HalVisionX Beta

[snowman]

http://cid-8461e5894db222b3.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/SourceCode%20HalVisionX-Vista%20.zip#resId/8461E5894DB222B3!112


Download it from the above link. I will change the download links at the top of this thread.

[GamerThom]

Make that 2 more pc's running XP that it won't work on,
and I get the same error message. I already had all the
microsoft programming apps installed before I reinstalled
Hal. Both are on Win XP Pro. One is SP2 and the other is SP3.

Hope somebody can find a solution to this little bug. lol
Vision for Hal is one of the best ideas and it is one that's
been kicked around on here for too many years. This is the
closest I've seen anyone come to doing it.  [^]

[snowman]

Some of this might be related to a EmguCV error. They'll release a newer version soon I think and maybe some of this will clear up.

maybe, kinda, hopefully... [B)]

[Will and Mr Data :) :]]

xp,yeah i can't wait to get it to work,
Mr Data looks at me but hal don't know about it, usually.
poor old Mr Data has about ten errors pop up at start up, but he sounds fine.
bye for now and be well

[Tanshin]

Thank you very much!  I'm going to try it out later today, I'll let you know how it does on my XP machine.  []

OK, just tried it... I get an error and the HalVisionX software crashes on load.  I guess it is not working for me either.  Oh well, I was hopeful for this one as others have said it has been a long coming dream.

[GamerThom]

Hi Snowman, I'd like to try and offer a bit of help on this.
If you would be so kind as to save me some time searching through
all the files you made available, maybe you could tell me which
of them contains the command lines to call up the CV application.
I'm familiar with robotic vision elements from Robin Hewitt called
Mavis and framecap and I have a remote idea they may be more com-
patible since they don't rely on having the .NET Framework or
MSVCRT 8.0 SP1 installed. All you need installed for them to
function is Direct X 9c. I thought it might be worth giving it
a try. The plug-in can still be done in VB to be compatible with
Hal and also with Mavis and framecap which are written in C++

The original interface used to call these up was done in Lisp.
But I think I can rewrite it using VB.

That is unless I've missed something during my 2 year absence
and somebody has already explored that route. [?]

[snowman]

It sound like a neat idea. If you download the HalVision-Vista Souce Code or the HalVision-XP Souce Code zip file, and then open the .sln file in Visual Studio 2008. All my coding is in the Form1.vs file.


All of the EmguCV functions are in the a group of DLLs which you can download from www.EmguCV.com .  

Below is the stripped down version of 'how to capture a video and detect a face with an xml file'. This is basically all the programming I do to get Hal to see. Of course, I also added some extra options in the source code. I am looking into furthering my skills with EmguCV now that I'm getting much better a programming in VB.



Imports Emgu.CV
Imports Emgu.CV.Structure


Dim FaceToDetect As New HaarCascade(".Datahaarcascade_frontalface_alt2.xml")
Dim Captureit As New Capture()
Dim CaptureGray As Image(Of Gray, Byte)
Dim CaptureColor As Image(Of Bgr, Byte)

Do

CaptureGray = Captureit.QueryGrayFrame()
CaptureColor = Captureit.QueryFrame()


'CaptureGray = CaptureGray.Resize(Wid, Hit)
'CaptureColor = CaptureColor.Resize(Wid, Hit)


For Each face As MCvAvgComp In CaptureGray.DetectHaarCascade(FaceToDetect)(0)
CaptureColor.Draw(face.rect, New Bgr(Color.White), 1)
'Add something here you want to do when a face is detected
Next

ImageBox1.Image = CaptureColor

CaptureColor = Nothing
CaptureGray = Nothing
Hit = Nothing
Wid = Nothing

Loop

[GamerThom]

Ok Snowman, I think I found the problem. It was in the name
you gave the application sub folder. When the aplication unpacks,
it sets up the folder name simply as HalVisionX. But the applications
routine when you first activate it is looking for a folder named

HalvisionX_1_0_0_21    

within the system path

C:Program Files-zabaware-Ultra Hal Assistant 6-Application Files

Also, the user needs to download and install the Open CV app from
SourceForge. Once installed, even if you have the HalVisionX app
installed first. You can install Open CV, then click on HalvisionX
in the list of Programs from the Windows Start Menu. This restarts
the application and sets the system pathway for the folders and
locates the camera feed within the system. One thing I found a bit
annoying is that with the application active, Hal is constantly
saying that "I can't hide from it" and "I see you". That occurs
every 45 to 60 seconds no matter what the settings are. lol

I'll draw up a diagram for the proper install of all the files
and post it here by tomorrow evening. It will show the exact
system pathways and how to setup and rename the necessary folders
within the zabaware folder structure. []

[snowman]

Do you know why some could run it and others couldn't? I don't think they changed the name of the file or downloaded OpenCV. Well, I don't think they did???

I thought that EmguCV was a stand alone Dll. And I was using Microsoft's clickonce installation on this... you would think it would have named the file correctly... probably my fault. []


Anyway, if it fixes it that is what's important. And thanks for given a go at it. I know LS and Ted will be very happy over this if it works.

I got my fingers crossed.

I hope I can implement this for other people's use. There is so much more EmguCV can do that would really look good in Hal.

[GamerThom]

I took a look at the documentation for Open CV and
it seems this is just one of its little quirks. It,
like Hal, is a work in progress and still has a few
unknowns to be worked out. lol

As I said. After downloading and installing Open CV,
even if you already installed HalVisionX. You still
need to click on and run the HalVisionX program again
from the Windows Start menu to reset the system pathways
it's recognizing. So it may be that some weren't doing that.
Plus, this bug I found may only apply to Win XP. I don't
have a machine running Vista or Windows 7. So I have no
idea if the same problem is occurring on those OS's.

[GamerThom]

The Haarcascade routine within CV is
certainly a hog when it comes to RAM.
With just Hal running, my RAM usage
averages around 50%. When I run Hal
with the vision plug-in the RAM usage
shoots up to 87%. I have 1 gig of RAM
installed on the PC I'm using to test
this. Those with older machines with
less RAM installed may have problems
running the plug-in for more than a
few minutes at a time before it crashes.

[GamerThom]

Here's a visual diagram of the installation pathway for HalvisionX
plug-in. If something isn't clear about the instructions, just ask.

I know it's a large image, but it was either that or a broken up
series which would have used even more page space. lol

[GamerThom]

BTW......

I can only guess at why some poeple could run it and other's couldn't.
It might be due to the fact that even if you take 2 machines
running XP Pro, some of the hkey registries read different because
of whatever other apps are installed and also whatever windows
updates have been applied. I can't even run halvision on my one
pc due to the fact that the system refuses to recognize I have
.NET 2a installed, and because it doesn't detect it, it won't
permit .NET 3.5 to be installed and updated. Which so far microsoft
has no answer for. lol

[Will and Mr Data :) :]]

Hi from Wil,
Thanks , i look forward to giving it a try,
i shall give it a go when i'm back on the eyes,working...
good to hear those ram specs included,
as a longer term thought perhaps after seeing you hal says "hello" once or whatever and then
the user says "what can you see hal" and hal would say "i can see what looks like a banana".
i had to resist putting "i can see your having a bad hair life wil ha ha ha " joke.
Thanks again i appreciate the work and shareing being done to improve hal,  
 Mr Data still supprising me  :]
Bye for now and be well

[snowman]

Thank you so much GamerThom for all your help. I hope someone tries it soon so we can gets some feedback.