[Elphel-support] Panorama camera

[Andrey Filippov]

2010/8/12 Björn Morén <bjorn.moren at gmail.com>

> Im trying to understand how to put together a miniature 360 panorama
> camera using 4 image sensors, 4 miniature fisheye lenses and your OEM
> components. I want to capture still images from the four cameras as
> JPEG, and save them to an attached harddrive. This capture is
> controlled by a remote switch.
>
> Reading your brochure it seems that I need:
> 1 x 10353 system board, to connect one sensor
> 4 x 10338 sensor front end
> 1 x 10359 multi sensor board to connect three more sensors
> 1 x IO board to connect the SATA HDD and the cable that triggers a
> capture. I also like to connect a GPS using USB.
>
> Is this correct?
>
>
Hi Björn,
10353+10359 can handle only 3 sensors, not 4 because it is like an extension
cord with 3 sockets and one plug. Theoretically it is possible to chain
several 10359 boards, but we do not have code for that, only one level of
multiplexing is currently possible.



> What amount of programming will be required to make this work? Do I
> have write all the system board code myself, or do I just have to
> configure the board through the web interface?
>

That depends on the amount of customization you need. Things that we
implemented ourselves can be just configured, but the main advantage of the
open systems becomes obvious when you need to get deeper and modify
something that we (as manufacturer) did not implement.


>
> I have no experience with Linux. Does the system support Windows?
>

Inside the camera we have PHP with custom extension, so if you are familiar
with web programming (html, javascript, php) you can do a lot of camera
optimization. This task can be handled from any operating system - same as
other web programming.

On the other hand, if you need to re-build some of the camera software and
be able to reflash it - you will need GNU/Linux. We support software
installation on (K)Ubuntu - including those users who have zero prior
experience with GNU/Linux or similar systems. So we would recommend
installing fresh (currently it is version 10.4) version of Kubuntu - you may
do it as a second sytem to your Windows.

Andrey


>
> What maximum capture rate can I expect at full 5 MP resolution? 15 fps?
>


Frame rate can be limited by several factors (exposure time, sensor
capabilities, FPGA compressor bandwidth, network (or IDE port) bandwidth.
But in general with 3:1 multiplexor you can get 1/3 of the single sensor
bandwidth - just under 5 fps full resolution.



> Regards
> Bjorn
>
> (BTW, I tried to register for the mailing list, but got a page not
> found message)
>
>
Can you send us the broken link?

Andrey
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