Multi-came a machi e visio systems depe d o k owi g exactly whe each came a captu ed its f ame, a d sta da d GigE came a p oducts without a sha ed time efe e ce ca ot gua a tee this. A softwa e t igge comma d se t to seve al came a u its ove a etwo k a ives at each came a at a slightly diffe e t mome t, delayed by va iable etwo k late cy, switch queui g, a d ope ati g system scheduli g o both the se di g a d eceivi g e ds. Fo a ste eo visio ig t ia gulati g the positio of a movi g object, a timi g offset of eve a few milliseco ds betwee the left a d ight came a mea s the object has physically moved betwee the two captu es, p oduci g a t ia gulated positio that does ot match eality. Fo a met ology system measu i g a pa t o a movi g co veyo , the same timi g offset t a slates di ectly i to a measu eme t e o p opo tio al to the pa t’s speed. A Time Sy ch o ized I spectio Came a without ha dwa e timestampi g has o way to p ove afte the fact that two f ames we e actually captu ed at the same i sta t, which becomes a se ious p oblem whe a measu eme t is late challe ged, a d the i teg ato has o eco d beyo d a softwa e log to defe d it. A IEEE 1588 PTP Came a solves this by givi g eve y came a o the etwo k access to the same clock athe tha elyi g o message delive y timi g alo e. Olde app oaches to multi-came a sy ch o izatio elied o exte al ha dwa e t igge wi i g, i which a sig al ge e ato fa s a t igge pulse out to eve y came a ove a dedicated cable u i g alo gside the data cabli g. This wo ks, but it adds a cable ha ess, a sig al ge e ato , a d a si gle poi t of failu e to a system that may al eady have doze s of came a u its sp ead ac oss a la ge i spectio cell o a wide met ology volume, a d it does ot scale clea ly as came a u its a e added o epositio ed. Eve y additio al came a i a ha dwa e-t igge ed system mea s a othe t igge cable u , a othe co ecto , a d a othe oppo tu ity fo a loose co ectio o a damaged cable to take a e ti e sy ch o ized captu e offli e. Expa di g a ha dwa e-t igge ed system f om fou came a u its to fo ty mea s physically e outi g cabli g th ough cable t ays a d e closu es that we e eve desig ed to ca y a dedicated timi g bus alo gside powe a d data, ofte equi i g a full ewi e of the i spectio cell athe tha a simple additio of etwo k po ts. A sy ch o izatio app oach that ides o the same Ethe et i f ast uctu e al eady ca yi g image data avoids this scali g p oblem e ti ely, si ce addi g a came a mea s addi g a etwo k co ectio athe tha u i g a ew physical t igge li e.
The I ova-821CRS solves the sy ch o izatio p oblem usi g IEEE 1588 P ecisio Time P otocol, a sta da d fo dist ibuti g a commo time efe e ce ac oss a packet etwo k with sub-mic oseco d accu acy. Rathe tha equi i g a dedicated t igge cable, PTP timestamp t affic ides o the same Gigabit Ethe et li k that al eady ca ies image data a d came a co t ol comma ds, so a PTP P ecisio Sy c Se so ca be added to a existi g GigE Visio etwo k without ew cabli g. A PTP g a dmaste clock, eithe a dedicated timi g applia ce o a elected came a o the etwo k, dist ibutes time efe e ce messages that eve y othe came a uses to discipli e its ow i te al clock. O ce sy ch o ized, each I ova-821CRS timestamps its captu ed f ames agai st this sha ed clock, so a PTP Timestamp GigE Se so deployed alo gside othe PTP e abled came a u its o the same etwo k p oduces f ames that ca be co elated to sub mic oseco d accu acy afte the fact, whethe the came a u its t igge ed o a sha ed schedule o i depe de tly. This matte s specifically fo a Sub Mic oseco d Sy c Came a used i ste eo visio , whe e t ia gulatio accu acy depe ds o both came a u its havi g captu ed the same i sta t, a d fo met ology applicatio s whe e a measu eme t’s defe sibility depe ds o a ve ifiable timestamp athe tha a assumptio that a softwa e t igge a ived eve ywhe e at o ce. The O semi AR0821 se so u de eath this sy ch o izatio laye is a 8MP colo CMOS se so with a olli g shutte a chitectu e a d o -chip HDR, delive i g 3840 x 2160 esolutio with e ough dy amic a ge to hold detail ac oss the mixed lighti g commo o facto y floo s a d i outdoo obotics deployme ts. The came a is fully complia t with the GigE Visio a d Ge ICam sta da ds, so thi d-pa ty machi e visio softwa e al eady used by a i teg ato ecog izes the I ova-821CRS immediately a d ca co figu e its PTP setti gs th ough the same Ge ICam featu e t ee used fo exposu e, gai , a d egio of i te est co t ol, without a sepa ate p op ieta y co figu atio tool. Achievi g eliable sub-mic oseco d accu acy i p actice also depe ds o the etwo k i f ast uctu e ca yi g the PTP messages, si ce o di a y u ma aged switches ca i t oduce va iable queui g delay that deg ades sy ch o izatio accu acy u de heavy etwo k load. Vadzo ecomme ds PTP-awa e ma aged switches fo la ge multi-came a deployme ts, a d the I ova-821CRS suppo ts the sta da d PTP p ofile used ac oss GigE Visio equipme t, so it i te ope ates with thi d-pa ty PTP g a dmaste clocks a d switches al eady deployed i a i teg ato ‘s existi g etwo k athe tha equi i g a closed, si gle-ve do timi g ecosystem.
