Hello,
We have purchased Oak-1 Max Cameras, we have cameras that capture images of welds and then pass or fail them based on an AI model. A camera was set up and running smoothly for about a week; it runs 24/7 at 10fps and a resolution of 5312x6000. However, after about a week, the computer began to be unable to connect to the camera; first, it was just freezing, then it started giving x-link-errors, device not found, and similar issues. After attempting a variety of debugging (switching cables, switching ports, resetting firmware), we concluded the camera had been essentially fried and did not connect with even the demo, as well the port the camera was connected stop working for any peripherals. The cable that came with the camera (USB3.0) is attached to the camera, then attached to a 10-meter-long USB3.0 extension cable with a power supply and two amplifying chips. This cable is used to connect to the computer; the power supply is currently not being used.
We have thought of several causes and want to see your thoughts. First, the camera is in a very industrial environment (see attached picture of camera location), with a lot of welding nearby. There is a lot of high current/voltage nearby (10000A+, 400V+) from welding machines; we thought magnetic fields could be produced that mess up the camera or the cables. The camera is also mounted on a metallic stand attached to the pedestal that holds a stationary welder (within 50 cm of the camera). Furthermore, many wires are running near the wire that extends the USB from the camera to the computer. The computer being used is an Intel Nuc. Therefore, there are plenty of ways that electrical noise could be causing the problem. It could affect the electronics or the wire carrying the information from the camera. There are also sparks nearby from the welders.
Our current ideas for a solution involve the following:
Shielding the USB wire.
Grounding the computer and camera.
Attaching a non-conducting plate beneath the camera stand.
Adding a power supply to the cable.
If there are any solutions for the current issues that you could suggest, it would be very appreciated. We have switched computers; the new computer works with a camera locally attached right beside it (outside the welding zone); this was done for testing purposes.
Also I was wondering if the following could be related to the issue as well, we are using “with dai.Device(pipeline, usb2Mode = True) as device:”, but I have seen depreciation warnings that recommend using “with dai.Device(pipeline, usbMode = usbMode.HIGH) as device:” and also going from “camRgb.setBoardSocket(dai.CameraBoardSocket.RGB)” to “camRgb.setBoardSocket(dai.CameraBoardSocket.CAM_A)”. Could any of these warnings could affect performance or connectivity issues? Furthermore, is it possible for the program running to be too demanding on the camera and overheat, ruining it over time? I do not believe this is the case, but if it does contribute, I would lower my video quality from 5312x6000 to 4k and change the code slightly.
Thanks,
Daniel
