Mobius feature request

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tstorzuk

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I don't know if this is the correct place to post this, but I thought what the heck. Give it a try.

I would like to see the Mobius be able to easily support more of the high capacity memory cards (128GB and larger). I don't know if that's something that would have to be updated in the bootloader, firmware or some other part of the device. But with recording at such high resolutions, a large capacity memory card is basically required (in my opinion).

Alternately, but not realistic, they could swap out the Micro SDHC card slot with a USB 3.0 slot that would allow recording directly to an external USB HDD (it could be powered through the Mobius, or an external source). Could you imagine having a 2TB external HDD hooked up to your Mobius? It would record for DAYS on the highest resolution settings!!! That would make it the most desireable dashboard cam for vehicles ever.

You could just unhook your external HDD and connect it to your PC to copy/transfer files from it. Or just switch it out with a different external HDD. Depending on your budget.
 
tstorzuk said:
I don't know if this is the correct place to post this, but I thought what the heck. Give it a try.

I would like to see the Mobius be able to easily support more of the high capacity memory cards (128GB and larger). I don't know if that's something that would have to be updated in the bootloader, firmware or some other part of the device. But with recording at such high resolutions, a large capacity memory card is basically required (in my opinion).

Alternately, but not realistic, they could swap out the Micro SDHC card slot with a USB 3.0 slot that would allow recording directly to an external USB HDD (it could be powered through the Mobius, or an external source). Could you imagine having a 2TB external HDD hooked up to your Mobius? It would record for DAYS on the highest resolution settings!!! That would make it the most desireable dashboard cam for vehicles ever.

You could just unhook your external HDD and connect it to your PC to copy/transfer files from it. Or just switch it out with a different external HDD. Depending on your budget.
Click to expand...
I've been using 128GB cards in the Mobius for well over a month. They work perfectly :)
Your second request is, as you say, not realistic. The whole charm of the Mobius is it's small size and versatility. I wouldn't want to see it ruined by large (USB3) connectors and associated hardware.
 
Isoprop,

So which memory card do you use? Do you have a link for where you bought yours? Do you use more than one type?
 
tstorzuk said:
Isoprop,

So which memory card do you use? Do you have a link for where you bought yours? Do you use more than one type?
Click to expand...
I use Sandisk which I bought locally. I don't know if other brands are available yet.
Apparently it was a very tight squeeze to fit the electronics into the tiny plastic casing. As such, the thickness didn't even allow for the normal red/gray Sandisk logo. The card is black with barely visible dark red writing.
Do a Google search for SDSDQUA-128G-G46A
 
Hmmm, I thought Kingston were the recommended memory cards. Wierd, looking at Kingston's web site they don't even have a 128GB Micro SD card available.

Is there any reason why you went with a SanDisk instead?

At a price point of ~$120.00 each, I'd have to say that a 2TB USB 3.0 external HDD is looking more appealing (if it were possible to add). Too bad there isn't some kind of adapter Micro SD card to a USB 3.0 cable that would allow for using an external HDD. That would make for the best possible solution, as it wouldn't change the Mobius design, but still allow the user the flexibility of being able to use a huge capacity, low price HDD.
 
tstorzuk said:
Hmmm, I thought Kingston were the recommended memory cards. Wierd, looking at Kingston's web site they don't even have a 128GB Micro SD card available.

Is there any reason why you went with a SanDisk instead?

At a price point of ~$120.00 each, I'd have to say that a 2TB USB 3.0 external HDD is looking more appealing (if it were possible to add). Too bad there isn't some kind of adapter Micro SD card to a USB 3.0 cable that would allow for using an external HDD. That would make for the best possible solution, as it wouldn't change the Mobius design, but still allow the user the flexibility of being able to use a huge capacity, low price HDD.
Click to expand...
I bought Sandisk because it was (is?) the only 128GB micro SD available. I'm sure prices will soon go down. When the first 64GB cards were released they also cost over $100.
A 2TB HDD drive is out of question for an action cam. It wouldn't last very long with all those jolts and bumps and a 2TB solid state disk is out most people's price range.
 
Using the ActionCam on a dashboard, I don't see any problems with using a 2TB HDD. My vehicle already has a built in HDD for the entertainment system, so why not one for the ActionCam? I don't drive over pot hole ridden or gravel roads all the time. Wrapping the drive in a simple shock absorbing material would keep any jolts from transferring to the drive. And considering the price of the 128GB Micro SD card and storage capacity to the 2TB HDD, I don't see why not try to go that route.

