Camarray – Arducam 1MP Quadrascopic Camera Bundle Kit

Introduction

This Arducam quadrascopic camera bundle incorporates four 1MP OV9281 global shutter cameras, and the cutting-edge MIPI stereo camera breakthrough from Arducam – The Arducam Camarray HAT. As the upgraded version of Arducam Synched Stereo Camera HAT, the Camarray further pushes the multi-camera limits and doubles the interfacing capabilities to allow 4 synchronized MIPI camera modules to be interfaced to a single MIPI CSI-2 slot on prevailing single-board computers like Raspberry Pi, Jetson Nano, and Jetson Xavier NX.

Also, as the Camarray HAT releases, Arducam starts to support a variable baseline for stereo camera applications with some modified Arducam camera modules, such as those OV9281 ones included in this bundle. Since no shared camera board or clock-sharing soldering is required for the image sensors, you can kick off your prototyping for stereo camera applications and then decide the optimal baseline. Arducam also accepts subsequent customizations for your stereo camera applications.

What is Camarray

Camarray is a series of embedded stereo cameras and multiple camera solutions from Arducam. Upgraded from Arducam Sync Stereo Camera HAT, the Camarry can disguise up to 4 synched camera modules as a single camera slot connection to embedded systems like the Raspberry Pi, Jetson nano, and Xavier NX. With Arducam camarray, your camera connectivities are no longer limited to the camera connectors on the motherboard or the carrier board. Along with Arducam-provided camera drivers, more flexibility can be added to your multi-camera applications.

Common Specs

Image Sensor

Lens Assembly

Board

Connector & Cable

Driver Performance (With Official V4L2 Driver)

Quick Start Guide​​

Hardware Setup​​​​

Driver Installation

1. Driver note

There are 3 drivers for Raspberry Pi:

• Official driver
• Arducam MIPI camera driver
• Arducam V4L2 driver

1)Arducam MIPI camera driver is not in conflict with the official driver.

2)Arducam V4L2 driver is in conflict with the official driver. If you want to use the official driver, you need to uninstall the Arducam V4L2 driver first.

3)Arducam V4L2 driver is in conflict with Arducam MIPI camera driver. If you want to use the Arducam MIPI camera driver, you need to uninstall the Arducam V4L2 driver first.

4)Arducam V4L2 driver automatically overwrites the other two drivers. After uninstalling the Arducam V4L2 driver, it automatically reverts to the official driver.

The product is driven by the Arducam V4L2.

2. Check the driver

Determine if the system is installed with the Arducam V4L2 driver.

Enter the config.txt :

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Press【PageDown】several times or scroll your mouse wheel down to check if there is “dtoverlay=arducam”.

1)If you see “dtoverlay=arducam”, the Arducam V4L2 driver has been previously installed and is in a valid state. Press 【Ctrl+X】, 【Enter】to exit the config.txt.

2)If you see “#dtoverlay=arducam”, it means you have installed Arducam V4L2 driver before, but it is uninstalled now, remove the “#” to restore the V4L2 driver. Then reboot Pi to take effect. Press 【Ctrl+X】, 【Y】,【Enter】to save the change and exit the config.txt..

3)If you don’t see “dtoverlay=arducam” or “#dtoverlay=arducam”, it means that Arducam’s V4L2 driver has never been installed before, so you need to follow the instructions below for a complete installation. Press 【Ctrl+X】, 【Enter】to exit the config.txt.

3. Install the driver

#Download driver package

wget https://github.com/ArduCAM/Arducam_OBISP_MIPI_Camera_Module/releases/download/v1.0/Release.tar.gz

#Extract the archive files

tar zxvf Release.tar.gz

#Enter the extracted folder

cd Release/

#Install the driver

./install_driver.sh

#Reboot the device

Press y, and then hit Enter to reboot.

Get an error?

If your operating system is not released by official Raspberry Pi, the driver installation will report an error and give a version error message.

Check out Raspberry Pi official supported operating system:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/operating-systems/

4. Uninstall the driver

Note that the driver will occupy CSI hardware resources. After installation, you will not be able to use the raspistill tool. There are two ways to uninstall Arducam V4L2 driver:

Method 1: Execute the uninstall command

cd Release/

./uninstall_driver.sh

NOTE

You have to reboot your Pi to make it effect.

Method 2: Modify configuration files

1)Type the following command:

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

2.Press【PageDown】several times or scroll your mouse wheel down to check if there is “dtoverlay=arducam”.

Modify “dtoverlay=arducam” as “#dtoverlay=arducam” to uninstall the V4L2 driver. Press 【Ctrl+X】, 【Y】,【Enter】to save the change and exit.

NOTE

You have to reboot your Pi to make it effect.

