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tDEL: Delay from external trigger input to internal CCD exposure.
Depending on camera model, e.g. 42.0 µs +/- 100 ns constant!
tEXP: Exposure Time.
Short exposure: 5, 10, 15, 20 µs
Long exposure: 60, 100, 140 µs
This timing applies to all VC20xx, VC40xx, VC44xx cameras except VC4016, VC4018, VCSBC4016 and VCSBC4018.
Exposure and delay timing for VC2038
Exposure type | tEXP[µsec] | tDEL[µsec] |
short | 30 | 50 |
long | 80 | 50 |
long | 130 | 50 |
long | 180 | 50 |
Exposure and delay timing for VC2048
Exposure type | tEXP[µsec] | tDEL[µsec] |
short | 18 | 36 |
long | 36 | 36 |
long | 72 | 36 |
long | 108 | 36 |
Exposure and delay timing for VC2065
Exposure type | tEXP[µsec] | tDEL[µsec] |
short | 5 | 57 |
short | 10 | 52 |
short | 15 | 47 |
short | 20 | 42 |
long | 60 | 42 |
long | 100 | 42 |
long | 140 | 42 |
Exposure and delay timing for VC4038
Exposure type | tEXP[µsec] | tDEL[µsec] |
short | 5 | 49.48 |
short | 10 | 44.48 |
short | 15 | 39.45 |
short | 19 | 35.04 |
long | 50 | 35.04 |
long | 91 | 35.04 |
long | 122 | 35.04 |
Exposure and delay timing for VC4065
Exposure type | tEXP[µsec] | tDEL[µsec] |
short | 5 | 43.29 |
short | 10 | 38.79 |
short | 15 | 34.29 |
short | 20 | 29.07 |
long | 50.5 | 29.07 |
long | 81 | 29.07 |
long | 111.5 | 29.07 |
Exposure and delay timing for VC4066
Exposure type | tEXP[µsec] | tDEL[µsec] |
short | 10 | 55.68 |
short | 15 | 51.18 |
short | 20 | 46.68 |
short | 30 | 41.34 |
long | 72.3 | 41.34 |
long | 114.6 | 41.34 |
long | 156.9 | 41.34 |
Description of the fast trigger I/O macro functions
TRIGOUT_EXP(): sets the trigger output to exposure controlled mode. The trigger output is set automatically, according to the camera's trigger timings (see article "Trigger timings").
TRIGOUT_USR(): sets the trigger output to user controlled mode. The user can set the trigger output at will with SET_TRIGOUT() and RES_TRIGOUT().
SET_TRIGOUT(): sets the trigger output to active state.
RES_TRIGOUT(): resets the trigger output.
TRIGOUT_POS(): the trigger output is high in active state (during exposition in exposure controlled mode).
TRIGOUT_NEG(): the trigger output is low in active state (during exposition in exposure controlled mode).
TRIGINP_POS(): the trigger input signal is set to rising edge.
TRIGINP_NEG(): the trigger input is set to falling edge.
SET_trig_sticky(): see VCRT 5 documentation.
SET_trig_lossy(): see VCRT 5 documentation.
TRIG_INT_ENABLE(): enable trigger interrupt.
TRIG_INT_DISABLE(): disable trigger interrupt.
What is the maximum frequency I/Os of VC Smart Cameras can bear?
The maximum frequency of trigger input and output is about 10 kHz.
The maximum frequency of PLC I/Os is about 1 kHz.
VC20xx | VC40xx | VCSBC4018 | |
IN
| 3 - 5 V
| 3 - 5 V
| 0 - 0.7 V low 1.5 - 3.3 V high
|
OUT
| Max. 7 V, 50 mA
| Max. 7 V, 50 mA
| Max. 3 V, 8 mA
|
Optocoupler
| IN: yes OUT: no
| IN: no OUT: no
| IN: no OUT: no
|
Resistor
| IN: 330 limiting resistor OUT: none
| IN: none OUT: none
| IN: 4K7 pull-up resistor OUT: none
|
Reverse voltage protection
| IN: shunt diode OUT: none
| IN: none OUT: none
| IN: none OUT: none
|
Pin assignment 1 (green) 2 (brown) 3 (white) 4 (pink) 5 (grey) 6 yellow) | Trig IN - 5 V OUT GND Keypad IN Trig OUT Trig IN + | V24 OUT 5 V OUT GND V24 IN Trig OUT Trig IN |
I use one of the PLC inputs to trigger my camera. But picture taking has a jitter of ±10 milliseconds. Why is that so?
The function inPLC() checks the system variable PLCIN, which is only updated every 10 milliseconds. To avoid this the corresponding hardware register can be read directly using one of the functions of the at the end of this article.
These functions are integrated to the operating system from version 5.26.
I am using a VCSBC4018 camera and need to separate the camera daughterboard from the main board. Is there a longer flex cable available that I could use without causing signal integrity issues?
