VCSBC nano Z Series Operating Manual

1.1   Technical Specifications VCSBC nano Z

The following diagram shows the maximum reachable (with the shortest shutter time) framerate according to the number of captured lines for the VCSBC nano Z 0010, the VCSBC nano Z 0011, the VCSBC nano Z 0015, the VCSBC nano Z 0252 and the VCSBC nano Z 0273:

Frames per second over number of lines

The following table gives some example values.

1.2   Cooling

Cooling using a heat spreader is required. Thermal conductive pads are available as acessoires.

2.1   Interface Listings

The pin assignments, electrical specifications as well as available accessories are shown for each interface connector in the following sections.

2.1.1   VCSBC nano Z

VCSBC nano Z Interfaces

The VCSBC nano Z Series camera boards incorporate the following connector interfaces:

ST ₁

Power, IO, Ethernet, trigger, serial interface connector

ST ₃

Emulator Connector

2.1.2   VCSBC nano Z-RH

VCSBC nano Z-RH Interfaces

The VCSBC nano Z-RH Series camera boards incorporate the following connector interfaces:

ST ₁

Power, IO, Ethernet, trigger, serial interface connector

ST ₃

Emulator Connector

ST ₄

Sensor head connector

ST ₅

Sensor head connector

2.2   ST ₁:  Power Supply,  IO Interface, Ethernet, trigger, serial interface

2.2.4   Electrical specifications trigger input and output

Note

Activation of trigger output is done by assigning the right GPIO via the command line tool named vcio, see GPIOs and Trigger Assignment for more information.

2.2.4.1   Trigger IO Specifications

The board features a dedicated fast trigger input (opto-isolated, for use as image capture trigger) and a fast trigger output (as strobe-light trigger). Since both signals are fast at a very low noise margin, it is recommended to keep the cable as short as possible. Use twisted pair or even coaxial cable for this purpose. The trigger input assures a constant image capture delay without jitter.

2.2.4.2   Circuit trigger input and output

Circuit at Trigger Inputs

Circuit at Trigger Outputs

2.2.4.3   Example of driving circuit for the trigger input and output

Connection of Trigger Inputs

Connection of Trigger Outputs

3.1   GPIOs

They can be accessed over the linux standard way via /sys/class/gpio, see https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/gpio/sysfs.txt. The GPIO numbers are relative to the start number of the gpiochip labelled with '/amba@0/axi-gpio0@41200000', here: /sys/class/gpio/gpiochip224.

The debouncing time can be adjusted via the vcio command, using the same timing for all debouncers.

You can also find information in our libvclinux documentation. This documentation can be found in the support area of our website: https://www.vision-components.com/fileadmin/external/documentation/software/lib/libvclinux/latest/html/index.html

3.2   Trigger Assignment

To choose the sensor input/output trigger signals, the corresponding GPIO Nr. must be determined and assigned by the supporting program named vcio. More information can be found at the help of the program, if you run it with no command line parameter, it will show how to do it. Sample usage instructions are provided here, but always refer to the instructions of your version:

VCIO v.1.2.3.- VCLinux Camera I/O Configuration and Connection Setup.

Usage: vcio [-s sen] [-i gpioNr] [-n] [-o gpioField] [-d gpioField] [-t time]

-s	Sensor to be configured, default value: 0.
-i	GPIO Nr. to be used as external sensor trigger input (TRGSRC_EXT)
-n	Negates trigger input signal
-o	Bitfield of GPIOs which are coupled with sensor trigger output signal. The bit of GPIO Nr. X is coupled, if Bit X is set to 1, for example, For coupling GPIO Nr. 0, 3 and 31 (TrigOut) provide the Bitfield as Decimal Value: 2^0+2^3+2^31=2147483657, as Hex Value: 0x80000009, or as Binary Value: 0b10000000000000000000000000001001.
-d	The direction of the GPIOs as bitfield (see -o switch); If the GPIO Nr. X should be configured as output, set bit X to 1, and if it should be an input, set bit X to 0.
-t	Time used to debounce all input sources, default value: 10000. Time Unit is in FPGA Cycles. The FPGA clock frequency can be acquired by reading out the value of capt->sen->d.fpgaClkHz, e.g. 153846161 Hz. The default debouncing time for that example is then given by 10000 cycles / 153846161 Hz = 0.000065 s = 65 us.

Settings done cannot be read out. Different camera models may have different vcio parameters.

One can further switch flash outputs for each capture (see the libvclinux documentation: VCFlashSelector); therefore the corresponding gpios must be set as output (-d), but they should not be coupled with the trigger signal (-o), since this given value would be ORed with the flash selector settings, and the flash would always trigger.

3.2.2   Input-Output Circuit

VC nano Z I/O Circuit

The debouncing time can be adjusted via the vcio command, using the same timing for all debouncers.

5.1   Camera and Lens holder order numbers

Further models will be offered.

5.2   Further accessories available for VCSBC nano Z Smart Cameras