Content General information Company information 1.1.1 Disclaimer 1.1.2 Copyright notice Legal information 1.2.1 Registered trademarks 1.2.2 Conformity and use 1.2.3 Rules and regulations for USA and Canada 1.2.4 Rules and regulations for Europe 1.2.5 Warranty and non-warranty clause Supplements Tips and notes Support The EXO camera series USB 3.x Vision features...
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5.1.5 Image flipping 5.1.6 Binning 5.1.7 Decimation 5.1.8 GenICam 5.1.9 Trigger modes 5.1.10 Shutter modes 5.1.11 Exposure 5.1.12 Exposure speed 5.1.13 Auto exposure 5.1.14 Acquisition and processing time 5.1.15 Bit depth 5.1.16 Polarized sensor Camera features 5.2.1 IR / glass filter 5.2.2 Shading correction 5.2.3...
List of figures Fig. 2-1: Illustration of 4I/O concept of switching LEDs Fig. 3-1: I/O Hirose connector layout Fig. 4-1: Camera status LED codes, from firmware b2901 onward Fig. 4-2: Camera status LED codes, before firmware b2901 Fig. 5-1: Noise caused by too much gain Fig.
General information Company information SVS-Vistek GmbH Ferdinand-Porsche-Str. 3 82205 Gilching Germany Tel.: +49 8105 3987-60 Fax: +49 8105 3987-699 Mail: info@svs-vistek.com Web: https://www.svs-vistek.com 1.1.1 Disclaimer This manual contains important instructions for safe and efficient handling of SVCam products. This manual is part of the product and must be kept accessible in the immediate vicinity of the product for any person working on or with this product .
Legal information Errors and omissions excepted. These products are designed for industrial applications only. Cameras from SVS- VISTEK are not designed for life support systems where malfunction of the products might result in any risk of personal harm or injury. Customers, integ- rators and end users of SVS-VISTEK products might sell these products and agree to do so at their own risk, as SVS-VISTEK will not take any liability for any damage from improper use or sale.
It is necessary to use a shielded power supply cable. You can then use the “shield contact” on the connector which has GND contact to the device housing. This is essential for any use. If not done and the device is destroyed due to Radio Mag- netic Interference (RMI) WARRANTY is void! ...
Pour les utilisateurs au Canada Cet appareil est conforme aux normes Classe A pour bruits radioélectriques, spé- cifiées dans le Règlement sur le brouillage radioélectrique. Life support applications The products described in this manual are not designed for use in life support appliances or devices and systems where malfunction of these products can reas- onably be expected to result in personal injury.
The EXO camera series The EXO camera series is a series of machine vision cameras for the low and mid-range resolutions up to 20 MP. The EXO is available with different industry standard interfaces such as GigE Vision, Camera Link and USB3 Vision. The EXO is easy to integrate and comes with a full package of useful hardware features.
To compensate any USB 3 hardware not able to cope with high data rates, an integrated hardware buffer in the SVS VISTEK camera will try to catch and buffer these cases. The SVCapture GUI will show the real data rate of successful trans- fers.
Lens control Various SVCam models are supporting adjustable lenses. Focus and iris of the lens can be controlled from within the camera GenICam tree. Depending on the camera series, a special Y-cable is required, contact sales@svs-vistek.com. The following variable lens types are supported: ...
supply and data control for the lens are done through the MFT bayonet, so no external cables are visible. The MFT lenses are optically optimized for sensors up to 1.3”, perfectly suited for machine vision sensors. The optical construction defined by the MicroFourThirds consortium, telecentric on the sensor side, provides smooth images and very low shading.
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This camera series does have the firmware support already included in the GenICam tree and provides you with Canon lens control in all GenICam based software packages. 2 The EXO camera series...
Connectors Cameras from SVS-VISTEK feature a combined I/O and power supply connector (Hirose) and a data connector. USB3 Vision The USB3 Vision interface is based on the standard USB 3.1 Gen 1 interface and complies with USB3 Vision standard. The connector type is USB 3.0 micro B. The camera is prepared for screwable versions of the connector.
Fig. 3-1: I/O Hirose connector layout Inputs and outputs connect via in the GenICam software tree to the appropriate actions (also refer to "Assigning I/O Lines – IOMUX" on page 62). For detailed information about switching lights with the power outputs via GenICam, refer to "LED strobe control"...
