usb endosope

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Created Mar ’16

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I am working on a project where we would like to use a USB endoscope with Android / Mac / Windows and iOS. These cameras are readily available from Amazon and the like, and are interpreted as webcams by Android / Mac / Windows.

On Android, the cameras use the on-the-go (OTG) protocol to handle the communications, and there was an app that I needed to install (Basic USB Camera works for what I need, at least for testing). For Mac / Windows, the cameras come with software, but for Mac, I believe Photobooth works for talking to the cameras. For Windows, I used National Instruments Vision software to talk to it (overkill, really, but it was already installed).

I have tried iOS and have hit what is a brick wall. The iOS device I have for testing is an iPod Touch running iOS 9.3. I have coworkers that have iPads and iPhones, but they have had hte same problem in trying to get this to work. The problems thus far are two fold:

1) When the camera is plugged in, iOS recognizes it, but states it is not supported and draws too much power.

2) I have been unable to find an app for communicating with a USB camera, in the way I want. I need to stream the video from the camera to the screen. For now, that is it. Later, there may be a desire to either record the video or at least capture frames as images.

To combat problem 1, I have purchased a powered USB hub. The hub connects to the iOS device(s) by a USB->lightning adapter made by Apple. For testing this works, but going forward this presents a problem, which leads to the following questions...

1) I found somewhere that the current limit in iOS devices was changed from 100 mA to 20 mA. Is this limit hardware or software set? If software, I am assuming it can be overridden.(?)

2) I have read some places that iOS does not support OTG, while other places say it does. Which is it?

3) Is there an app to allow for streaming of a USB camera to the display? Could one be made?

4) For a USB device to work with iOS, does it require anything hardware wise? I have read somewhere that Apple devices requier an identification chip (forget proper term) to allow them to communicate with the device. However, not sure if this is true.

5) The only camera systems that I have been able to find like this that are compatible with iOS are wireless based. That seems a bit extreme when all other configurations can be tethered. Is there a software / hardware limitation with iOS?

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Answer 1

KMT OP

Mar ’16

1.) You seem to have assumed traditional USB communications over a proprietary connection. Don't do that. They aren't there.

2.) Few and far between, the ones I know of that work when physically connected require an intimate awareness of the camera manufacturer's APIs.

3.) I've never heard OTG and an Apple mobile device physical connection used in the same context.

4.) Yes, that's true. See https://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/

5.) They typically exist because of the reality of #1 above.

Since I can claim mobile/handheld medical device imaging BTDT, my advice is to DIY your own camera and then connect wirelessly, but...remember what you are wanting to do is non-trivial and there is a reason a portable endoscope using consumer grade hardware hasn't flooded the market. Don't assume it's been overlooked and all you need to do is cobble up some cheap hardware and then profit.

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