The IoT ("Internet of Things") is a big trend in the industry nowadays, and one of the most commonly used products in IoT networks is a remote-controlled web camera. The purpose of this project was to build such a system, using two Zedboards (SoPC), a joystick, a screen, a motor controller and a stepper motor.
One of the biggest trends in the industry nowadays is the IoT – Internet of Things. The meaning of this term is a network of physical components embedded with electronics, which collect, process data and communicate with one another. The IoT trend is becoming more and more accessible to the general public as the industry of the smart home develops.
For applications which require high performance, such as smart home, we usually use embedded systems which include FPGAs and processors. One of the boards which enables building a complex IoT prototype is the ZedBoard. This is a development and evaluation board which consists of a Zynq chip, and peripheral components like Ethernet, USB, UART, LED, etc. The Zynq chip, developed by Xilinx, is an FPGA which contains two ARM processors and artix7 FPGA, and it can be used as SoPC (System on Programmable Chip). The Zynq has two parts: PS (Processing System), a unit which is responsible of the software, and PL (Programmable Logic), a unit which is responsible of the hardware.
One of the most common systems in smart homes is a remote-controlled web camera. This is a camera which is placed somewhere at home, and communicates via the internet with a system which controls it and can move it (for example, a joystick), so that the house owners can maneuver it from any place in the world.
The purpose of this project was to build such a system, using two Zedboards (SoPC), a joystick, a screen, a motor controller and a stepper motor.