Getting started Find camera specs For technical data sheets visit https://www.svs-vistek.com/en/industrial-cam- eras/svs-cameras.php Search for a specific camera, using series and model name or by using the SVCam camera finder. The details and download section provides you with manuals, drawings, as well as software and firmware. Power safety INFO For safety reasons, for protection of the camera and users, use certified power...
Connecting the camera The camera does not have a power switch. The camera is powered on as soon power is available to the camera via the Hirose connector or through the inter- face cables. Connect the power supply with the Hirose connector. Disconnecting the camera For making sure the camera is not connected to power Disconnect Hirose plug from camera...
In addition, vibrations will be minimized within the entire system. If available, activating the built-in fan or adjust the fan control threshold (for details, see "Fan control"). If available, activating the built-in thermoelectric cooling feature. Using an air- or water-cooling system. INFO Even if the housing temperature remains below the maximum operating tem- perature, using additional cooling is recommended to ensure optimal image...
Feature description This chapter covers features of SVCam cameras. Not every feature might be sup- ported by your specific camera model. For information about the features of your specific model, refer to the specifications area of our website with your exact model.
Fig. 5-1: Noise caused by too much gain Auto gain INFO For automatic adjustment of gain refer to auto exposure (see "Auto exposure" on page 37). When using auto-gain with steps of gain, the non-continuous gain adjustment might be visible in final image. Depending on your application it might be prefer- able to use fixed gain values instead and modify exposure with exposure time.
Signal Offset Dark noise Pixel Fig. 5-2: Dark noise cut off by the offset Most noise is proportional to temperature. The offset is automatically regulated by the camera sensor to compensate for the surrounding temperature changes by referencing specific pixels as „black“, i.e. never exposed to light. So the offset will be set dynamically and conditioned to external influences.
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Camera Link frame grabbers need information of the sequence order of the col- ors. The order depends on sensor type. USB3 and GigE cameras provide this in their XML file. INFO It is recommended to use an IR cut filter for color applications INFO Industrial vision cameras are not intended to display colors according to human perception.
The White Balance “Continuous” mode is only recommended in a slow triggered mode. Usually, it is sufficient to perform a white balance once with the given lighting. Use a white, not too dark, but not overexposed surface (white wall or paper) as image.
Fig. 5-6: Vertical flip 5.1.6 Binning Binning provides a way to enhance dynamic range, but at the cost of lower res- olution. Binning combines electron charges from neighboring pixels directly on the chip, before readout. INFO Binning is only used with monochrome CCD sensors. On CMOS sensors, binning will not affect image quality.
Vertical binning Accumulates vertical pixels. Fig. 5-7: Vertical binning Horizontal binning Accumulates horizontal pixels. Fig. 5-8: Horizontal binning 2×2 Binning A combination of horizontal and vertical binning. When DVAL signal is enabled only every third pixel in horizontal direction is grabbed.
Fig. 5-9: 2x2 binning 5.1.7 Decimation For reducing width or height of an image, decimation can be used. Columns or rows can be ignored. INFO Refer to "ROI / AOI" on page 56 for reducing data rate by reducing the region you are interested in.
Fig. 5-11: Vertical decimation 5.1.8 GenICam The GenICam standard provides a generic programming interface to control all kinds of cameras and devices. Regardless of the interface technology (GigE Vision, USB 3 Vision, CoaXPress, Camera Link, etc.) or implemented feature, the application programming interface (API) will always be the same.
5.1.9 Trigger modes To start capturing images, the camera has to receive a trigger signal. This trigger signal can be a software trigger, it might be an electric signal on the hardware I/O or it can be a timed trigger (sequence of images or "Precision Time Protocol").
Fig. 5-13: Mode 2: External trigger with programmable exposure time (non overlap) Exposure time can be changed during operation. No frame is distorted during switching time. If the configuration is saved to the EEPROM, the set exposure time will remain also when power is removed. Detailed info of external trigger mode INFO The diagrams below are identical for CCD and CMOS technique.
Fig. 5-16: Mode 1: External trigger with programmable exposure time (overlap) Line duration Exposure delay Min. trigger pulse width Fig. 5-17: Mode 1: External trigger with programmable exposure time (non-overlap) Exposure delay Min. trigger pulse width 5.1.10 Shutter modes CCD and CMOS area cameras consist of pixels, ordered in lines and columns.
Next integration has to wait for finished readout (per line) No external exposure control (expose while trigger signal active) Limitations Use short exposure times for preventing blur / deforming artifacts. Image of mov- ing object on sensor must not move more than half pixel width. In case of moving objects, exposure movement on sensor has to be shorter than half a pixel for whole image.