Standard delivery is the 30mm x 20 flex cable.
There are 2 longer flex cables available for detached camera head mounting:
80mm x 20, order Number: EK000322
200mm x 20, order Number: EK000629
Please also check the accessories section in the VCSBC4018 manual.
The drawings of the VCSBC4018 board can be downloaded below:
Description of the additional serial interface of the VC40xx Smart Cameras.
Hardware considerations
From VC40xx Smart Cameras, the trigger interface allows 4 different uses:
Serial C6 cables for the standard V24 (RS232) interface can be used only with serial VC20xx cameras! The serial interface found on the VC40xx cameras needs a C4 cable, available in length of 5m, 10m and 25m, and with connector on one or on both sides.
Multiple devices can be connected to this interface at the same time, using one or two Y adaptor cables (order no. VK000124).
Using the serial interface
For the time being, the serial interface cannot directly be accessed via the shell (the feature will be available in a future release of VCRT). Yet a serial shell is available as a stand-alone application in the knowledge base (can be downloaded for testing).
Please note:
VC4xxx Smart Cameras from model VC4038 (not VC4016 and VC4018) feature from July 2006 an encoder interface. With these cameras, only the serial input line is active after startup. The serial output line needs to be enabled prior to its use, in order to protect a connected encoder.
Using the serial interface
VC4xxx Smart Cameras from model VC4038 (not VC4016 and VC4018) feature from July 2006 an encoder interface. With these cameras, only the serial input line is active after startup. The serial output line needs to be enabled prior to its use, in order to protect a connected encoder.
The following macro needs to be called to enable the serial output line:
INTERFACE_MODE(SERIAL);
The program attached below is an example of how to communicate via the serial interface. Compile it and download it to the camera, then start the program. Open a serial session with your terminal program (for example Teraterm), you will see the string "Hello" transmitted from the camera. Then type any character to the serial interface, you will the the characters on the Ethernet side. Before the program quits it sends a big quantity of data (characters) to the serial interface.
Example file: test_kbd2.c
Accessing the shell via the serial interface of VC4xxx cameras
Accessing the shell is now also possible using the additional serial interface of the VC4xxx cameras! This means it is possible to start a camera in "serial shell" mode, starting programs or executing shell commands via the serial camera interface.
We provide two solutions to achieve this: using a serial shell program or simply switching the standard I/Os to the serial interface.
Accessing the shell via the serial interface of VC4xxx Smart Cameras
We provide two solutions to achieve this: using a serial shell program or simply switching the standard I/Os to the serial interface.
1. Using the serial shell program
This program has to be used if you need to be able to use both telnet and serial shells at the same time.
At present the following programs have to be uploaded into camera memory (included in file below):
Description:
Calling the program "sershell" starts the serial shell. It is now possible to run 2 shells in parallel - one accessible via Telnet Port 23 and the second one accessible via RS232. The serial shell can be activated at camera startup calling"sershell" with help of an auto exec file.
Default baud rate is 115200 bd.
The serial shell can be closed with the shell command "kill 65547".
The current task ID may vary. The task ID can be queried with help of the shell command "procs":
$procs
print task list
NAME PID STATE PRI FLAGS
...
shell2 65547 WAIT 009 00000004
2. Switching the standard I/Os to serial interface
The second solution, if you need either the telnet shell or the serial shell, is to switch the standard I/Os to the serial shell with the program swtty.c included in the file below.
With no argument, the program switches to the serial interface. With any argument, the program switches back to telnet.
Please note:
Downloads: shell.zip
Serial output now inactive at startup with new camera hardware
All VC4xxx Smart Cameras (apart from VC4016 and VC4018) now feature a high speed encoder interface.
Please follow the link below to download the new demo program enc_RPM.c. This program measures the turing speed of the encoder.
Please note: The encoder interface is only supported with new hardware (new PWR board).
Please observe: VC Smart Camera operating systems are not interchangeable.
All VC Smart Cameras are now booting with the serial camera output inactve!
Since the serial output is now used as encoder signal input, this signal (V24 TxD out, Pin 1) is now inactive after starting the camera in order to protect an encoder connected.
Turn the serial interface on as shown in the demo program in order to use the serial output. The serial input is active from the camera start. This way the keypad can still be used to stop autoexec execution or to reset the IP address.
Start the md_rs232 program prior to your main program if you do not want to make adjustments to your code. This program simply calls the macro "INTERFACE_MODE(SERIAL), which means the camera starts up as serial camera as before (see file Mode_RS232.zip, download link below).
Encoder interface macros only work from VCRT/VCLIB PC library update version VCRT5.24_VCLIB302.
Also linked to this article is the source code and the compile test program for the encoder interface.
The Encoder.pdf shows the correct pin allocation for connecting an encoder (see download link below).
