Russ is from Hilo, Hawaii and had recently graduated from the University of Hawaii at Hilo with a degree in Computer Science. In the future he plans to pursue a masters in Artificial Intelligence and enjoys working with neural networks in his spare time. His hobbies include snorkeling, drawing, and playing the ukulele.
Home Island: Big Island
High School: Hilo High School
Institution when accepted: University of Hawaii at Hilo
Akamai Project: Unified Software Control of an Image Sensing System
Project Site: KBR – Kihei, Maui
Mentor: Randy Goebbert
Project Abstract:
The KBR company provides tracking systems for Space Domain Awareness and High Energy Lasers. KBR has acquired a BlackFly USB3 Camera and a motorized C-Mount Zoom/Focus Lens and is interested in integrating this technology into their future tracking systems. Currently, there is no centralized software that controls the functions of both BlackFly USB3 Camera and the C-Mount Zoom Lens. Additionally, KBR has requested an ergonomic graphical user interface (GUI) be developed in order to aid the operator. To resolve this issue a GUI was created using PySimpleGUI allowing the user to control the camera’s zoom, focus, exposure, gain, scaling, frame rate fps, and binning functions. This was done by controlling the camera using the Spinnaker API (provided by manufacturer) with the lens controlled by using commands over network connections. To allow for concurrency between the GUI and camera the Python threading library were used. After developing the program, an installation guide and user manual was created to assist with end-user integration. In the future, the program will be used to assist with camera control for a variety of tracking systems.