Make sure to protect from changing environment light (recommendation: flash strobe in darkness). Short Flash strobe times with moving objects. Light control with rolling shutter Not all sensor lines are sensitive to light at the same time. Make sure your light is ON as long any pixel are going to e exposed.
Rolling shutter limitations Due to the principles of rolling shutter, some standard features of SVS-VISTEK cameras are not applicable. External exposure control (expose while trigger signal active) does not make sense with rolling shutter ROI with rolling shutter: With rolling shutter the whole sensor must always be read out.
Setting exposure time Exposure time can be set by width of the external or internal triggers or pro- grammed by a given value. 5.1.12 Exposure speed Frames per second, or frame rate describes the number of frames output per second (1/ frame time). Especially GigE and USB cameras cannot guarantee pre- dictable maximum frame rates with heavy interface bus load.
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Limitations As this feature is based on a control loop, the result is only useful in an averaged, continuous stream of images. Strong variations in brightness from one image to next image will result in a swing of the control loop. Therefore it is not recom- mended to use the auto-luminance function in such cases.
5.1.14 Acquisition and processing time The camera has to read the sensor, process the data to a valid image and trans- fer this to the host computer. Some of these tasks are done in parallel. This implies the data transfer does not end immediately after end of exposure, as the image has to be processed and transferred after exposure.
NOTICE Unpacking has to be done manually, this is not a GenTL function. Thus, image acquisition in packed formats won’t be supported by most 3 party software products. 5.1.16 Polarized sensor INFO this article as well in our knowledge base with more examples and illus- trations.
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figure shows circular polarization (Figure B). It can be obtained by transmitting linear polarized light through optical active media for instance. Light that we encounter in our natural environment from most common light sources is typically unpolarized, i.e. the light consists of a multitude of waves with oscillation orientations that are statistically distributed (see Figure C, left).
Measuring polarization Fig. 5-22: Polarization filters To characterize the polarization of light linear polarizers can be used. They are an easy and efficient way to obtain linear polarization from unpolarized light. Multiple realizations of polarizers exist and explaining them all would surpass the scope of this paper.
angle by a neighboring pixel. The sensor shows excellent image quality in various light source environments. (D) The polarization filter array consists of multiple 2x2 patterns that show four different wire grid orientations. The respective measured signal I of a 2x2 pattern is a measure of the amount of light with 0°...
Camera features The camera features of the EXO series USB3 are defined by the combination of its electronics and firmware features. Firmware features can be upgraded with new firmware releases. 5.2.1 IR / glass filter To avoid influences of infrared light to your image, cameras are equipped with an IR (Infrared) cut filter or an anti-refection coated glass (AR filter).
Fig. 5-24: IR cut filter light transmission Focal impact of filters As an IR cut filter mainly consist of a small layer of glass (1 mm thick) there is an impact on the flange focal distance. Refraction within the layer cause shortening this distance.
Fig. 5-25: Original and shading corrected image This shading can be caused by non-uniform illumination, non-uniform camera sensitivity, vignetting of the lens, or even dirt and dust on glass surfaces (lens). Shading correction is a procedure to create a flat-field image out of a non-uni- form image regardless of the reasons of the non-uniformity.
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Creating a shading map Shading maps are test files containing a description for the camera how to bal- ance shading control. Shading maps can be created and uploaded to the cam- era with SVCapture. The shading map creation process takes any image with any illumination and creates a shading map out of it.
Fig. 5-26: Shading control disabled Load the reference images. Observe the shading in the preview (2). Select Generate map (3) to create the shading map. Select Save map to file. This file can be used in programmed environments via SDK as well.
enabled shading control. Run the camera with same lighting to see corrected image. 5.2.3 Defect pixel correction All image sensor have defect pixels in a lesser or greater extent. Type and num- ber of defects determine the quality grade (quality classification) of the sensor. Defect Pixel Correction is using information from neighboring pixels to com- pensate for defect pixels or defect pixel clusters (cluster may have up to five defect pixels).
A custom defect map can be created by the user. A simple *.txt file with coordinates must be created. The user must locate the pixel defects manu- ally. The *.txt file can be uploaded into the camera. Beware of possible Offset! ...
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For easy image processing, it is recommended to have pixel correction activ- ated Pixel correction maps can be saved and loaded The std factory map can be selected any time Generate your own custom map Select your own defect pixel map The procedure to create a std map is pretty straight forward.
