Machine vision systems require a lot of flexibility on the hardware side because the use cases differ a lot between fields of application – industrial end-of-line testing has other needs than a robot for the inspection of bridges or a data logger for self-driving cars. Adding to this range of demands, embedded cameras tend to use the latest incarnations of video interfaces, which change rather frequently. Right now, Gigabit Multimedia Serial Link is already on its third generation (GMSL3) while its competitor Flat Panel Display Link is already on the fourth (FPD-Link IV). To provide a sufficiently versatile and upgradeable system to tackle these challenges now and in the future, German embedded electronics experts Solectrix have developed proFRAME, a modular solution with individual camera adapters matching particular serializer types on the camera side. Right now, adapters for GMSL2 and 3 as well as FPD-Link III and IV are available, enabling connection of many common camera types, but future revisions of these standards or entirely different ones like Camera Link or GigE Vision can be supported with customized adapters. Whether your project calls for high resolutions like 4K or super-high frame rates like 1,500 fps, the proFRAME system can be adapted to meet these requirements.
This flexibility is enabled by a core module with a Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ ZU4 MPSoC at its heart, combining a CPU and an FPGA in one chip. This base board is available in two formats: As a PCI Express card for use in standard PCs or in the industrial CompactPCI Serial 3U form factor. By equipping two camera adapters, each base board can capture video from up to eight cameras at once. If you need even more, syncing of two base boards is also supported. The base board handles real-time processing and precise time stamping of the image data and can also provide synchronized playback of recorded footage. This is a core feature in one of the most common use cases for the proFRAME system so far: The validation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) or Autonomous Driving (AD), a safety-critical application that demands the highest standards from testing equipment – a sign of the high quality and reliability of the proFRAME system.
Solectrix GmbH was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Fuerth, Germany. As an innovator and independent full-service provider, the company develops and manufactures demanding embedded electronic solutions on customers’ behalf and offers off-the-shelf electronic components and systems developed in-house.
