IDE Not Working with Wireless TV Shield

Hello,

I have a python module that successfully runs the OpenMV Cam H7 (R2?) sensor and displays the video in the OpenMV IDE using clock.tick() and sensor.snapshot() in a while loop as instructed by documentation, but when I plug in the wireless TV shield that I just received, the program no longer runs and the “disconnected” symbol is displayed in the lower left above the play button. I know the shield is plugged in correctly because I align the 3.3v pins on both shield and cam up. This kind of seems hardware related. I don’t think it is related to pin usage, because I tried another program that does not use any pins and this still happens. How can I run programs from the IDE with the wireless TV shield connected.

I’d appreciate some help,
-Ryan

Hi, the shield should work with any OpenMV Cam model it fits on. It should not cause a program not to run. Note that your script can’t be using the SPI bus pins which the shield will need.

Do not connect the shield while the camera is on though, this could cause a brownout of the boards voltage regulators.

Thank you for responding. I did not plug in the shield while the program was running. The second program I tried definitely does not use the spi pins and neither program even involves the tv shield in the code in any way; no init() of the tv shield or anything. So, I don’t know why just having it plugged in would cause a disconnected state in the IDE. Any other thoughts?

Thanks,
Ryan

Only thing I can think of is an electrical short.

If you plug the shield in and test the 3.3V rail and see if it’s 0 then this will tell you.

Thank you. I could not make any observations when checking for any shorts on the tv shield or on the cam board. I did change out the usb cable and that solved it. When using the old usb cable and with the wireless tv shield plugged in, the voltage dropped to 2.7V. When I remove the shield, the voltage is 3.3V on the cam board. The decrease in voltage does not happen when using the new usb cable and with the wireless tv shield connected.

I think this issue is resolved even though I’m not sure why the voltage dropped with the one usb cable.
Thanks for your help.

-Ryan

Probably increased current draw. I’d throw the other USB cable away. For it to affect things like that means it’s got a lot of internal resistance.

Thank you, kwagyeman.

Will do. Now that that issue is fixed, I now get the “Runtime Error: Frame capture has timed out” message. I know there are other posts about this, so I’ll look at those before asking any further questions.

Again, I appreciate the help.
Ryan

The H7 R2 typically doesn’t have this error. Does this happen on the hello world script?