Voltage/Signal level Serial Interface/Keypad for different camera generations
The serial interface hardware has changed from the early VCxx to the current range VC4xxx model - so has the keypad interface. For this reason, different keypads are required for each camera series.
This article includes the power supply and signal level specifications of all keypad interfaces.
The RS232C norm specifies a signal level range from +-3V to 12V. In general, Voltage level have dropped over the years, with most modern RS232 interfaces just supplying LVTTL levels around 3.3V.
These changes also reflect the technical development of the V24 (RS232) of VC cameras. 3rd party equipment needs to match the requirements of each camera generation. Even within one series there may be subtle differences in signal levels - however all true serial interfaces meet the RS232 norm.
General changes to the keypad interface/RS232 Interface:
Power supply | Signal level | |
VCxx | +/-12 V (+/-25%) | +/-12 V (+/-25%) |
VC20xx | 0 V (Gnd) / 5 V | 0 V - 5 V (one-directional) |
VC4xxx | 0 V (Gnd) / 5 V | +/- 3.3 V (true V24, bi-directional) |
How do I bypass the autoexec execution on my VC Smart Camera?
Specific features and white balance
Description of the differences between VC color cameras
Vision Components sells two kinds of color cameras:
"Disp" and "wb" shell commands, color LUT
These commands only work now with the VC2065EC. See program "wb.c" for an example of how to adjust the white balance on this camera. See program "whitebal.c" for an example of how to adjust the white balance on cameras with color sensors (especially VC4016/4018C).
The first step is identical in both cases: use the function WhiteBalanceValues() to calculate white balance values. Then in the first case (VC2065EC) use init_color_lut() to program the hardware color LUT, and in the second case use init_color_table() to program a software color LUT.
Then in the case of a software color LUT, after every picture taking the LUT has to be applied to the picture with the clut_bayer() function.
Bayer pattern
On VC4016/4018C cameras, the bayer pattern may be shifted compared to the bayer pattern of the VC2065EC. This means, if you use color conversion functions like Bayer to RGB, colors will not be right. To solve this, the image variable should begin one line below, that is the start address has to be changed to getvar(CAPT_START) + getvar(VPITCH):
ImageAssignC(&area, getvar(CAPT_START) + getvar(VPITCH), IMAGE_BAYER, ...);
If the colors still do not seem right, try
getvar(CAPT_START) + 1 or getvar(CAPT_START) + getvar(VPITCH) +1.
The floating point operations are very slow. Is there something wrong in my program?
Texas Instruments TMS320C6xxx DSPs used in VC Smart Cameras are not optimized for floating points operations. Please use integer calculation wherever possible, for example by using a scaling factor.
See PDF for more information!
If floating point calculation is absolutely needed, the TMS320C62x/C64x FastRTS Library can be used. The execution times are then 2 to 4 times faster than with the "normal" library.
This library is free and can be downloaded from TI.
Do VC Smart Cameras work in a Wireless LAN (WiFi) network?
Yes, VC Cameras will work in any wireless LAN.
Is there a battery in VC Cameras? What happens if it goes down? Can my data be lost?
Yes, VC Cameras do have a battery.
Its purpose is only to keep the real-time clock up-to-date.
Data is saved either on the flash EPROM or on the MMC card, which are non-volatile memories (they need no power to keep the data): there is therefore no risk to lose data if the battery goes down (which has not happened even once for 8 years and more than 30000 cameras sold).
The status of the battery can be accessed with the system variable LOWBATT.
The VC20xx keypad does not seem to work with VC40xx cameras. Is there a special keypad for these cameras?
Yes. Due to the introduction of the additional serial interface, the pin 1 of the VC40xx trigger input is different from the one of VC20xx Smart Cameras. Therefore a different keypad has to be used. (Order number VK000238.)
I try to set the real-time clock with the command "time -s" but when the camera is restarted, the settings are gone. What's the matter?
Real-time clock is simply not implemented on VC4018 and VCSBC4018 cameras, therefore it is not usable.
What is the maximum length allowed for the ribbon cable between the sensor head the main body of VC20xx and VC40xx Smart Cameras?
It is recommended to use cables that do not exceed 200 millimeter. But then the camera will not be CE-compliant anymore.
Is the pin assignment of the Ethernet interface of VC40xx cameras the same as the pin assignment of the Ethernet Interface of VC20XX cameras?
Yes, the pin assignment is the same. Only the trigger input is different. For details please refer to VC40XX hardware documentation.
How do I connect a D-SUB 15 pin connector to a SVGA cable (with camera connector on the other side)?
The D-SUB color/Pin allocations are:
red Signal: 1
red shield: 6
green Signal: 2
green shield: 7
blue Signal: 3
blue shield: 8
white signal: 13
white shield: 10
grey signal: 14
grey shield: 5
For the Hirose camera connector pin allocation, please refer to the hardware documentation of your camera.
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