The Center for Fine Art Photography of Fort Collins, Colo. is seeking entrants for its next juried competition, "Still Life." The deadline for entry, recently extended, is Tuesday, June 10.

All subject matter and photographic processes are welcome, as is work from any photographer anywhere in the world, whether amateur or professional. Entry fees are $20 for members and $35 for non-members for five images. Additional images may be submitted for $10 for members and non-members alike.

The juried exhibit will be held at the Center from September 5-27, 2014. 

Photographers whose work is selected for the exhibition will receive prizes including the following:

• Juror’s Selection: $500
• Director’s Selection: $250
• 2 liveBooks Website Awards: Valued at $399 from liveBooks.com
• Honorable Mention Awards: 2 year membership and an image submission for a Center competition.

Serving as juror for the competition is Rebecca Senf, the Norton Family Curator of Photography at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, in association with Phoenix Art Museum.

For more information, please see the Center website.

Puzzle 2 is now done! Puzzle 3 is a drawing (not text).

As we get to more complicated puzzles, it's clear that loading, rendering, and UI limitations will become a bigger and bigger issue. My colleague, Dan Maynes-Aminzade ("monzy" for short) is doing his best to figure out ways to handle that. There are a lot of not-ideal solutions.

It's also clear that more computer aided matching will be necessary to maintain progress. Here are zip files for the pieces of problem 4 and problem 5, if you want to try your hand at analyzing them directly.

Puzzle 4 pieces
Puzzle 5 pieces

If you come up with good ideas that work, post them in the comments.

Recently, I've been playing with these inexpensive Syma Remote Control Helicopters. At the time they were only $20 (but seemed have been price adjusted for the holidays). They're quite robust to crashes and pretty easy to fly. For $20, they're a blast. The other interesting thing about these copters is that the controller transmits commands using simple infrared LEDs rather than a proper radio. This simplicity makes it tauntingly appealing to try reverse engineering. So tonight, I decided to do a little procrastineering and see if I could get my helicopter to become computer controlled.

For hardware, I've been liking these Teensy USB boards because they are cheap, small, versatile, and have a push-button boot loader that makes iteration very quick. They can be easily configured to appear as a USB serial port and respond to commands. For the IR protocol, I started with this web page which got the helicopter responding. But, the behavior I was getting was very stuttery and would not be sufficient for reliable autonomous control. So, I decided to take a closer look with an oscilloscope to get accurate timing from the stock remote control. Some of my measured numbers were fairly different for the web tutorial I found. But, now the control is fairly solid. So, here is the nitty gritty:

IR Protocol:

- IR signal is modulated at 38KHz.
- Packet header is 2ms on then 2ms off
- Packet payload is 4 bytes in big-endian order:
1. yaw (0-127) default 63
2. pitch (0-127) default 63
3. throttle (0-127 for channel A, 128-255 for channel B) default 0
4. yaw correction (0-127) default 63
- Packet ends with a stop '1' bit

Format of a '1' is 320us on then 680us off (1000us total)
Format of a '0' is 320us on then 280us off (600us total)

Packets are sent from the stock controller every 120ms. You can try to send commands faster, but the helicopter may start to stutter as it misses messages.

Download Teensy AVR Code (updated 11/30/2011)

The code is available at the above link. It's expecting 5 byte packets over the serial port at 9600 baud. The first byte of each packet must be 255, followed by yaw, pitch, throttle, and yaw correction (each ranging from 0-127). It will return a 'k' if 5 bytes are properly read. If it doesn't receive any serial data for 300ms, it will stop transmitting the IR signal.

Unfortunately, I can't help you write a program to communicate over serial since that will depend on your OS (Windows, Mac, Linux) and varies by language as well. But, it is fairly easy with lots of web tutorials. The harder challenge will be figuring out how to update the 3 analog values to keep it from crashing. =o) The most likely candidate is to use a camera (probably with IR markers) to monitor the position of the helicopter. But, getting that to work well is definitely a project unto itself.

Good Luck!

Hello!

Some time ago I got the S107 helicopter as a birthday present, and as I found myself with some free time, I got an Arduino board with the intent of flying it with my computer.

