Can someone suggest a reasonably-priced monochrome camera module (I can live with color but don't need it), VGA-resolution camera module with some kind of buffer and low-speed interface; SPI, I2C, RS232, etc. SPI would be my preference. I need two of them, and perhaps two spares, to build a demo platform for a student to work with very simple stereoscopic machine vision. Currently he is working with a PC and two USB webcams but he wants a smaller system to go in a vehicle without requiring huge batteries, plus he doesn't want the overhead of a USB stack. We've put together a general block diagram for his circuit and have good candidates for most of the components, but the cameras are a sticky point. I really want uncompressed or lossless data (preferably de-Bayerized if color) - we don't really want to deal with JPEG artifacts. 0.5-1fps is fine. All the cellphone camera modules I've looked at appear to be bare image sensors requiring a real-time DMA port to acquire the data. The Ovis-based hobbyist solutions like the C328R from <http:// www.electronics123.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2027/.f?sc=8&category=241> are pretty much what I want, except for the unavoidable JPEG compression. A $50 price point @ qty 5 is fairly sweet - obviously cheaper would be better. Thoughts? Gracias.
Good hobbyist VGA camera module?
Started by ●July 16, 2008
Reply by ●July 16, 20082008-07-16
On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:44:06 -0700 (PDT), larwe <zwsdotcom@gmail.com> wrote:>Can someone suggest a reasonably-priced monochrome camera module (I >can live with color but don't need it), VGA-resolution camera module >with some kind of buffer and low-speed interface; SPI, I2C, RS232, >etc. SPI would be my preference. > >I need two of them, and perhaps two spares, to build a demo platform >for a student to work with very simple stereoscopic machine vision. >Currently he is working with a PC and two USB webcams but he wants a >smaller system to go in a vehicle without requiring huge batteries, >plus he doesn't want the overhead of a USB stack. We've put together a >general block diagram for his circuit and have good candidates for >most of the components, but the cameras are a sticky point. > >I really want uncompressed or lossless data (preferably de-Bayerized >if color) - we don't really want to deal with JPEG artifacts. 0.5-1fps >is fine. > >All the cellphone camera modules I've looked at appear to be bare >image sensors requiring a real-time DMA port to acquire the data. The >Ovis-based hobbyist solutions like the C328R from <http:// >www.electronics123.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2027/.f?sc=8&category=241> are >pretty much what I want, except for the unavoidable JPEG compression. > >A $50 price point @ qty 5 is fairly sweet - obviously cheaper would be >better. > >Thoughts? > >Gracias.There are almost no serial interface cams out there - The CMUCam and the one listed above appear to be all that's available. I needed one for a forthcoming project & ended up designing my own using a low-res sensor and some carefully crafted assembler code to catch the data on an ARM processor. I'm planning on turning this into a product in case there might be a small market out there - provisional details here : www.whitewing.co.uk/imager May not be enough resolution for your app though.
Reply by ●July 16, 20082008-07-16
On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:44:06 -0700 (PDT), larwe <zwsdotcom@gmail.com> wrote:>All the cellphone camera modules I've looked at appear to be bare >image sensors requiring a real-time DMA port to acquire the data. The >Ovis-based hobbyist solutions like the C328R from <http:// >www.electronics123.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2027/.f?sc=8&category=241> are >pretty much what I want, except for the unavoidable JPEG compression.I've played a bit with that module. Take a look at the command set in the user manual and you'll find that the imaging mode can be set to 2-, 4-, and 8-bit grayscale as well as to 12- and 16-bit color and to JPEG. Not quite at your price point, or preferred interface, and there is a bit of song and dance through their protocol to contend with but it really does work. -- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
Reply by ●July 17, 20082008-07-17
On Jul 16, 5:30=A0pm, Mike Harrison <m...@whitewing.co.uk> wrote:> I needed one for a forthcoming project & ended up designing my own using =a low-res sensor and some> carefully crafted assembler code to catch the data on an ARM processor. > I'm planning on turning this into a product in case there might be a smal=l market out there - I was hoping for VGA resolution, since we're currently using QCIF webcams and wanting an upgrade... the 30K buffer is a bit limiting, too. Can your device be configured to acquire a 2bpp grayscale image and send it to me verbatim, preferably over SPI? What's the price likely to be?
Reply by ●July 17, 20082008-07-17
On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:35:31 -0700 (PDT), larwe <zwsdotcom@gmail.com> wrote:>On Jul 16, 5:30�pm, Mike Harrison <m...@whitewing.co.uk> wrote: > >> I needed one for a forthcoming project & ended up designing my own using a low-res sensor and some >> carefully crafted assembler code to catch the data on an ARM processor. >> I'm planning on turning this into a product in case there might be a small market out there - > >I was hoping for VGA resolution, since we're currently using QCIF >webcams and wanting an upgrade... the 30K buffer is a bit limiting, >too. Can your device be configured to acquire a 2bpp grayscale image >and send it to me verbatim, preferably over SPI? What's the price >likely to be?There will be support for lower bit depths to maximise use of the buffer - I've not done the code yet to see what will be possible, but the translation between 8 and <whatever> bit depth will probably be via a user-defineable lookup table to allow for precise thresholding. I2C and SPI interfaces are present in the hardware - SPI master is probably going to be the first alternative interface to be implemented due to speed. Not made decision on pricing yet, but expect to be around the GBP40 mark. First production batch is starting next week, so assuming I get time to get the software into resonable shape, I expect availability some time next month.
Reply by ●July 17, 20082008-07-17
On Jul 17, 7:45=A0am, Mike Harrison <m...@whitewing.co.uk> wrote:> Not made decision on pricing yet, but expect to be around the GBP40 mark.=First production batch is> starting next week, so assuming I get time to get the software into reson=able shape, I expect> availability some time next month.I've bookmarked your site and will look back. The project doesn't start until the next school semester (September). I briefly considered asking for a schematic and writing my own firmware, but life's really too short - I want to buy something canned that "just works" :)