First Use

1.Check whether the camera is detected

ls /dev/video0

2.Check the video format supported

v4l2-ctl --list-formats-ext

3.Preview the camera feed in real time

#RAW10

arducamstill -t 0 -pixfmt Y10P -w 5120 -h 800

#RAW8

arducamstill -t 0 -pixfmt GREY -w 5120 -h 800 

The last line shows frame in real time.

​GREY for RAW8 and Y10P for RAW10.

​-w and -h indicate the width and height of the input image.

Press Ctrl+C to exit the preview.

v4l2-ctl -l

v4l2-ctl -c exposure=100

v4l2-ctl -c gain=14

4.Receive data without displaying the image

Dropped frames may exist due to platform performance. You can test the actual input frames by only receiving data without displaying the image.

#RAW10

v4l2-ctl --set-fmt-video=width=5120,height=800,pixelformat='Y10P' --stream-mmap --stream-count=-1 -d /dev/video0

#RAW8

v4l2-ctl --set-fmt-video=width=5120,height=800,pixelformat='GREY' --stream-mmap --stream-count=-1 -d /dev/video0

5.Adjust exposure

Open two terminals, the first one is for executing the displaying images command, the second one is for executing the adjusting exposure command.

#Adjust exposure:

v4l2-ctl -c exposure=1000

#Check exposure parameters (minimum, maximum, default)

v4l2-ctl -l

For example, execute the below command in the second terminal:

v4l2-ctl -c exposure=4000

Turning up the exposure time results in a brighter image and a lower frame rate.

6. Adjust gain

Open two terminals, the first one is for executing the displaying images command, the second one is for executing the adjusting gain command.

#Adjust gain:

v4l2-ctl -c gain=12

#Check exposure parameters (minimum, maximum, default)

v4l2-ctl -l

For example, execute the below command in the second terminal:

v4l2-ctl -c gain=12

Turning up the gain results in a brighter image and no change in frame rate.

7.Change frame rate

Type the following command, change the value of “X” to change frame rate.

v4l2-ctl -c frame_rate=X

For example, you want to change the frame rate to 30. First, open two terminals, type the following command in the first terminal

arducamstill -t 0 -pixfmt GREY -w 5120 -h 800

Type the following command in the second terminal to change frame rate:

v4l2-ctl -c frame_rate=30

Type the following command in the second terminal to view the frame rate range of the current display mode:

v4l2-ctl -l

IMPORTANT NOTE

Dropped frames may exist due to the platform performance.

For example, if the frame rate is set to 46 fps, the display only goes up to 38fps.

But when you use only receiving data without displaying the image, the frame rate goes back to 45fps. (The frame rate values here are not real-time and are calculated iteratively with historical values, changing slowly.)

Display Images via VLC Media Player

The Raspberry Pi system comes with a VLC madia player.

1.Open VLC media plyer

2.Select 【Media】→【Open Capture Device…】

3.【Video device name】→ select “/dev/video0“→ click 【Play】

It may be stuck due to Raspberry Pi performance and VLC media player.

4.Adjust the exposure, gain, and frame rate

【Tool】→【Effects and Filters】

Drag the different slider to adjust the corresponding parameter.

Display Images via Mplayer

1.Install mplayer

sudo apt-get install mplayer

2.Display images

mplayer tv:// -tv driver=v4l2:device=/dev/video0

Do not enter this command remotely, otherwise it will be stuck.

The image screen may be too large for the display to be complete. You need to drag the title bar to move the window to see the full image. (The image is pretty smooth.)

Or enter the following command to zoom the image. The image will appear full, but it will become stuck.

mplayer tv:// -tv driver=v4l2:device=/dev/video0 -zoom -x 1280 -y 200

“-x” “- y” denotes the width and height of the scaled image, and it is recommended to modify them in equal proportion.

External Trigger Mode

Hardware Setup

The external trigger mode has requirements on the connection method and electrical level of the external trigger signal.

The external trigger signal voltage should be 1.8V, and then send it to four cameras at the same time (It can be achieved through the breadboard ).

NOTE: 3.3V may burn out the device for the DOVDD of the camera is 1.8V.

The external trigger signal is connected to the FSIN test hole of the camera board (you may need to solder the row of pins by yourself. Note that GND should also be connected).

Software Setup

Method 1: Through terminal

Enter external trigger mode:

v4l2-ctl -c trigger_mode=1

Exit external trigger mode:

v4l2-ctl -c trigger_mode=0

Method 2: Through software interface

If you use VLC player, you can check “trigger_mode” under [v4l2 controls] tab to enter external trigger mode.

What’s Next

Here are the things you can do after this quick start:

• Check the Application Note for applications like using Arducam userland MIPI camera drivers.
• Join the discussion in our forum.