Camera Architecture

Industrial Camera Architecture with Embedded CPU

The camera architecture of our cameras is modular by nature and comprise a growing number of heads into which a variety of CMOS, CCD, InGaAs, and microbolometer sensors are mounted with various configurations and lens interfaces.

The modular nature of the system enables developers to mix and match the heads with the body, to meet the needs of their application and also the platform can be changed between different applications.

One of the commonly applied camera platforms is our QT5022 platform with AMD APU. The QT5022 camera body contains two main computing units an FPGA and AMD (APU), that features X86 CPU cores and Radeon Graphics GPU in a SOC. The FPGA in the camera controls the settings of the sensor and interface to the different sensors.

Several operations are performed by the FPGA, such as image correction, white balance correction, perspective correction, and illumination correction, thus offloading the main CPUs of these tasks.

The preprocessed images are transferred over a PCI Express interface to the AMD APU. Where further computing power is required, an additional GPU can be added within the body of the camera.

QT5022 platform with AMD APU

FPGA Integrated Circuit

The FPGA in the Qtechnology cameras are not only used to interface to the growing number of sensors but also for several other operations, including:

  • Whitebalance

  • Illumination Correction

  • Perspective Correction

  • Bayer Interpolation

  • LUTs One Per Colour or Mono

  • Kernels 3×3 or 5×5 for Image Sharpening, Blur, Contrast Enhancements, etc.

  • Image Format Conversion RGB to HSV or Other Special Combinations Like RGBH

Trigger and Flash

The cameras also have external trigger in and a flash output signals and may be customised for more I/Os dependent on need.

  • A trigger can be used as either level-triggered expose during trig and as edge trigger.

  • Flash output for driving external strobe light or other cameras for simultaneous capture

QT5022 platform with AMD APU, V4L2 API Controls, image formats, image size, regions of interest, frame rate, exposure time, triggers, gain, measures, histograms, sensor calibration, software interfaces, protocols, processing algorithms, pipelines,
QT5022 platform with AMD APU, V4L2 API Controls, image formats, image size, regions of interest, frame rate, exposure time, triggers, gain, measures, histograms, sensor calibration, software interfaces, protocols, processing algorithms, pipelines,

Camera Configuration

V4L2 API Controls

Qtechnology cameras are easily configured through the web interface and the images can be checked and downloaded through a standard web browser, without installation of any special programs or drivers.

Through the web interface, it is possible to control all the camera features, like image formats, image size, regions of interest, frame rate, exposure time, triggers, gain, etc. All these features are controlled through the V4L2 API controls, which are also available controls from user applications.

Other special features built into the web interface is auto white balancing, focus adjustment measures, histograms, sensor calibration, etc.

All configurations can be saved and restored for use in user applications or for setting up other cameras.

Customisation

Cameras can be customised to your needs, if its different sensors, mechanics, environment, etc. We are also able to supply specific software interfaces, protocols, processing algorithms, pipelines, etc.

Do not hesitate to get in contact, so we can discuss your options.