Helicopter being tracked with webcam and speed adjusted

My experience has always been on the software side, so this is my first try  utilizing hardware and micro controllers.

While waiting for the Uno, I started reading the basics and found this amazing tutorial on how Infrared works, and code samples on reading and emitting infrared signals.

The code in that tutorial was extremely helpful in getting me started, and understanding the basics of Infrared communications.

Arduino Uno and IR emitter and receiver circuit

Delivery day and I get my arduino, (for some reason I ordered two usb cables instead of two IR leds, guess I didn't double check the order)

Following the arduino.cc first steps, I installed the software, and then tested out the board with the begginer examples it provides.
Later on, I built the ladyala emitter and receiver circuit, and its ready for work!

The schematics are identical to the ones here, but on an Uno board instead of the duemilanove version, but it shouldn't be a problem.

Before getting into the helicopter remote, I tried it with  my audio remote control, which has only 3 buttons and seems simpler.
After decoding the pulse, I played around to make a program that graphics the pulses.

As the Arduino runs in the board, the communication is done through the serial port.
To communicate with it while it’s running, it’s done through the same serial port used to upload data to it.

Utilizing Processing language (www.processing.org) the program to graphic the pulse is quite simple.

Here’s a picture of the three button’s pulses (on, vol up, vol down), done with the Processing language.









On to the helicopter!
This is a little bit trickier, because once you’re flying the helicopter it’s a continuos stream of data from the remote to the helicopter, instead of a single burst of data.
We’ll need to figure out how it transmits the data to the helicopter, that is, which protocol it uses.

Reading a bit more into IR protocols, I found a thread that depicted usual protocol pulses here.

There is a Header followed by “bits”. Each bit is a pair of on/off IR pulse. The 0 is a short on, short off, and the 1 is a short on, longer off.

With the decoding program loaded into the board, the output for the helicopter is the following:

(off / on)
-10072 – 1930
1880 - 330
250 - 370
230 - 350
590 - 320
640 - 330
640 - 370
210 – 370
….

So, the header is a 2000 ms on, 2000ms off, the 0 a 300/300 pair and the 1 a 300/600 pair pulse.

The separation between headers is between 32 pairs, so I assume the helicopter uses a 32bit pulse.
Modifying the receiver program to adapt to this format, and make it easier to figure out the protocol, the output now shows H for header, 0 and 1, in a 32 bit string:

HH00111011001111111111111100101111   

The next step is the most tedious:
Detecting the changes when only one movement is done, to figure out which bits do what.
I recorded hundreds of combinations, and did a little program to eliminate the repeated ones.

The outcome:

Byte 1: Yaw
Byte 2: Pitch
Byte 3: Throttle
Byte 4: Yaw correction from Remote.

They all use the last 7 bits of the byte.
Throttle goes from 0 to 126, while pitch and yaw start centered in 63.

With all this info, it’s time to create a processing program to test this, a program to transmit pulses with the decoded format.
Then some buttons to handle the increases and decreases, and off it goes!

The emitter program in the arduino to keep sending the same pulse, and the processing program to just notify the changes in the bits, instead of always telling the board what pulse to send, for timing purposes
(It uses a simple way of just sending one ascii character, and both programs know which bit it’s referring to)

It works! But the IR Led seems to be quite underpowered compared to the one in the remote control, so the range is about one meter, then the helicopter drops dead.

One final test is to have the computer do some flying on its own.
As a proof of concept, with the jMyron library for Processing to handle video input, I want to make the program have the helicopter hover at a steady position.

Utilizing the input from the webcam, it adjusts the speed until the helicopter is in the middle of the screen.
If it goes too high, it lowers the speed. If it gets too low or is stopped, it slowly increases the upwards speed.
It works!

Any ideas on what to move on to next?

Ashley Jones

The New Orleans Photo Alliance is pleased to announce the selected pieces for the 2014 NOPA Member's Exhibition. Congratulations to the selected artists, we are very much looking forward to hosting this exhibition.  An opening reception will be held at the New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery on June 7th from 6:00 - 9:00 pm.


