System solutions for embedded vision applications

Improvements in image sensors, processing power, power consumption and computer algorithms, have all combined to enable the rapidly growing use of embedded vision technology in areas such as automotive, consumer, healthcare and home automation, in addition to the well-established area of machine-vision based analysis in industrial applications.

Avnet Silica has many years experience in delivering complete system solutions and combining subject matter expertise in hardware, software and algorithms for embedded vision. The first kit is the Kinetis camera development kit, which is based on the Freedom K82F low-cost microcontroller development platform from NXP and uses the Kinetis K82F Cortex-M4 MCU.

The Kinetis kit also includes a TD next miniature TD7740-FBAC VGA camera module with flex connector, a 90° horizontal-field-of-view lens and IR filter. Used as a low-power and highly flexible video solution, the K82F board can capture still images or stream real-time low-resolution video with QQVGA resolution (160x120) at 25 fps (frames per second) and deliver the still images or video through USB.

The Kinetis K82F is a highly configurable low-current-consumption MCU with a FlexIO interface, which can also simulate protocols such as UART and SPI, as well as being capable of integrating a camera interface.

The K82F board is ideal for a range of video applications including low-resolution USB video streaming, monitoring systems, automated inspection, part sorting and identification, camera PIR sensors, security and surveillance, home automation, access control systems, as well as logistics and retail analytics.

The second solution is the low-cost and Mbed-enabled STM32F7 camera development kit. It offers low-current consumption, USB interfacing, a 4.3-inch colour capacitive touchscreen display, and all the necessary hardware and software to enable the fast development of embedded vision for IoT, home automation and other video applications.

The kit is based on the STM32F7 development board from STMicroelectronics and enables a wide diversity of applications benefiting from video, audio, multi-sensor support, graphics, security and high-speed connectivity features.

The advanced STM32 Cortex-M7 microcontroller family comes with a variety of different memory choices, as well as the option of with or without a JPEG codec. A range of TD next miniature camera modules can interface with the STM32F7 to deliver VGA quality or lower resolution video.

All these capabilities makes the kit ideal for a wide range of applications including home automation, security and video surveillance or industrial monitoring systems, among many others.

Both embedded vision kits will be on show at the Avnet Silica stand at electronica in Hall A4, Booth 179 and are available now from Avnet Silica.