Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

General description
The TOFcam-635 is a miniaturized and cost-optimized 3D TOF
camera. It is based on the ESPROS proprietary time-of-flight (TOF)
technology using the epc635 TOF chip. The camera controls the
illumination and the imager chip to obtain distance and grayscale
images.
The cameras are calibrated to provide accurate 3D depth images.
By using the ROS driver from ESPROS, 3D point clouds in a world
cartesian coordinate system are available.
The depth images are compensated against DRNU errors, modula-
tion errors, ambient-light, temperature and reflectivity of the scene.
Thanks to the high performance of the imager chip with the unique
ambient-light suppression, the camera can be used in many cases
under full sunlight conditions. The output of the TOFcam-635 is
depth and grayscale images – allowing a variety of new applica-
tions, e.g. for mobile robotics. This module brings you right in front
with the latest technology of 3D depth sensing. All the complex
engineering and time consuming design tasks regarding optics,
illumination and signal processing are already solved.
Figure 1: TOFcam-635
© 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation
Characteristics subject to change without notice
Features
■ 160 x 60 pixels (9600 pixels)
■ Field of view (FOV) of 50° x 19° (h x v)
■ Distance measurement ranges on white target:
Wide FOV: 0.1 ... 7.5 m, center beam (NFOV): 1.0 ... 15 m
■ Measurement rate up to 50 TOF measurements per second
■ Sun- and ambient-light tolerant up to 100 kLux
■ Calibrated and compensated
■ Temperature compensated
■ Easy to use
■ High speed serial interface UART 10 Mbit/s
■ Low power consumption
■ GUI for Windows and Mac
■ ROS application for Linux
■ Python library for Windows
■ Software source code on request
■ Customized versions possible
Applications
■ Distance measurement from centimeters to a few meters
■ Mobile robots, automatic vehicle guidance, collision avoidance
■ Scanner for SLAM data acquisition in mobile robots
■ People and object counting, in-cabin monitoring
■ Door opening, machine controlling and safeguarding, IoT
■ Gesture control (man-machine-interface)
■ Object classification
Figure 2: Wide and narrow field definition
1 / 52
Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0
TOFcam-635
Installation and Operation Manual
www.espros.com

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the TOFcam-635 and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Summary of Contents for ESPROS TOFcam-635

  • Page 1 The cameras are calibrated to provide accurate 3D depth images. ■ Sun- and ambient-light tolerant up to 100 kLux By using the ROS driver from ESPROS, 3D point clouds in a world ■ Calibrated and compensated cartesian coordinate system are available.
  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Before you start ................................4 1.1. Precaution and Safety ....................................4 1.2. Updates........................................4 1.3. Important Notes......................................4 Abbreviations................................. 5 TOFcam-635 time of flight camera ..........................7 3.1. System overview ......................................7 3.2. Scope of delivery .....................................7 3.3. Ordering information ....................................8 3.4. Technical data ......................................9 3.5.
  • Page 3 Maintenance and disposal............................60 14.1. Maintenance......................................60 14.2. Disposal........................................60 Addendum ................................... 60 15.1. Related documents ....................................60 15.2. Links ........................................60 15.3. Licenses .........................................60 IMPORTANT NOTICE..............................61 © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 3 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 4: Before You Start

    Any alteration to the devices by the buyer, installer or user may result in device damage or unsafe operating conditions. ESPROS Photonics AG is not responsible for any liability or warranty claim which results from such manipulation or disregarding of given operating instructions.
  • Page 5: Abbreviations

    To be defined, information not yet available or not valid Time of flight TOFCOS Time of flight camera operating system, firmware in the camera © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 5 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 6 Universal asynchronous receiver transmitter Universal Serial Bus Positive supply voltage WFOV Wide field of view Table 1: List of abbreviations used in this document © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 6 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 7: Tofcam-635 Time Of Flight Camera

    3. TOFcam-635 time of flight camera 3.1. System overview The TOFcam-635 is a miniaturized and cost-optimized 3D TOF camera based on the ESPROS epc635 cwTOF imager chip with an integrated SLAM feature: • 5VDC power supply input • General purpose I/O connector •...
  • Page 8: Ordering Information

