353 in a nutshell

This page should give a very brief overview about all aspects of what the Elphel 353 camera is about.

Dimensions & Weight

Example: NC353L-10369-HDD with 10369 IO board and internal 1.8" HDD installed:

Dimensions without HDD: 116mm х 45mm х 45mm

NC353L Weight: 150 - 215g (depending on installed internal hardware, excluding HDD)

Connectors

Example: NC353L-10369-HDD with 10369 IO board and internal 1.8" HDD installed:

SATA: Can be used to connect any external SATA device that is supported under Linux

Ethernet: 100MBit Network with POE (48V)

USB: USB 1.1 with 5V power supply

IDE: Used to connect internal HDD

Sync: Can be used to sync multiple cameras or trigger shooting images externally

RS232: Access to Console and debug output

Internal Hardware Modules

Strongly simplified the camera can be split up in 3 different hardware modules with their specific tasks:

Lens: The camera has a standard C-mount but ships with an adapter ring that allows to mount CS-lenses as well.

Sensor-Frontend: houses the actual sensor that delivers the digital image

• Aptina 5MPix CMOS (video sensor)
• Kodak 11MPix CCD (still image sensor)
• Kodak 16MPix CCD (still image sensor)

FPGA: (Field Programmable Gate Array) processes the incoming image data (color manipulations, compression, etc) in realtime

• Xilinx (R) Spartan3e 1200K gates

CPU: can direct the processed image stream (video) over a network or into a file (HDD or CF card), it can do all tasks a normal embedded computer can do (web server, peripherals, etc. )

• Axis ETRAX FS (200Mhz CPU, 64MB SDRAM, 128MB system flash memory, 64MB image memory)

Sensors

1/2.5" 5Mpix CMOS

There are 3 different modules that can be used as sensor front-ends:

Aptina 5MPix CMOS:

This cost efficient bayer-pattern sensor has a size of 1/2.5" (5.70mm x 4.28mm) and a resolution of 2592x1944. It allows a maximum frame rate of around 15 fps @ full resolution, 30fps @ Full HD (1920x1080) or 60 fps @ HD (1280x720). It features a 12 bit ADC and supports: region of interest, on-chip binning and decimation.

Kodak 11MPix CCD:

This high grade (also high price) full-frame (36mm x 24mm) sensor requires the 10347 controller and 10342 interface board as well as a mechanical shutter. It can supply a maximum of 5 fps.

Kodak 16MPix CCD:

As above, but requires the 10347 controller and 10344 interface board board and a mechanical shutter. It can supply a maximum of 3 fps.