Depth Camera Controller firmware build 23 — brightness sensing, event log

Greetings!  A new version of the Nitrogen Logic Depth Camera Controller firmware is now available.  This new version adds ambient light sensing to xAP and the web interface, visible zones on the Video tab, and an event log.  There are also several performance improvements and bug fixes, allowing greater reliability with more zones and more activity.

With ambient light values included in xAP messages, customers using HomeSeer, Loxone, and other home automation systems dependent upon the UDP-based xAP protocol can now use relative brightness levels in each zone to trigger automation actions.

The event log provides an overview of recent activity.  You can see camera disconnections and timeouts, zone entry and exit events, xAP status changes, and firmware update attempts.  One great use for the event log is finding the exact XYZ coordinates where a piece of furniture is accidentally activating a zone.

Update instructions will be e-mailed to existing customers.  Read on for a detailed list of changes, complete with pretty pictures!


new in build 23

  • Ambient light sensing in xAP and the web interface
    • Ambient light values are now included in the Level field of xAP messages, with an adjustable update rate:
      Knc_xap_brightness

      A sample message:
      xap-header
      {
      v=12
      hop=1
      uid=FFEDB20A
      class=xapbsc.event
      source=n2l.depth.theater.cam:Lightbright
      }
      input.state
      {
      State=OFF
      Level=150/1000
      }
    • Ambient light values are displayed in a zone's information box on the web interface:
      Knc_zone_bright
    • Ambient light sensing zones are visible on the Video tab (browsers without WebGL support will see a black-and-white image).
      Knc_video_webglKnc_video_nowebgl
      Note: the video camera has a different field of view from the depth camera, so a zone's ambient light sensing and depth sensing do not cover the exact same area of the room.
  • Event log
    • The last 100 camera status and zone entry/exit events are visible in the newly added event log:
      Knc_eventlog
    • The center of gravity listed in zone events can help identify and correct zones experiencing intermittent spurious activation.
  • Performance improvements and other minor changes
    • Improvements allow the creation of more zones with more activity, while still maintaining an acceptable frame rate.
    • The Overhead, Side, and Front views now use a crosshair cursor to indicate that a zone can be created by clicking and dragging.