Cameracube

MikeChristle

Greetings

I found this great camera on Digikey that I would like to use in my next project. It's called a cameracube, see link below. It was designed for cell phones, it's small and cheap and has great features. However, it uses a ball grid array interface, not easy for a hobbyist to work with. Does anyone know if this is available on a module for hobbyist to use, or maybe Parallax could make one. I would certainly buy a couple. Thanks for the info.

Mike


Digikey pn 884-1019-1-ND
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/OVM7690-R20A/884-1019-1-ND/2123272

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

One of the problems with this device -- in addition to being a BGA -- is that you have to sign an NDA with OmniVision just to get a datasheet. This is the same device, I believe, that's used in Parallax's laser range finder. But you won't find a device datasheet on that product page either. In fact, no one who markets a module using this device would be allowed to provide adequate documentation for it.

-Phil

Duane Degn

Phil's right about the Parallax Laser Range Finder using that camera.

The gerber files for the LRF are available. That ball grid does present a challenge though. The traces on the LRF are 3 mil which is finer than most PCB places (at least the ones I've used) will allow.

I'd like to figure out how to make a breakout board for the camera but I think it's beyond my present abilities to make one.

I think there are some datasheets available on the web for the camera. I think someone didn't abide by their end of the NDA and posted them online.

As Phil often points out when cameras and microcontrollers are discussed, there's an additional challenge of what to do with all the data created by the camera. I believe a color image of even medium resolution would be more than most microcontrollers can handle. I think there may be ways to use external memory to hold the captured image or one could use part of the image. The LRF uses a small portion of the total image to search for the laser dot.

I have some links to machine vision projects in post #4 of my index (see signature). I'm pretty sure there's a link to Phil's PropCam which should be for sale soon.

If I can find a place to make PCB detailed enough for the camera cube, I'd attempt making a board. I have a couple of the cameras I purchased in a recent Digi-Key order.