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Save a completely white image as bmp file. Open Assistant > Defect Pixel Correction > Select Map > Custom Map. Select Generate Map…. Add a “Dark Image”. Add a “Bright Image”. 5 Feature description...
Select Generate map. Observe how many defect pixel were detected in the “Defect Pixel Count”. Select Upload map to camera. 5.2.4 Look-up table The look-up table feature (LUT) lets the user define certain values to every bit value that comes from the ADC.
Fig. 5-28: Custom LUT adding contrast to the mid-tones INFO LUT implementation reduces bit depth from 12 bit to 8 bit on the output. Gamma correction Using the look-up table makes is also possible to implement a logarithmic cor- rection. This is commonly called “gamma correction”. Historically gamma correction was used to correct the illumination behavior of CRT displays, by compensating brightness-to-voltage with a gamma value between 1,8 up to 2,55.
Fig. 5-29: Several gamma curves comparable to a LUT Gamma values less than 1.0 map darker image values into a wider ranger. Gamma values greater than 1.0 do the same for brighter values. INFO Gamma algorithm is just a way to generate a LUT. It is not implemented in the camera directly.
Fig. 5-30: Several gamma curves comparable to a LUT Gamma values less than 1.0 map darker image values into a wider ranger. Gamma values greater than 1.0 do the same for brighter values. INFO Gamma algorithm is just a way to generate a LUT. It is not implemented in the camera directly.
With CCD sensors, setting an AOI on the left or right side does not affect the frame rate, as lines must be read out completely. With CMOS Sensors, AOI is sensor dependent. Some CMOS sensors require the camera to read full horizontal sensor lines internally. Reducing horizontal size with AOI might result in limited frame rate gain.
Fig. 5-32: Mode 0 - Free running with programmable exposure time The fundamental signals are: Line Valid: LVAL Frame Valid: FVAL For triggered modes: trigger input Triggered mode (pulse width) External trigger and pulse-width controlled exposure time. In this mode the cam- era is waiting for an external trigger, which starts integration and readout.
When the rising edge of trigger signal occurs after frame readout has ended (FVAL is low) the start of exposure time is not synchronized to LVAL and exposure time starts after a short and persistent delay. The falling edge of the trigger signal must always occur after readout of the pre- vious frame has ended (FVAL is low).
Fig. 5-35: Illustration of physical data stream in time 5.2.9 Temperature sensor A temperature sensor is installed on the main board of the camera. To avoid overheating, the temperature is constantly monitored and read. Besides software monitoring, the camera indicates high temperature by a red flashing LED (see flashing LED codes).
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Load a user set With UserSetSelector a user set can be selected. Select the desired user set and press UserSetLoad (command) twice to load the user set. The following example loads user set 2. Save user sets Select the user set to be saved in the UserSetSelector and save it with the User- SetSave command.
Afterwards this factory default user set must be saved again as user set (in the example below, user set 2 is overwritten with the factory settings). I/O Features The SVCam cameras are equipped with several inputs and outputs, providing state-of-the-art control regarding input and output channels. All I/O functions are realized as modules.
Name / register Description prescale input input to module iomux_prescaler_0 logic inputa input to module iomux_logic_0 logic inputb input to module iomux_logic_0 mft_txd output pulse-loop hw_trigger input to module iomux_pulseloop_0 pulse-loop hw_trigger input to module iomux_pulseloop_1 pulse-loop hw_trigger input to module iomux_pulseloop_2 pulse-loop hw_trigger input to module iomux_pulseloop_3 rxd_to_uart2...
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Configure a strobe illumination with pulse-loop module 0 connect line 17 to 13 signal from pulse loop module 0 appears on line 6 connect line 6 to 0 (output 0) Set an exposure signal with pulse-loop module 1. connect line 17 to 6 ...
Overview with the I/O assistant For an overview of current I/O connections use the I/O assistant of SVCapture. Every function or module has a source. Fig. 5-38: I/O assistant of SVCapture with activated debouncer and logic input With the example above ...
LED characteristics Since LEDs have a bounded workspace, the PWM ensures a variable intensity of illumination at a constant current on the diodes. The constant current guarantees a linear light emission response curve of the LED from 0-100% PWM intensity. Running LED lighting in flash mode will increase LED lifetime because of reduced LED heat dissipation.