I've found Micro SD extension cables;

And a Micro SD to standard SD card adapters;
http://www.ably.com.tw/pdt/pics//file2007121822122342.jpg

But I haven't been able to find a converter that will allow the ActionCam to write directly to a USB HDD yet. I'll have to ask around in different forums I think.
 
tstorzuk said:
Using the ActionCam on a dashboard, I don't see any problems with using a 2TB HDD. My vehicle already has a built in HDD for the entertainment system, so why not one for the ActionCam? I don't drive over pot hole ridden or gravel roads all the time. Wrapping the drive in a simple shock absorbing material would keep any jolts from transferring to the drive. And considering the price of the 128GB Micro SD card and storage capacity to the 2TB HDD, I don't see why not try to go that route.

I've found Micro SD extension cables;

And a Micro SD to standard SD card adapters;
http://www.ably.com.tw/pdt/pics//file2007121822122342.jpg

But I haven't been able to find a converter that will allow the ActionCam to write directly to a USB HDD yet. I'll have to ask around in different forums I think.
Click to expand...
I have two of those Micro SD to Standard SD adapters. The first one had a badly soldered pin directly under the SD adapter so it didn't work. Once I corrected the solder joint it would partially work but was totally unreliable. The second adapter didn't work properly either. I believe the problem was due the micro SD connector being too thin and/or the contacts weren't aligned properly. I tried making the connection a little thicker, but wasn't really successful. I tested these adapters before the 128GB micro SD card was available. Maybe other models work better, but mine were a complete waste of money.
Another problem with these types of adapters is that just a slight pull on the cable will dislodge the connection. All the same, it was an interesting experiment.
 
Would be an awesome feature to be able to have different camera profiles depending on what time of the day it was. Daytime settings like 09:00 - 20:00 and Nighttime settings from 21:01 -08:59
 
GALLA_4 said:
Would be an awesome feature to be able to have different camera profiles depending on what time of the day it was. Daytime settings like 09:00 - 20:00 and Nighttime settings from 21:01 -08:59
Click to expand...
You can set your daytime settings to Mode 1 and your nighttime settings to Mode 2. Only problem is you have to remember to change it each night by pressing the Mode button. Daytime would be default when the camera starts
 
GJHS said:
You can set your daytime settings to Mode 1 and your nighttime settings to Mode 2. Only problem is you have to remember to change it each night by pressing the Mode button. Daytime would be default when the camera starts
Click to expand...

It would be cool if the camera could detect daytime/nighttime and be set to switch modes automatically after dark.
Another option would be to have a screen on your dashboard light up and say, "Hey man, time to change modes!" when you switch on your headlights. :D
 
GJHS said:
You can set your daytime settings to Mode 1 and your nighttime settings to Mode 2. Only problem is you have to remember to change it each night by pressing the Mode button. Daytime would be default when the camera starts
Click to expand...

But the feature I am talking about is the automatic triggering of a "profile" based on a time event.

I am fully aware of being able to cycle through orange blue and red profiles by pressing the mode button...but this is manual...and the complete opposite of what I describe above.
 
Time dependent profile settings are not the best practical solution. This has been proven on Vico TF2 ( Vico Schedule ). The problem is, that not all days are the same ( especially in Ireland ). One day you may have bright sunny and next day same time you have completely different day, or it can change within 1h ( you know Irish weather is like a women, - always unpredictable ). With time-dependent profile settings you need to adjust day / night ON-OFF time monthly, because of sun movement when days / nights become different length.

For a few years I have been proposing to some manufacturers an idea of using light-sensor on dashcams. Very simple solution. Light sensor determines when its the right time to switch between day or night time mode. Hope in near future manufacturers will use this idea.
 
niko said:
Time dependent profile settings are not the best practical solution. This has been proven on Vico TF2 ( Vico Schedule ). The problem is, that not all days are the same ( especially in Ireland ). One day you may have bright sunny and next day same time you have completely different day, or it can change within 1h ( you know Irish weather is like a women, - always unpredictable ). With time-dependent profile settings you need to adjust day / night ON-OFF time monthly, because of sun movement when days / nights become different length.

For a few years I have been proposing to some manufacturers an idea of using light-sensor on dashcams. Very simple solution. Light sensor determines when its the right time to switch between day or night time mode. Hope in near future manufacturers will use this idea.
Click to expand...

I think a photo-electric sensor could be a good idea but I know from personal experience that it can be problematic. Successful operation depends on the type of photo-electric sensor, it's adjustments and it's orientation. What can happen is that the headlights from an oncoming car can trick the sensor into suddenly thinking it is daylight and switch on or off unexpectedly. My experience has been mostly with a light post out in my driveway that comes on at dusk when switched by a phot0-sensor. Unless it is adjusted just right, when a car comes down the road it gets triggered to think the sun has come up. It can be hard to find the "sweet-spot" for sensitivity and orientation, especially if light comes at it from different angles at different intensities. I think in a moving vehicle, to operate a camera, it would have to be very carefully designed and calibrated for it to be reliable considering all the different artificial lights that can be encountered at night.

I agree that timer scheduling could be a problem too.
 
