Remote Triggers

[Safwaan]

So I am not sure if anyone is going to be able to help here but ill give it a go: 

 

I use a remote trigger for my Canon EOS 800D and I opened it up to find a motherboard (I think) and the wire for the AUX (3.5mm Headphone jack) to plug into the camera. How does they do they get the code onto the motherboard and is there any way I would be able to see the code on the motherboard? I would also like to view the code on the motherboard to code my own similar device. My thinking is that if I was to code a similar program and run it off a phone or tablet with a proper User Interface it would be a fun project to try and do. I have tried looking this up however it seems this isn't a very common topic lol. 

 

Below are the images of the motherboard if it helps in any way? 

[Korben]

You could try to analyze the bluetooth signal. I guess that's easier than to reverse engineer the chip...

[Safwaan]

2 hours ago, Korben said:

You could try to analyze the bluetooth signal. I guess that's easier than to reverse engineer the chip...

The remote itself is not bluetooth (i don't think anyway) as it plugs directly into the camera via a 'headphone' jack 

[Korben]

7 minutes ago, Safwaan said:

The remote itself is not bluetooth (i don't think anyway) as it plugs directly into the camera via a 'headphone' jack 

Ah I see. Sorry. I just googled and found an App, but it says for the EOS 800D remote triggering only works with the BR-E1, which is a bluetooth device.

 

[Safwaan]

2 hours ago, Korben said:

Ah I see. Sorry. I just googled and found an App, but it says for the EOS 800D remote triggering only works with the BR-E1, which is a bluetooth device.

 

Ahh fair enough, no this is a cabled one - i am not sure why they say onkly bluetooth works because i know for a fact that is not the case. 

 

[GDRRiley]

there is going to be a main chip looks like on the backside of the LCD, it is covered in black stuff.

that is most likely the SOC with some ROM on it, it should just be sending out a pulse to tell the camera to take a picture. that should be easy enough to check for

[Safwaan]

On 7/4/2020 at 6:22 PM, GDRRiley said:

there is going to be a main chip looks like on the backside of the LCD, it is covered in black stuff.

that is most likely the SOC with some ROM on it, it should just be sending out a pulse to tell the camera to take a picture. that should be easy enough to check for

So im guessing the delay and timer on the remote is just simply a delayed pulse? 

How can I check for this (if you know how)? 

[GDRRiley]

1 hour ago, Safwaan said:

So im guessing the delay and timer on the remote is just simply a delayed pulse? 

How can I check for this (if you know how)? 

I'd just set it to do it, and then read the signal off the end connector.

[Safwaan]

On 7/5/2020 at 10:02 PM, GDRRiley said:

I'd just set it to do it, and then read the signal off the end connector.

Right so its been a while and I think I have figured out a new (much easier way of doing it) 

 

It turns out canon allow developers to download specific drivers and software (SDK's) which allow programs to communicate with the camera and control function. This means that all I need to do is code a fairly simple program maybe with a nice interface and use the SDK. This s ould be much easier than trying to code a motherboard :)

 

[GDRRiley]

Yeah you can code and use the USB port 

[Selle]

All the remote does is short out the pins. See this video, or google canon remote shutter diy

 

 

[Safwaan]

On 7/13/2020 at 9:38 AM, Selle said:

All the remote does is short out the pins. See this video, or google canon remote shutter diy

 

 

ooh thanks that's quite interesting!!

 

[Hackentosher]

On 7/4/2020 at 4:00 AM, Safwaan said:

I use a remote trigger for my Canon EOS 800D and I opened it up to find a motherboard (I think) and the wire for the AUX (3.5mm Headphone jack) to plug into the camera. How does they do they get the code onto the motherboard and is there any way I would be able to see the code on the motherboard? I would also like to view the code on the motherboard to code my own similar device. My thinking is that if I was to code a similar program and run it off a phone or tablet with a proper User Interface it would be a fun project to try and do. I have tried looking this up however it seems this isn't a very common topic lol. 

 

Below are the images of the motherboard if it helps in any way?

Spoiler

 

I'd bet you almost anything that under the red and yellow wires it says JTAG, which would be the programming interface. The factory probably has a jig they drop this board into and programs the chip over JTAG. If you hooked up a JTAG adapter, you might be able to read some information from that port, but I doubt you'd be able to get the firmware off the chip, it usually doesn't work like that.

 

As others have said, the camera triggers are really simple and work by pulling some of the pins low, or shorting them together (I haven't looked into Canon's trigger system) so you could replicate that with an Arduino and maybe 10 lines of code.