    Cable to connect a TOFcam-635 to a host JST 1.0mm, 28 AWG P100 566 Cable 10 pin, F-F, 150mm Cable to connect a TOFcam-635 to the UART to USB JST 1.0mm, 28 AWG adapter (included in P100 539) P300 473...
  • Page 9: Technical Data

    20MHz (WFOV). This leads to unambiguity distances of 15m and 7.5m respectively. Highly reflective objects outside of the effective operating range of 15 / 7.5m will appear closer due to the wrap-around of the modulation period. © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 9 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0...
  • Page 10: Mechanical Data

    GET_TEMPERATURE (refer to Chapter 11.3) or using the GUI respectively (refer to Figure 25) 3.5.2. Mechanical dimensions Figure 4: Mechanical dimensions © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 10 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice...
  • Page 11: Mounting The Camera

    3.5.3. Mounting the camera Clip the camera onto the mounting plate Figure 5: Mounting and dismounting the TOFcam-635 3.6. Camera connectors Micro-USB connector “COM” to computer Micro-USB connector “PWR” to power supply 5VDC, 2A UART to USB adapter F-F cable...
  • Page 12: Interface Assembly Variant

    As an assembly variant it would be possible to replace the UART by an RS-485 interface. The connector according to Figure 7 and the pinning according to Table 5 keeps the same. For additional information please contact your ESPROS sales office or send an email to sales@espros.com. © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 12 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0...
  • Page 13: Start Up

    USB port indicated with “PWR”. The TOFcam-635 runs at 10 Mbit/s on the UART interface. Means, the USB adapter has to run this baud rate also on his UART port to communicate with the camera. Thus, the TOFcam-635 GUI sets automatically host's corresponding COM Port to 10 Mbit/s.
  • Page 14: Gui

    Detailed information about pixel groups or one single pixel can be illustrated. For the whole GUI there are helpful tooltips available. These tooltips pop-up by moving the cursor either to the corresponding text (refer to Figure 13). © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 14 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0...
  • Page 15 With the “Frame rate limit” a specific frame rate can be set. This frame rate needs to be below the maximum possible frame rate at a specific camera setting. • The “Automatic integration time” controls the integration time automatically depending on reflective objects in the illuminated scenery. © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 15 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 16 Please investigate the TOF theory to become familiar with the physical context. A very helpful lecture might be the book “3D-TOF, A guideline to 3D-TOF sensors that work” by ESPROS Photonics Corp. (author Beat De Coi et. al.).
  • Page 17: Play Menu

    Index .idx file contains binary file names in ASCII format. Image .bin files contains image information in binary format, are using LittleEndian coding and consist of 3 parts: Image header (80 bytes) © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 17 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 18 (amplitude 2 bytes + distance 2 bytes ) x width x height 4 bytes per pixel Additional recorder information image type 1 byte beam mode 1 byte time stamp byte 2 bytes device 1 byte © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 18 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 19: Live Image Window

    The point cloud can be adjusted according to the camera installation position and direction of view with the mirror and rotation functions. Using the control buttons for default, front, side and top view turns the point cloud into a well defined direction. © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 19 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0...
  • Page 20 Using keyboard and mouse allows further controls of the point cloud illustration. Activating the “Settings“ allows additional fine tuning of the point cloud visualization. Figure 23: Point Cloud Settings Figure 24: Point Cloud Controls © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 20 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice...
  • Page 21: Dedicated Information Windows

    The time scope is used to plot the chronologic distance and / or amplitude values of a single pixel or a averaged values of a selected area of the pixel field. Figure 25: Pixelinfo Figure 26: Pixelscope © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 21 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice...
  • Page 22: I/O Control

    Figure 27: Timescope 5.2. I/O Control Figure 28: Input and output settings © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 22 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 23: Com Port Settings

    5.3. COM port settings The GUI allows to configure the baud rate of the used COM port. The firmware of the standard TOFcam-635 do not support this feature. Do not change the baud rate with the standard TOFcam-635. This is a feature which is used for customized cameras only. A wrong setting can block the communication between your device and the host.
  • Page 24 “Update firmware” allows to upgrade the firmware. One can choose the release according the published date of the GUI which is used. Or alternatively one can choose a specific binary file from a folder on the host computer. © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 24 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0...
  • Page 25: Operating The Device With A Ros

