[Elphel-support] Shperical camera

Wed Oct 13 15:21:12 PDT 2010

Dear Grzegorz,

For our point of view the best solution for now will be request by webpage
> (for now). If we request data from camera we take one stream data from all
> sensors or it should be request for each camera module (or maybe we get full
> panoramic image)?

Each Eyesis module has it's own IP-address, for example :192.168.0.11-13.
Three requests are needed. And the result of each request will be a combined
image from all the 3 sensors of the module. They will need to be cut and
then stitched.
Please have a look here at some illustrations:
http://wiki.elphel.com/index.php?title=Eyesis_assembly
http://wiki.elphel.com/index.php?title=Eyesis_workflow

> Is the frame has some timestamp? I think about synchronize camera clock
> with our computer.

1) All the images that belong to the same panorama taken at a certain moment
have the same timestamp (same for gps data) in their exif data.
2) As there are 3 modules in the Eyesis - the other 2 are synchronized to
the 'first' module during the boot. Also the first module sends gps data to
others.

Are you planning to add external triggering for camera in future?

Yes, we are. The camera boards support it - we will need to change metals a
little, think how to do autoexposure and add some changes to the recording
program so it could work with various frame rate.

Best regards,
Oleg

On 11 October 2010 08:04, Grzegorz Pawlak <Grzegorz.Pawlak at tomtom.com>wrote:

>  Dear Oleg
>
>
>
> Regarding your answers about triggering I have a few questions:
>
>    - For our point of view the best solution for now will be request by
>    webpage (for now). If we request data from camera we take one stream data
>    from all sensors or it should be request for each camera module (or maybe we
>    get full panoramic image)?
>    - Is the frame has some timestamp? I think about synchronize camera
>    clock with our computer.
>    - Are you planning to add external triggering for camera in future?
>
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
>
>
> *Grzegorz Pawlak* | Senior Software Engineer | CPU | +48 42 664 2706
> office | http://www.tomtom.com
>
>
> PPlease consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
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>   ------------------------------
>
> *From:* andersonnotgood at gmail.com [mailto:andersonnotgood at gmail.com] *On
> Behalf Of *Oleg K Dzhimiev
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 07, 2010 12:37 AM
> *To:* Grzegorz Pawlak
> *Cc:* support-list at support.elphel.com
> *Subject:* Re: [Elphel-support] Shperical camera
>
>
>
> Dear Grzegorz,
>
> I'm sorry - some of my answers were about our regular cameras. They are
> correct to some extent to the spherical camera...
>
> 1. Are that camera has possibility for external triggering source? We need
> to synchronize it from our signals.
>
>  What are the signals?
>
> So, triggering the spherical camera - at the moment this can done through
> the LAN (the phone connectors can't be reached at the moment) from your PC -
> the delay will be ~1ms.
> Two options here but in any case some programming is needed:
> a) record images through the web to the PC.
> - an application needs to be written that will generate the trigger and
> will request images from the camera. This might be relatively easy to code.
> b) record images to HDDs:
> - we need to modify the recording software to be able to record at a
> variable frame rate. This can take some time.
>
> 3. How transmition of images is realized? I see that camera has internal
> HDD for storage but can we get it from hard disk during collection?
>
>  During recording you have a web access to the camera's (the spherical
> camera consists of 3 camera modules)  Image Server and you can check from
> time to time what is being recorded (from the camera modules itself, not
> from HDDs).
> If you'd like to get images from HDDs while recording - the ftp will work -
> during normal operation each camera module records a .mov file that consists
> of 100 frames.
> After all the data is collected the HDDs can be taken out and put into a
> HDD-dock to be copied - our Eyesisbox PC has such a dock for 3 2.5" HDDs.
>
> Best regards,
> Oleg
>
>
> On 6 October 2010 11:40, Oleg K Dzhimiev <oleg at elphel.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Grzegorz,
>
> We answered to the first 2 questions through our ticket system - please
> check your spam folder - there's a chance our replies are there.
> Anyway, I'll answer your questions here also because the info might be
> helpful to other people on the mailing list.
>
>
>
> 2. Is it possible to program this camera on windows? Or we have to use only
> linux?
>
>
>
> Cameras (all our cams including the Eyesis) have a Web-based UI - so you
> can control it from a browser (firefox).
> If you plan to program it with HTML-Javascript-PHP - then you can still use
> windows - just upload your scripts through ftp.
> In the case of C-language - Linux, to be able to compile programs for the
> camera. Additionally you'll need Linux to be able to update the firmware.
>
> With our regular cameras we sell preinstalled EEE Box PCs (we are planning
> to upgrade, since there are better solutions available now) with everything
> you will need to start the software development process out of the box - at
> the same time you can easily install all the software yourself just by
> following this guide<http://wiki.elphel.com/index.php?title=Elphel_Software_Kit_for_Ubuntu>
> .
>
> With Eyesis we offer a powerful PC with pre-installed software for
> copying/processing the recorded images.
>
>   3. How transmition of images is realized? I see that camera has internal
> HDD for storage but can we get it from hard disk during collection?
>
>
>
> You can record images directly on your PC with 1.5 slower speed than on an
> internal HDD. From the HDD the images can be extracted through ftp, for
> instance. It depends on your application.
>
>
>
>  1. Are that camera has possibility for external triggering source? We
> need to synchronize it from our signals.
>
>
>
> Yes, it has.
> A phone cable can be used for that (connected to boards 10369 J15 -
> http://wiki.elphel.com/index.php?title=10369) - the camera needs to be put
> in the trigger mode and provided with a pulse through a proper wire.
>
> More particular info can be find here:
> http://wiki.elphel.com/index.php?title=Trigger
> http://www3.elphel.com/list (search for 'trigger')
>
>  Best regards,
> Oleg Dzhimiev
> Elphel, Inc.
>
> On 5 October 2010 08:35, Grzegorz Pawlak <Grzegorz.Pawlak at tomtom.com>
> wrote:
>
>   Dear Elphel support,
>
>
>
> I have a few technical questions about your spherical camera and using it.
>
> 1. Are that camera has possibility for external triggering source? We need
> to synchronize it from our signals.
>
> 2. Is it possible to program this camera on windows? Or we have to use only
> linux?
>
> 3. How transmition of images is realized? I see that camera has internal
> HDD for storage but can we get it from hard disk during collection?
>
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
>
>
> *Grzegorz Pawlak* | Senior Software Engineer | CPU | +48 42 664 2706
> office | http://www.tomtom.com
>
>
> PPlease consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
> This email message and any attachments are for the sole use of the intended
> recipient(s) and may contain information that is proprietary to TomTom
> and/or its affiliates or otherwise confidential or legally privileged. If
> you have received this message in error, please notify the sender by reply,
> and delete all copies of this message and any attachments. If you are the
> intended recipient you may use the information contained in this message and
> any files attached to this message only as authorized by TomTom. Any
> unauthorized use, dissemination or disclosure of this message or its
> attachments is strictly prohibited.
> The contents of this e-mail are not to be considered binding upon TomTom.
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
>
>
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