New Features in SDK 5.20
In addition to usual bug fixes, camera file additions, firmware updates, there are a number of new and exciting features in the new SDK 5.20 release. The sections below highlight the biggest of these new features.
New Timing Generator (NTG)
All BitFlow Frame Grabbers have always had the ability to produce complex waveforms for camera syncrhonizatin, controlling external devices (e.g. Strobes) and for any other industrial need. However, this waveform generator, for all its flexibilty, is somewhat complicated to use. With SDK 5.20, we have added an on-board New Timing Generator (NTG).
The NTG is based on a completely independent timing generator that is unrelated to acquisition and the CTabs. This timing generator is easy to program, is not depend on camera architecture or triggering modes, and offers the granularity and range that customers need. There is no connection between the NTG and the acquisition state machine, the CTabs, the VAW/HAW or the camera connected.
The New Timing Generator supports both triggered and free running modes. For triggered modes it supports both the trigger signal for area cameras or the encoder signal for line cameras.
New functions have been added to the API to support programming the NTG from your application. The funtions take real world time units (e.g. milliseconds) which makes programming very easy.
The NTG requires that the camera be put in one of two modes. If the NTG is going to control just the line/frame rate, then the camera should be programmed into a "triggered" mode. In this case, the exposure is controlled by the camera. IF the NTG is to control both the line/frame rate as well as the exposure time, then the camera must be put into a "pulse width control" mode. In this case, neither the line/frame rate nor the exposure time are controlled by the camera. They are both completely controlled by the NTG.
Quadrature Encoder Support
BitFlow has added the ability to work with quadrature encoders to it's Neon and Karbon family of frame grabbers. Quadrature encoders provide not only a signal which indicates the speed (or distance) that the object in front of the camera has moved, but also direction information.. This information can be used with a line scan camera for some very complex triggering schemes. Some supported modes are, only acquire in the positive direct, only acquire when the encoder counter is between a minimum and a maximum encoder count (interval mode), only acquire new lines, etc. Quadrature encoders are often used with recipricating stages, BitFlow's new support provided precise control over exactly which lines are acquired and at what rate.
Most of the quadrature encoder modes that are support can be combinded. For example, the board can be programmed to only acquire positive going lines between a start and an end encoder count. In addtion, the Encoder Divider circuit can be used at the same time (it is inserted before the quadarture encoder circuit). Thus the encoder control can be used at any frequency required, not neccessarily the frequency of the encoder.
All of the quadrature encoder inner works can be obeserved. The current encoder count, the encoder direction, in/out of interval, new/old lines. This makes debugging encoder problems much easier, as well as provide hooks into even more sophisticated triggering schemes and process control.
Encoder Divider/Multiplier
The purpose of Encoder Divider is to provide the ability to use an encoder running at one rate to drive a line scan camera at a different rate. This circuit is only useful for line scan cameras. The Encoder Divider can scale up or down the incoming encoder frequency. The encoder divider is fully programmable and is easily controlled from software and/or from camera configuration files.
The factor used to scaled the incoming encoder frequency does not have to be a whole number. For example, the encoder could be scaled by 0.03448 or 4.2666). Of course not all ration numbers in the available scaling range can be selected (there are an infinite number of them). However, a useful selection of values is available which should support most applications. The circuit also has the abilty to go into an "idle" mode when the input frequence goes below a certain level. The output of the encoder divider can either by synchronized to the input, or free-running. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages.
New functions have been added to the API to support programming the encoder divider from your application.
CamEd Enhancements
BitFlow's Camera Configuration Editing tool has been greating enhance. It now includes tools to interactive edit the two new features above, the NTG and the Encoder Divider. These tools provide an easy to use GUI for parameter mofications, as well as the ability to see the effects of the modifications in real time in the live display window.
Other CamEd enhancements include the ability to modify the CTABs in an easy to use spreadsheet tool. The ability to control all of the boards output (internal signal routing of the sources of the CCs and GPOUTs). The trigger control dialog now lets you selelect from all of the trigger and encoder source available (new sources include the NTG
Support for Extremely High Frame Rate Cameras
Usually, when a frame from a camera has been DMAed into host memory, the frame grabber issues and interrupt to the host application so that it knows it can now start processing that frame. With most cameras, this works well. However, on cameras that run at very high frame rates (10,000+) the interrupt rate can start to bog down the computer. With todays CMOS cameras, very small ROIs are capable of frames rates approaching 100,000 FPS. In order to handle these high data rates, BitFlow has introduced its AFPDF circuitry which reduces the frame rate by a programmable amount, while still making sure all the data is DMAed to host memory. BitFlow AFPDF is just another example of how BitFlow's technology has been design with the users entire application in mind, we do everything we can to make sure the CPU is100% available for your applications processing needs.
New SDK Version 5.30!
BitFlow SDK 5.30 has been released. It can be download from the link below.
Get the SDK
Click here to go to our Customer Support Files page and get access to our downloads.