the vivotek units in the link. But the cheapest one is around 150 per camera and the others go up to 900 each.
I want to use a couple tablets for the view that is desired on each one. (left, right mirrors, rear, front). Ignoring the birds eye view as i think its more distracting and not a good view after looking at videos.
All streams would be recorded straight to a nvr server. No stitching required as from what ive seen of the vivotek software you can adjust the view in there playback software.

There is a company that makes something like this for off road and expedition vehicles. I saw there demo truck driving around but cannot find the name of the company.

Scabskunk. Any recommendations on network cameras? I have installed and used a few generations of entry level IP cameras and I know the quality keeps going up and price going down. The early generation it was hard to use them on all platforms due to dedicated apps but I think they are fixing that.

If I have a choice of adding POE IP cameras over CCTV I would pick the higher resolution option.

 

[wandering neurons]

I got the camera system that's on my RV from Tadi Brothers (https://www.tadibrothers.com) and have been very happy with it. Many options for wired or wireless, multiple cameras, mounts, etc. My $0.02...