The PWM module Fig. 5-43: The PWM module 5.3.3 LED strobe control The SVCam 4I/O concept contains an integrated strobe controller. Its controls are integrated into the GenICam tree. With LED lights attached to the outputs, this enables the user to control the light without external devices. Being con- trolled via GenICam, any GenICam-compliant 3 party software is able to con- trol the light as well.
Strobe delay The delay between the (logical) positive edge of trigger pulse and strobe pulse output. Exposure delay A tic value, representing the time between the (logical) positive edge of trigger pulse and start of integration time. Calculate LED shunt resistors Shunt resistors are used to limit the LED current.
NOTICE Make sure your PWM lighting frequency is at least double or triple the bit-depth of your image (e.g. 8 bit image = 256, this means your PWM has to be switched at least 256*2=512 times) while exposing. If exposure time is 5 ms, the required minimum PWM freq = 5 ...
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In the current GenICam implementation, all values have to be entered in tic val- ues. 1 tic = 15 ns Every adjustment (times, frequencies) has to be recalculated into tics and done in tics. See the example below. When setting “Exposure Start” and “Stop” consider ‘read-out-time’ of the sensor. It has to be within the Sequencer interval.
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Notes Different exposure / strobe timings are used for illustration. In most cases they will show values same as exposure The resulting exposure time shows the period of sensor light exposure. ("masking" of exposure time by creating strobe light impulses shorter than exposure time).
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Values to set in GenICam prop- Interval 0 Interval 1 Interval 2 Interval 3 erties (RED) (GREEN) (BLUE) (WHITE) Seq pulse A 6666667 tic 20000000 20000000 6666667 tic stop (100 ms) (100 ms) (300 ms) (300 ms) Seq pulse B 0 tic 6666667 tic 13333333...
Fig. 5-45: Sequencer timing diagram 5.3.5 Optical input In many trigger signals you find noise, transients and voltage spikes. These are able to damage components in the camera and trigger signal interpretation might be difficult. An optical input separates the electrical trigger and camera circuits. The benefit of such an optical input is to avoid all these kinds of interaction from power sources or switches.
The optocoupler galvanically separates electrical circuits by emitting light on one side and interpreting light in the other. There is no direct electric interaction between both electrical circuits. 5.3.6 PLC / Logical operation on inputs The logic input combines trigger signals with Boolean algorithms. The camera provides AND, NAND, OR, NOR, XOR, XNOR as below.
5.3.7 Serial data interfaces (ANSI EIA/) TIA-232-F RS-232 and RS-422 (from EIA, read as Radio Sector or commonly as Recom- mended Standard) are technical standards to specify electrical characteristics of digital signaling circuits. Serial connection might be used to control SVCams. These signals are used to send low-power data signals to control exposure, light or lenses (MFT).
Fig. 5-48: UART encoding of a data stream 5.3.8 Trigger-edge sensitivity Trigger-edge sensitivity is implemented by a “Schmitt trigger”. Instead of trig- gering to a certain value, the Schmitt trigger provides a threshold. Fig. 5-49: Schmitt trigger noise suppression 5 Feature description...
5.3.9 Debouncing trigger signals Bounces or glitches caused by a switch can be avoided by software within SVCam. Fig. 5-50: Bounces or glitches caused by a switch Therefore the signal will not be accepted until it lasts at least a certain time. Fig.
Use the IO Assignment tool to place and enable the debouncer module in between the “trigger” (Schmitt trigger) and the input source (e.g.: line 1). Set the register “DebounceDuration” in multiples of 15 ns (implementation of system clock), e.g. 66 666 ≈ 1 ms. Fig.
Annex Dimensions INFO All length units in mm. Find the technical drawings in the web download area at https://mikrotron.de/de/support/mik-support-download-center.php CAD step files available with valid login at SVS-VISTEK.com I/O driver circuit schematics Camera power supply and power supply for PWM out is 25V max. Power for PWM out has to be supplied via Hirose connector.
DeviceKey to authorize the action on this device. GroupKey to define a group of devices on which actions have to be executed. GroupMask to be used to filter out some of these devices from the group. All these values can be set here: Fig.
A short Phyton program example to generate an action command. The IP address of "server.bind" shall be adapted to the IP address of the local network card. import socket import time from struct import server = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM, sock- et.IPPROTO_UDP) server.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_ REUSEADDR, 1) # Enable broadcasting mode server.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_BROADCAST, 1) server.settimeout(0.2)
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