I finished putting together OpenROV 2.5 #517 in early December, but I didn't get around to putting in the water until now. I tested it in a pool, and every is working well, except the camera is freezing very often. It is running the 2.5 beta software (https://github.com/OpenROV/openrov-software/releases/tag/v2.5.0-Beta).
I can't really tell if this is a hardware or a software problem, but the video freezes when the ROV is angled slightly upwards while floating on the surface of the water. It also freezes when placed on a surface (out of the water) and tilted slightly upwards. It seems to freeze when there is large contrast and the frozen frame was often overexposed.
I also tried connecting to the video stream using VLC, and if I tried to connect while the video was frozen, it simply buffered. This makes me think the camera could be turning off or there may be a mechanical connection problem.
Other people have suggested changing the streaming resolution, but I don't believe this is the problem because when it freezes, it stays frozen until I move the ROV or wave my hand very close to the camera. I think if the problem was a bottleneck, the video would simply lag or freeze for a few seconds.
Another suggestion is that the wrapped USB camera cord is getting interference from the LED wires. However, the video still freezes if the LEDs are off.
It may be a mechanical wire connection problem, simply because it seems that the placement of the ROV has to do with the freezing. The video does not freeze if I twist and bend where the wires enter the e-chassis, but it could be at another location. The video also does not freeze if I am holding the ROV and moving it around. When the video freezes, everything else in the cockpit still updates and ping is still around 3-4 ms. CPU usage stays around 30-50%
Any thoughts/suggestions?