    ROS.org). For more details, also refer to ROS.org and ROS Wiki sensors. 6.1.2. Installation System requirement: Linux operating system. Download the “TOFCAM635_SW_Package” from the website www.espros.com, section Downloads, 02_Cameras_and_Modules. There is enclosed the “TOFCAM635_ROS_driver” file. Unpack this ZIP file. 6.1.3. Running the ROS driver Change to the home directory and open the bash-file: >...
  • Page 26: Ros Api

    6.2. ROS API This is the official driver for the ESPROS TOFcam635. The annotation follows the rules of ROS.org. 6.2.1. Test environment This ROS API was tested with these Linux & ROS configurations: • Ubuntu 20.4 – Noetic • Ubuntu 18.4 – Melodic •...
  • Page 27: Dynamically Reconfigurable Parameters

    Sets the right edge of the ROI ~roi_top_y Sets the top edge of the ROI ~roi_bottom_y Sets the top edge of the ROI Table 8: ROS parameter table © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 27 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 28: Communication Interface

    No acceptance of commands Command on Rx Request Processing processing PROC Camera: Data Out Data Out on Tx COM_TX Figure 33: Command and answer sequence © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 28 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 29: Command Format

    CRC itself. Examples are listed in the command list. The CRC specification is as follows: ■ Byte-wise CRC32 ■ Polynomial: 0x04C11DB7 ■ Xor value: 0x00000000 ■ Init value: 0xFFFFFFFF © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 29 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 30: Acknowledge Ack (Response)

    2 bytes: bit 0..14: Error number. Try it again. If the error remains, contact your sales responsible. bit 15: Response e.g. | 0xFA | 0xFF 0x02 0x00 0x03 0x00 | 0xC7 0x30 0x55 0x4B | (error number 3) © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 30 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 31: Command Set Overview

    Returns the production date of the camera IDENTIFY 0x47 11.7. Returns the device ID and the operating mode GET_ERROR 0x53 11.8. Table 12: Miscellaneous commands © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 31 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 32: Factory Maintenance Commands

    Writes the calibration data into the flash memory Deletes previous stored calibration SET_MOD_FREQUENCY 0x05 12.6 Modulation frequency setting SET_BINNING 0x03 12.7 Sets on-chip analog pixel binning Table 13: Factory maintenance commands © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 32 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 33: Set Commands

    Interference avoidance To prevent interference, the TOFcam-635 camera has an option to slightly change the modulation frequency in order to “shift” away from a disturbers frequency. Therefore, the camera has predefined “modulation channels”, each preset with a slightly shifted modulation frequency.
  • Page 34: Set_Int_Time_Dist [0X00]

    However, high reflective objects in close distance lead to saturation in one or more pixels so distance measurement is no longer possible. The TOFcam-635 allows manual and automatic integration time operation. In the manual mode, the integration time can be set by a parameter previous to the exposure.
  • Page 35: Set_Operation_Mode [0X04]

    PROC Example Command e.g. | 0xF5 | 0x0D 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 | 0x2A 0x7C 0x6A 0xBD | (HDR off) © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 35 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 36: Set_Roi [0X02]

    9.6. SET_ROI [0x02] A full image of the TOFcam-635 has a pixel-field of 160x 60 pixels in WFOV mode. A “region of interest” acquires only a selected number of pixels which are necessary for the application. This reduces the amount of readout data and increases the frame rate. The ROI is active for the WFOV image only.
  • Page 37: Set_Average_Filter [0X0A]

    Command e.g. | 0xF5 | 0x11 0x01 0x01 0x90 0x01 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 | 0x93 0xD8 0x1B 0x77 | (enabled, use last value, 400lsb) © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 37 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 38: Set_Edge_Detection [0X10]

    Without calibration and runtime compensation, the distance measurement is rather inaccurate and it drifts by changes in temperature and ambient-light. Thus, the TOFcam-635 is factory calibrated and it uses a runtime compensation for best possible accuracy. However, it is possible but not recommended to turn the runtime calibration off.
  • Page 39: Set_Illumination_Power [0X6C]

