Arrow clinches deal to supply compact camera modules
Arrow Electronics has signed an agreement with Israeli company Appletec under which Appletec will produce a range of compact camera modules (CCMs) exclusively for Arrow.
The CCMs are intended for developers who want to add an embedded vision capability to products used in sectors including industrial, medical, security and automotive. A customisation service will be available to support a variety of interconnect solutions.
The choice of CCM will depend on a number of factors in the requirements of the application.
For example, the amount of detail to be captured will determine the choice of resolution and frame rate, while the selected field of view (FOV) and depth of field will reflect the area to be covered.
The Arrow CCMs use CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) image sensors from onsemi and can utilise the image signal processor (ISP) on the customer’s main board where, to minimise cost, they do not include their own ISP.
Two fixed focus CCMs are available initially, offering 0.3 or 4MP sensors and fields of view ranging from 49 to 84 degrees. Frame rates range from 36.7fps (at 720p) and 75fps (at VGA) up to 360fps.
A CCM with auto-focus and 13MP sensor will be added soon offering 30fps and 64 degree FOV.
A fourth CCM, based on a 1.26MP, 30fps sensor with integrated Image Flow Processor completes the portfolio, enabling vision functionality even for MCU platforms without additional hardware components, keeping the design cost effective.
System developers can write their own software drivers for the CCMs or make use of the driver produced by eInfochips, an Arrow company, which is due to be released at the end of Q1 2022.
Companies that wish to accelerate development times even further can deploy one of the fully plug-and-play camera reference designs announced by Arrow recently, which include related technologies.