To: BCS_CAD-SIG From: Colin Godfrey Subject: SIGGRAPH/Boston: High-Speed Cameras, April 1. SIGGRAPH/Boston Meeting Announcement High-Speed Motion Capture Cameras Andrew Cunningham Adaptive Optics Associates Wednesday, April 1, 1998 at GTE Labs, Waltham, MA. Abstract This meeting will focus on high speed industrial camera systems used for image capture. An overview of the Kineview camera system will be presented together with some background in high speed imaging. Other imaging systems produced by the Camera Group at Adaptive Optics will be briefly discussed such as the 8000 pixel line scan camera for PCB inspection and machine vision systems used for industrial process control. The Kineview system is a 1000 frame per second 256 x 256 pixel camera system. It can store up 4096 frames of data and play the sequence of ames back on an RS-170 or CCIR output. Then, the image data is stored on a computer for future analysis. The fast framing camera allows the user to analyze motion that occurs too fast for the human eye or typical video camera. This is very useful for industrial process control or natural phenomena that occur at high speed. very fast imaging system is required to stop the action for study. A fast framing camera starts with the focal plane. The focal plane is the device which converts the light into an electrical signal that can be processed. The most common and mature technology for visible light imaging is the Charge Coupled Device, or CCD. The is very much like a memory chip with the cover off. As light falls on to the surface of the device it creates electron-hole pairs which collect in all the different locations. When the exposure is complete the different pixel (or memory locations) are read out. The signal for each pixel is amplified and digitized. The digitized pixel value is read into the frame grabber in e computer where it is displayed and analyzed. To achieve frame rates of 1000 Hz the focal plane has more than one tput. The image is divided into multiple sections that can be read out in parallel, therefore greatly increasing the speed. Even then the data tes are high. For a 256 x 256 pixel focal plane with four outputs to frame at 1000 frames per second each output must operate at 20 Megapixels per second. This means the data rate for an 8 bit image is 80 Mbytes per second. This data rate is higher than most industry frame grabbers can handle. AOA produced its own frame grabber to fill the need. The frame grabber can store up to 4096 frames of data plus do real time offset and gain correction on a per pixel basis. The frame grabber also s an RS-170 output that can display the current image at 30 frames per second. If the camera is operating at higher than 30 frames per second frames are sub sampled. Once the data is stored, it can be played back through the RS-170 output at variable speeds. The stored frames can be selected and then stored on the computer's hard drive. AOA manufactures a complete fast framing camera system, the Kineview 56P, that combines the camera and computer with frame grabber in a rugged, portable case. This system operates on a battery for many hours for operation in locations with no access to AC power. For example, many of r systems are used in the blasting industry to record and analyze a blast. In the past fast film cameras were used. Film cameras did not allow them preview the setup and the results were not available till much later. th the Kineview system the results are instantly available. About the Speaker Andrew Cunningham is the Manager of the Camera Products Group at Adaptive Optics Associates located in Cambridge. Adaptive Optics Camera Product Group produces fast framing cameras for science and industry. Andy has er 10 years of experience in the design and integration of high speed digital cameras. Previously, Andy worked in RF and Radar systems at Raytheon. Andy has a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Masters Degree in Circuits and Systems from Northeastern University. When Wednesday, April 1, 1998. Networking time at 6:30pm, announcements and feature presentation at 7:00pm. Where GTE Labs, Waltham, MA. Directions to GTE Labs. From Route 128 (interstate 95), get off at exit 27B, Winter Street, in Waltham. ->From I-95 (128) South the exit leads you right onto Winter Street. ->From I-95 (128) North, turn right at the light at the end of the exit, onto Wyman Street, turn right again at the next opportunity, onto Winter Street, and cross over I-95. Go West on Winter Street through 3 closely spaced traffic lights, staying in the right lane. The Cambridge Reservoir appears on your right and the entrance to GTE Laboratories (40 Sylvan Road) is on the left. About halfway past the buildings, turn right under a pedestrian bridge joining two buildings. The entrance is in the building on your right from the central courtyard. Park in the central lot, follow the signs pointing to Lobby 2 and the Auditorium and sign in at Lobby 2 (in the northeast-most building). ************************************************************************ SIGGRAPH/Boston Contacts WWW: http://www.siggraph.org/chapters/boston SIGGRAPH/Boston maintains a mailing list for e-mail announcements of meetings. Send e-mail to siggraphdistrib-request@cs.umb.edu if you want be added or dropped from this list. ======================================================================