In some application scenarios, multiple cameras need to be used to shoot in full synchronous manner, and the start and end time of the shooting are fully synchronized.To meet such requirements, most general-purpose cameras on the market cannot meet such requirements.A common approach can be achieved with triggered industrial cameras.For specific implementation methods, please refer to my previous article "Simultaneous Photography of Multiple Cloud Key Industrial Camera".Although this method can achieve its purpose, it also has some disadvantages, which limit the usage conditions and increase the cost.So we optimized the product design and integrated the 4 sensors and motherboard into a set of multi-eye cameras.

Design framework diagram

This system can connect 1-4 image sensor boards.The system configures multiple sensors at the same time during initialization, and controls multiple sensors to start exposing and collecting images, and outputs the images to the FPGA. The FPGA temporarily stores the images in DDR and caches them, and then transmits the image data to the computer through the gigabit network. The software on the computer can perform various processing of the collected images through CKSDK.

Pros and cons

Disadvantages of synchronous shooting of distributed multiple industrial cameras

Each camera needs to be connected to the computer separately (PCI-E multi-port network card needs to be installed). If the bandwidth output by multiple Gigabit network cameras at the same time is too large, the switch cannot be redirected, which will cause packets and frames to be lost.

Modifying the exposure time and gain will cause out-synchronization

Development is difficult, and multiple cameras are required to control multiple cameras at the same time

Advantages of FPGA multi-mesh shooting solution

Single network port is directly connected to the computer, and there is no need to add a network card;

Every time the parameters are modified, they are set to multiple sensors at the same time

The development is simple, and only requires controlling one camera. The FPGA directly integrates the images of multiple sensors into one image and transmits them to the computer. The conclusion

This solution has been verified and used in multiple industrial and civil fields, solving the pain points encountered by customers.

Everyone is welcome to use Yunji Technology's industrial cameras, including USB2.0, USB3.0, and GIGE network industrial cameras, which support customized software and hardware development, and provide considerate technical support.