NOPA Member’s Exhibition  |  June 7 - August 3 

Alvarez, Ryan - Bonez
Alvarez, Ryan - Super Sunday 3
Borazanian, NOLA Alliance
Burleson, Suzy - The Lido
Chain, David - ebb & flow
Coco, Lydia - Onimo
Cotto, Jose - Line Up
Diem, Charlotte - Sacred Shadows1
Feldman, Sara - Nicholai
Gasdaglis, Barbara - Painter's Smock
Jones, Ashley - 5
Kline, Kevin, Woman on St Claude Avenue, Martin Luther King Day
Kucera, M.   Untitled {Flowers}
                      Untitled {Flowers 3}
MAGINNIS, D - Receeding Rectangles
Martin, Eddie - Foggy Morning
McCormack, Molly - R_4
Menszer, John - Mardi_Gras_2002
Michna-Bales, Jeanine - Look for the Grey Barn
Norris, Don - WinterBananaLeaf
Pape, Kenneth - After Hours
                           - Tulane and Broad
Quaglia, Bob - The Sleeper
Ramsey, Mike - Passed By
Sanborn, Vanessa - Ice
Sanchez, Natasha - Baby and Mama Elephant Ears
                                 - Feather & Vines
Sancton, Sylvaine - Ecume
Shero, Sharon - Nora's Dance II
Summerlin, Kim - BlueScarf
                              - FuzzyCollar

New Orleans photographer and NOPA member Zack Smith will present "Studio on the Geaux," a workshop on mobile lighting for portrait photography, on Saturday, June 7 at the Scott Edwards Gallery in the Crescent City's Marigny neighborhood.

Smith's workshop is designed to give a boost to emerging professionals and serious hobbyists who want to take full advantage of popular mobile lighting tools, including external flash units and wireless controllers., in their portrait work.

More specifically, Smith's workshop will focus on lighting schemes made available by the use of light modifiers, such as umbrellas and reflectors. Workshop participants will also learn about and discuss the integration of available and artificial light in order to create striking environmental portraits.

Smith and workshop participants will then head into the French Quarter, with professional models in tow, to apply these lighting techniques to portraits.

A few essential things to know about the workshop otherwise: First, it is set for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 7. Tuition is $250 per person, with full payment required upon reservation.

Also worth noting is that attendees should know how to use their camera and understand such camera operations, including setting f/stops and shutter speeds. They should also know how to download images to a computer.

More information on the "Studio on the Geaux" workshop can be found at Smith's website.

Clarence John Laughlin Grant Exhibition
New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery
Through May 25, 2014
Artist Panel Discussion: May 10, 3pm

The New Orleans Photo Alliance hosts the Clarence John Laughlin Grant Exhibition,  featuring work from Grant Recipient Walker Pickering and the two finalists, Saul Robbins and AnnieLaurie Erickson.

The Clarence John Laughlin Award was created by the New Orleans Photo Alliance to support the work of photographers who use the medium as a means of creative expression.  It honors the life and work of Clarence John Laughlin (1905-1985), a New Orleans photographer best known for his surrealist images of the American South.  The Clarence John Laughlin Award grants one $5000 prize annually to a photographer whose work exhibits sustained artistic excellence and creative vision.

New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery
1111 St. Mary St., NOLA
Image: Mayflower, Walker Pickering

NOPA's Members Only Exhibit
Submission Deadline: May 18, 2014

NOPA is seeking entrants for our second Members Only Exhibit, an open-themed competition for all dues-paying members, with no restrictions or guidelines on subject matter, genre or style. Twenty-five photographs will be selected by the Programming Committee for the June 2014 exhibition. The exhibit will open on Saturday, June 7 at the NOPA Gallery, located at 1111 St. Mary St. in the Crescent City's Lower Garden District.

Current members may submit up to five photos for consideration. Submitted work should be sized at approximately 10" (long side), and at 72 PPI. All works should be named as follows: Last name, first name, title, size, sequence number (ex: Doe_John_Title_16x20_#1).  All selected work must be submitted in ready-to-hang, professional fashion and must match what is submitted.
Notification of Selection: Wednesday, May 21
Delivery deadline for selected work: Tuesday, June 2

Submit your files to programming@neworleansphotoalliance.org