SwisTrack/Components/InputCameraGigE

Description

This component grabs frames from a Basler Vision gigabit ethernet camera (scout or pilot series, or a compatible model) using the Basler Pylon driver (version 2.0). Note that this component is not part of the standard distribution of SwisTrack and requires compiling SwisTrack by yourself.

Input

A Pylon compliant GigE (Gigabit Ethernet) camera, such as the scout or pilot GigE cameras from Basler Vision.

Output

A grayscale or a color image.

Trigger Mechanism

If configured in software trigger mode, this component always accepts processing frames.

In all other trigger modes, the component vetoes execution until the next frame from the camera is ready.

Parameters

Camera

Choose the GigE camera you want to use to acquire images. The special entry "Any" takes any available camera (actually the camera that the driver lists as first camera).

Mode

Color or grayscale mode. Note that you anyway need to add an input conversion component.

Trigger mode

If you have an external trigger connected to your camera, select the trigger input line here. Acquisition will be triggered on the rising edge.

Timer uses the internal timer of the camera.

Software trigger sends the trigger signal over ethernet, which is not as precise as an external trigger or the internal timer. (In this configuration, the component does not act as a trigger.)

Timer

Sets the internal timer trigger of the camera. Note that this field is only used if Trigger mode is set to Timer.

Exposure time

Raw exposure time. This value is multiplied by the exposure time base of the camera to obtain the actual exposure time. Refer to the camera documentation for details.

Analog gain

Analog gain. Refer to the camera documentation for details.

Area of Interest (Offset and Size)

The image area to sample and transmit. Smaller areas will result in higher frame rates.

Input buffer size

The number of input buffers (in number of frames) to provide to the camera driver. The camera driver will fill these buffers in case the computer is temporarily busy with other tasks and not able read the frames at the speed they arrive. Recommended values are:

• 1 - 4 for online processing (e.g. for live tracking of robots)
• 8 - 16 for offline processing (e.g. recording for post-experiment analysis)