    Command e.g. | 0xF5 | 0x06 0x01 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 | 0x93 0x2D 0x14 0x7C | (Number of steps = 1) © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 39 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 40: Get Commands

    The NFOV pixel is marked as “low TOF amplitude”. Status Refer to WFOV Table 19: Definition and decision table for distance data and confidence (refer also to Chapter 9.14.) © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 40 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice...
  • Page 41: Response Header

    Image height (y-axis) 16 bit unsigned integer Image origin X 16 bit unsigned integer Image origin Y 16 bit unsigned integer Table 21: Header parameters © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 41 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 42 Compensated temperature Compensated ambient-light Spatial HDR Temporal HDR Input pin Use last value (interference) Reduced illumination power 12..15 not used Table 21 cont.: Header parameters © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 42 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 43: Warm-Up

    This phenomenon effects the speed of the electrons of the illumination, the illumination driver, the pixel of the imager chip, etc. Thus, an effective temperature compensation is implemented into the TOFcam-635. However, if there are fast and large temper- ature changes of the camera, the measured distance may deviate significantly from the real object distance.
  • Page 44: Get_Dist_Gs [0X29]

    80 bytes header (refer to Chapter 10.3) + max. 160x60 pixel x 1 byte/pixel with 8 bit grayscale data (refer to Table 20). Only applicable to modes 0, 1, 4 and 5, refer to Table 17. Modes, only responding with NFOV spot data, transmit the header only. © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 44 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 45: Get_Dcs [0X25 ]

    0x01 0x00 | 0x00 0x01 0x38 0x00 0x06 0x00 0x30 0x00 0x30 0x00 | 0x01 | 0x01 0x60 0x87 0xD8 (WFOV 20MHz, no binning, NFOV 10MHz, binning, 56, 6, 48, 48, CRC correct) © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 45 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 46: Miscellaneous Commands

    Response e.g. | 0xFA | 0xFD 0x04 0x00 0x10 0x04 0x10 0x00 | 0x49 0x2C 0xBB 0x6A | (Chip ID 1040 , Wafer ID 16) © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 46 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 47: Get_Prod_Date [0X50]

    Response type 0x02: Data Response data 4 bytes: byte 0: Hardware version byte 1: Device type is TOFcam-635 = 0x00 byte 2: Chip type is epc635 = 0x04 byte 3: 0x00 = normal operation, 0x80 = bootloader Response time ~ 25µs...
  • Page 48: Factory Maintenance Commands

    12.1. CALIBRATE_DRNU [0x41] Performs the DRNU calibration in the calibration box (more information about this from your ESPROS sales representative). It is to note that this command can take several minutes. Never remove the camera from the calibration box until the calibration process has been finished.
  • Page 49: Update_Tofcos [0X45]

    PROC Example Command e.g. | 0xF5 | 0x03 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 | 0x2C 0x3B 0x6A 0x06 | (No binning) © 2022 ESPROS Photonics Corporation 49 / 52 Installation_and_Operation_Manual_TOFcam635-V2.0 Characteristics subject to change without notice www.espros.com...
  • Page 50: Update Camera Operating System Tofcos

    ■ If an error occurs (e.g. corrupted data, invalid command), the device answers with NACK. ■ If the update procedure is interrupted, no valid TOFCOS is in the camera memory. Thus, the TOFcam-635 stays in bootloader mode. In such case, the update procedure must be restarted. It can be repeated as many times as needed.
  • Page 51: Maintenance And Disposal

    15. Addendum 15.1. Related documents Data sheet epc635, ESPROS Photonics Corp. Book 3D-TOF, A guideline to 3D-TOF sensors that work by ESPROS Photonics Corp. (author Beat Dede Coi et. al.) 15.2. Links www.espros.com www.doxygen.nl www.graphwiz.org...
  • Page 52: Important Notice

    ESPROS to use such products or services or a warranty or endorsement thereof. Use of such information may require a license from a third party under the patents or other intellectual property of the third party, or a license from ESPROS under the patents or other intellec - tual property of ESPROS.

Table of Contents