Arducam Webserver on W5500

This repository demonstrates a proof-of-concept (POC) project that integrates an Arducam SPI Camera Module with a WIZnet W5500 Ethernet module to capture high-resolution images and serve them via a webserver. The implementation focuses on efficient memory management and seamless transmission of large image data in an embedded environment.

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Features

• Capture high-resolution images using Arducam SPI Mini.
• Serve images via a lightweight webserver running on W5500.
• Adjustable resolution settings accessible from the web interface.
• Custom HTTP response handling for efficient image transmission.
• Optimized for handling large image data with a 100 KB buffer.

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Project Structure

The repository is organized as follows:

• Examples/: Contains the main application code integrating the camera and webserver.
• Libraries/: Includes the Arducam library and WIZnet ioLibrary for camera and networking functionality.
• Port/: Holds customized code for the project, including changes to SPI handling, buffer management, and camera capture logic.

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Arducam Integration

The Arducam library was sourced from the official Arducam RPI-Pico-Cam GitHub Repository. Key modifications include:

1. Updating SPI pin definitions to avoid conflicts with the WIZnet ioLibrary.
2. Adding a custom capture function to pass buffer and size as parameters.
3. Validating the JPEG end marker (FF D9) to ensure image integrity.

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Webserver Implementation

The webserver code is customized to handle large image transmissions:

• A custom function was implemented to send the HTTP header and image buffer together for better efficiency.
• The image buffer is divided into 8 KB chunks and transmitted sequentially to avoid overloading the W5500's buffer.
• CGI processor code was updated to handle camera-specific POST requests.

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Memory Management

• A global buffer of 100 KB is allocated to store the captured image.
• Memory allocation and usage were refined through trial and error to ensure stability and performance.
• Both TX and RX buffers in the W5500 were set to 16 KB for optimized data handling.

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Results

The project demonstrates seamless integration of Arducam and W5500 for serving high-resolution images over a webserver. The results can be seen in the accompanying video demonstration.

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Future Improvements

Planned enhancements for the next iteration include:

1. Dual-Core Operation:
   • Using one core for camera operations and the other for networking.
2. Advanced Camera Settings:
   • Adding features like light mode, contrast adjustment, and image compression.
3. Live Streaming:
   • Implementing real-time video streaming via the webserver.

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Acknowledgments

Arducam Team for their open-source library: Arducam RPI-Pico-Cam.

WIZnet for their ioLibrary and hardware support: WIZnet-PICO-C GitHub Repository