Art 3D/VR challenge – waiting for camera

Introduction

I was researching the right cameras for very long time. The market is full of products on every level:

• plain CMOS image sensor
• camera modules with e.g. MIPI/CSI interface
• dedicated camera boards with e.g. USB 2.0/3.0, HDMI interface
• final products with e.g. lenses, enclosure

I have found a plenty of producers and I did research on following:

• Sony (IMX series: IMX135, IMX214)
• Aptina (AR series: AR1820, AR0330)
• OmniVision (OV series, OV4682, OV5680)

This is my very abstract drawing of what I have found so far...

Requirements

My main requirements is compatibility with Ubuntu and Jetson TX1 which runs kernel of 3.10.67 version and also:

• min. FullHD with min. 30fps
• support for min. MIPI/CSI-2 and USB 3.0 (prototype only)
• min. 1/3" image sensor
• support for 16:9 and 4:3
• support for M12, S-mount
• built-in ISP (Image Signal Processing)
• configurable: Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation control, Gamma control Gain, Exposure (Manual and Auto), White Balance (Manual and Auto)
• preferably configurable scene modes: auto, night, sport, normal, high sensitive, prtraint, landscape and more
• preferably configurable special effects: grayscale, negtive, solarize, sepia and more
• support for external trigger
• support for extra GPIO
• support for YUV422 (uncompressed)
• preferably BSI technology
• preferably 10+ bit per pixel (RAW10)
• support for electronic rolling shutter (and also global shutter reset)
• very low SNR
• very small, less than 35Hx35Wx20D mm

Betting on...

I have decided to go with Aptina AR1820HS module with USB3.0 adapter board. I have high hopes to use just module without USB adapter in final version. The main interface will be MIPI/CSI-2 which is properly supported with Jetson TX1. Also AR1820HS seems to be supported by linux with MIPI/CSI-2 and I2C interface.

Stereo cameras have been just ordered. Delivery time is 3 weeks so let's wait and test another options in meantime! total cost is $550 including delivery to UK.

Contribution

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in meeting the team and contribution to this project in any programming language (puppet, go, php, ruby, js, node.js, objective-c, java… and hardware, PCB, 3D printing, UI/UX, PR… and financial support...)

See my contact page if required.

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