Dashmellow said:
I think a photo-electric sensor could be a good idea but I know from personal experience that it can be problematic. Successful operation depends on the type of photo-electric sensor, it's adjustments and it's orientation. What can happen is that the headlights from an oncoming car can trick the sensor into suddenly thinking it is daylight and switch on or off unexpectedly. My experience has been mostly with a light post out in my driveway that comes on at dusk when switched by a phot0-sensor. Unless it is adjusted just right, when a car comes down the road it gets triggered to think the sun has come up. It can be hard to find the "sweet-spot" for sensitivity and orientation, especially if light comes at it from different angles at different intensities. I think in a moving vehicle, to operate a camera, it would have to be very carefully designed and calibrated for it to be reliable considering all the different artificial lights that can be encountered at night.

I agree that timer scheduling could be a problem too.
Click to expand...
Dashmellow said:
I think a photo-electric sensor could be a good idea but I know from personal experience that it can be problematic. Successful operation depends on the type of photo-electric sensor, it's adjustments and it's orientation. What can happen is that the headlights from an oncoming car can trick the sensor into suddenly thinking it is daylight and switch on or off unexpectedly. My experience has been mostly with a light post out in my driveway that comes on at dusk when switched by a phot0-sensor. Unless it is adjusted just right, when a car comes down the road it gets triggered to think the sun has come up. It can be hard to find the "sweet-spot" for sensitivity and orientation, especially if light comes at it from different angles at different intensities. I think in a moving vehicle, to operate a camera, it would have to be very carefully designed and calibrated for it to be reliable considering all the different artificial lights that can be encountered at night.

I agree that timer scheduling could be a problem too.
Click to expand...


You have a point with situation at night if towards moving car can "cheap" a photo-sensor. For those cases I guess its a matter of firmware algorithm to recognize a sudden direct light from towards moving car vs overall surrounding scene, but as you mentioned, it need a high grade photo-sensor: - this is already an engineering team "problem". Our job is to give them ideas, so they can work on them, - they get paid for that ;)
 
niko said:
You have a point with situation at night if towards moving car can "cheap" a photo-sensor. For those cases I guess its a matter of firmware algorithm to recognize a sudden direct light from towards moving car vs overall surrounding scene, but as you mentioned, it need a high grade photo-sensor: - this is already an engineering team "problem". Our job is to give them ideas, so they can work on them, - they get paid for that ;)
Click to expand...

Based on some comments I recall from Ispoprop, I think one problem with asking dash cams like the Mobius to do more and more tasks like this is that the DSP is being pushed to the very limits of what is was originally designed to do. I wonder if in the future, some dash cams might need an extra small chip of some kind that can handle other non-video tasks and features?
 
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Dashmellow said:
Based on some comments from Ispoprop, I think one problem with asking dash cams like the Mobius to do more and more tasks like this is that the DSP is being pushed to the very limits of what is was originally designed to do. I wonder if in the future, some dash cams might need an extra small chip of some kind that can handle other non-video tasks and features?
Click to expand...

Yeah, DSP has its limitations and might not be powerful enough to handle extra operations as you mentioned, but this is questions / task for developers. Photo-electric sensor is just an idea for the future Mobius- or other dashcam related products.

If going back to day / night time camera profile changes, I would suggest maybe having add an option into GUI to do so called time schedule on scale of 12 month. Lets say you can set day / night different time ON-OFF for each month depending on sun rise / sun set. It is known 1 year upfront what time on which day sun rise / sun set in your area, so based on that GUI ( via internet connection ) saves specific values for your region. THis setup need to be done only once per calender year. If using an Android Smartphone, - it can set those value automatically via internet. I know this might sounds crazy, but just having my thoughts fly out of my head. Not sure how difficult it is for firmware guys to implement this. This is debate for them.
 
KISS Keep It Simple Stupid
Time based profile trigger does not require any additional high quality light sensor that would ultimately shift the cost of manufacture up a notch.

Niko I get your point on times of day being different in terms light levels etc but at its simplest midnight in New York, Dublin, Paris , Milan or Sydney is midnight and doesn't change the fact its dark
 
niko said:
Yeah, DSP has its limitations and might not be powerful enough to handle extra operations as you mentioned, but this is questions / task for developers. Photo-electric sensor is just an idea for the future Mobius- or other dashcam related products.

If going back to day / night time camera profile changes, I would suggest maybe having add an option into GUI to do so called time schedule on scale of 12 month. Lets say you can set day / night different time ON-OFF for each month depending on sun rise / sun set. It is known 1 year upfront what time on which day sun rise / sun set in your area, so based on that GUI ( via internet connection ) saves specific values for your region. THis setup need to be done only once per calender year. If using an Android Smartphone, - it can set those value automatically via internet. I know this might sounds crazy, but just having my thoughts fly out of my head. Not sure how difficult it is for firmware guys to implement this. This is debate for them.
Click to expand...

Great idea!
 
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