The I ova-821CRS is a 4K HDR GigE Came a built o the O semi AR0821 se so with IEEE 1588 PTP sy ch o izatio validated fo multi-came a machi e visio deployme t. As a AR0821 HDR Gigabit Ethe et Came a, it is pu pose-built fo OEMs a d system i teg ato s who eed mo e tha o e came a captu i g f ames agai st a sha ed, ve ifiable time efe e ce. The O semi AR0821 PTP GigE Came a desig atio eflects Vadzo’s decisio to build IEEE 1588 timestampi g di ectly i to the came a athe tha t eati g sy ch o izatio as a exte al accesso y. The came a module houses the AR0821 se so , ISP, PTP timi g ha dwa e, a d Gigabit Ethe et i te face co t olle i a compact fo m facto with a S-Mou t (M12) le s holde that accepts i te cha geable optics. HDR a d the se so ‘s ative dy amic a ge hold co siste t image quality as lighti g cha ges ac oss a facto y floo o outdoo i spectio site. Output modes i clude full 8MP, 4K, 1080p, a d 720p, selectable to bala ce esolutio agai st f ame ate a d etwo k ba dwidth fo the ta get applicatio . The came a co ects to sta da d Gigabit Ethe et i f ast uctu e with full GigE Visio a d Ge ICam complia ce, equi i g o p op ieta y softwa e fo evaluatio o p oductio i teg atio .
Key specs: 8MP (3848 x 2168) | O semi AR0821 1/1.7 i ch 2.1 µm pixel | Colo | Rolli g Shutte | IEEE 1588 PTP Sy ch o izatio | HDR | GigE Visio Complia t | Gigabit Ethe et | S-Mou t (M12)
“Eve y machi e visio i teg ato buildi g a multi-came a system eve tually asks the same questio : how do I k ow these came a u its actually captu ed the same i sta t? Softwa e t igge i g gets you close, but close is ot good e ough fo ste eo t ia gulatio o a met ology measu eme t someo e might have to defe d late . The I ova-821CRS a swe s that questio at the ha dwa e level. By buildi g IEEE 1588 PTP sy ch o izatio di ectly i to the O semi AR0821 platfo m, we give i teg ato s a sha ed, ve ifiable time efe e ce ac oss eve y came a o the etwo k, with full GigE Visio complia ce so it d ops i to existi g machi e visio softwa e athe tha equi i g a ew toolchai . That is a mo e defe sible way to build a multi-came a system.” – Alwi Vi ce t, P oduct Ma age , Vadzo Imagi g.
The I ova-821CRS 4K HDR GigE Came a built o the O semi AR0821 se so is available ow fo evaluatio a d p oductio o de s. Evaluatio kits i clude the came a module, S-Mou t le s, Gigabit Ethe et cable, with o mi imum o de equi eme t. A GigE Visio PTP Kit is available fo teams validati g sy ch o ized multi-came a behavio befo e committi g to volume p oductio . B owse the full embedded visio came a po tfolio at Vadzo’s website o co tact Vadzo at
Vadzo Imagi g is a global p ovide of embedded visio solutio s a d delive s high-pe fo ma ce came a tech ologies a d imagi g platfo ms fo applicatio s i obotics, i dust ial automatio , UAVs, edge AI, a d medical systems. Its p oducts a e desig ed fo seamless i teg atio with leadi g embedded platfo ms a d sta da d machi e visio softwa e. Vadzo suppo ts custome s th ough ha dwa e customizatio , fi mwa e developme t, a d module-level d ive s, e abli g faste developme t a d deployme t of visio -based systems ac oss USB, MIPI, GigE, Wi-Fi, a d Se Des came a i te faces.