ESP-32 cam with Prusa Firmware intermittently not updating image
Sorry if this is the wrong place to post - and I tried searching the forum but I'm not sure where my issue lies to be able to make an association to other's posts.
I bought an ESP-32 cam from amazon back when the Prusa firmware was first announced. This is the exact unit that I have, which seemingly checked all the recommended boxes at that time: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDRNJKSF?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1
I set everything up successfully and it connects to my WIFI and shows up in Prusa Connect, and is updated to the most up to date Prusa firmware 1.1.2. Most of the time when I look in Connect, it's fine, but I intermittently get periods where it won't update the image. Sometimes it'll start updating again on its own with no intervention, but many times, I have to go and power cycle the camera to get it to start working again. I also have a really buggy experience using the camera's http interface. For the most part, I chocked this up to it being a piece of budget hardware with resource limitations, but it's really difficult to update settings without the interface timing out and taking multiple tries. Is this normal behavior for just a budget camera? Or is there some configuration setting I'm getting wrong? I've tried to pull logs from it a few times but it times out and won't load the logs. Could it be a hardware issue with the particular camera and esp32 board I purchased, and if so, which board would be better?
I'd really like to avoid buying the buddy3d cam if I can, as I already have the non-Core One version of it and don't want to re-purchase it. I have no coding knowledge but if anyone can help me out getting this esp-32 cam working more reliably, I'd be eternally grateful!
Thanks in advance!
RE:
You would have to be connected over usb to the pc and stream logs from the device to see what is going on.
Generally this sounds like an issues with a wifi signal, or camera module overheating causing the res of the electronics to misbehave or software lockups.
For wifi usually trying device in different orientation or location helps.
Check if the camera is hot - if you cannot hold a finger in the module its just too hot, usually using special clamp to push the camera towards the metal enclosure over the chip is enough to help it to dissipate the heat.
Much better alternative would be Pi Zero W with the camera module.
See my GitHub and printables.com for some 3d stuff that you may like.
RE: ESP-32 cam with Prusa Firmware intermittently not updating image
You would have to be connected over usb to the pc and stream logs from the device to see what is going on.
Generally this sounds like an issues with a wifi signal, or camera module overheating causing the res of the electronics to misbehave or software lockups.
For wifi usually trying device in different orientation or location helps.
Check if the camera is hot - if you cannot hold a finger in the module its just too hot, usually using special clamp to push the camera towards the metal enclosure over the chip is enough to help it to dissipate the heat.
Much better alternative would be Pi Zero W with the camera module.
Thanks, I'll definitely check out the heat issue. FWIW, the camera is about is about 1.5 ft / 0.5 M away from my wifi router so I doubt that this is the issue.
There was a button on the web interface to generate logs, so I didn't realize I needed to be connected to a PC via USB to access that. I only have MacOS so I'll have to figure out a workaround for that, or borrow a laptop from a friend.
RE: ESP-32 cam with Prusa Firmware intermittently not updating image
It should be doable on Mac as well, just need a proper cable.
See my GitHub and printables.com for some 3d stuff that you may like.