PropCam

MacGeek117

Whatever happened to the PropCam? A lot of expectation, and then nothing?!
I was looking forward to it, too.
MacGeek117

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
BS2: $49


SX48 Protoboard: $10

Propeller Protoboard: Priceless

www.apple.com

www.parallax.com

www.goldmine-elec.com

www.expresspcb.com

www.jameco.com

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Still, still, still in gestation. When the Propeller Backpack is released by Parallax (soon, I hope), there will actually be something for the PropCam to plug into. (It's a daughterboard.) BTW, I demo'd the PropCam/Backpack "sandwich" at the UPEW in June. There's some cleanup to do regarding the planned mezzanine boards, which are shared with the TSL1401-DB, but the biggest obstacle is the mountain of documentation that I need to write. This, combined with the fact that it has to be a limited edition of 1500 units, means it's not exactly low-hanging fruit — despite a $15K investment in now-discontinued sensor chips.

The extended delays are beyond embarrassing at this point; so thank you, MacGeek117, for dragging my shame into public view again. 'Truth be known, if I dedicated all my time to finishing the PropCam, I'd be chastised roundly for not finishing other stuff. There's no winning this one, I'm afraid.

Seriously, though, I don't mind the occasional reminders. What was it that P. T. Barnum said? "There's no such thing as bad publicity, as long as they spell your name right." That's "P-H-I-L-I-P" with one "L", "P-I-L-G-R-I-M" not "-A-M".

-Phil

MacGeek117

I feel your pain with names. Mine is commonly mispronounced. (and misspelled)
Do you have any specs available?
MacGeek117

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
BS2: $49


SX48 Protoboard: $10

Propeller Protoboard: Priceless

www.apple.com

www.parallax.com

www.goldmine-elec.com

www.expresspcb.com

www.jameco.com

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Here's a link to a spec sheet for the sensor: Kodak KAC-9630 (PDF). The PropCAM uses the four MSBs of the eight-bit output. Although the 128x101-pixel resolution isn't great, it's a good match for the Propeller's RAM size. And it's blistering fast: up to 580 frames/sec. One additional advantage it has over TV camera sensors is that the entire frame is captured at once before it's clocked out, rather than a line at a time. Exposure times can be as low as 10usec, but I haven't tried any high-speed imaging with it yet.

-Phil

MacGeek117

Looks good! I'm assuming that the Prop's resources are completely taken up by the image processing.
I look forward to getting one when it comes out. Thanks!
MacGeek117

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
BS2: $49


SX48 Protoboard: $10

Propeller Protoboard: Priceless

www.apple.com

www.parallax.com

www.goldmine-elec.com

www.expresspcb.com

www.jameco.com