1.9. AVT Vimba

Summary:

AVT GigE, firewire and USB cameras using Vimba interface

Type:

DataIO

License:

Licensed under LGPL

Platforms:

Windows (Firewire + GigE + USB3), Linux only supports GigE (not tested yet)

Devices:

AVT Cameras driven by Vimba interface

Author:

J. Nitsche (IPROM Uni Braunschweig), M. Gronle (ITO Uni Stuttgart)

1.9.1. Overview

This plugin supports Allied Vision GigE and firewire cameras and has currently been tested with the following models:

  • Marlin, F033 (monochrome, Firewire)

  • Manta G-917B and G-146B (monochrome, GigE)

  • Alvium 1800 U-811c (monochrome, USB)

The plugin was tested with AVT Vimba 1.3.0, 1.4.0, 2.5.0.

In order to run your camera, please install the Vimba SDK in the right version such that the necessary drivers are installed. Color formats are not supported.

1.9.2. Initialization

The following parameters are mandatory or optional for initializing an instance of this plugin:

  • CameraNumber: int, optional

    camera number

    Value range: [0, 100], Default: 0

  • GigEPacketSize: int, optional

    ethernet packet size (GigE cameras only). If 0, the camera tries to startup with a value of 8228 bytes/sec (network card must have jumbo frames enabled). Else set it to 1500 bytes/sec, which is a safe setting for all GigE Ethernet network cards

    Value range: [0, 8228], Default: 0

1.9.3. Parameters

An instance of this plugin has the following internal parameters:

binning: {int}, read-only

binning (horizontal_factor * 100 + vertical_factor)

bpp: {int}

Bit depth of sensor

camera_number: {int}

Camera Number

gain: {float}

Gain of AD in dB, set it to 0.0 for best image quality.

gain_auto: {int}

auto-controlled gain (0: off, 1: continuously varies the gain; gain will be read-only then)

gamma: {float}

Gamma value

integration_time: {float}

Integrationtime of CCD [s]

interface: {str}, read-only

Interface type (Firewire, GigE)

name: {str}, read-only

name of plugin

offset: {float}

Offset as physical value that is a DC offset applied to the video signal. This values changes the blacklevel.

roi: {int rect [x0,y0,width,height]}

ROI (x,y,width,height) [this replaces the values x0,x1,y0,y1]

serial_no: {str}, read-only

Serial number

sizex: {int}, read-only

width of ROI

sizey: {int}, read-only

height of ROI

timeout: {float}

timeout for image acquisition in sec

trigger_activation: {str}

trigger activation (RisingEdge, FallingEdge, AnyEdge, LevelHigh, LevelLow). Not all values are supported for all cameras.

trigger_mode: {int}

trigger mode (0: Off, 1: On)

trigger_source: {str}

trigger source (Freerun, Line1, Line2, Line3, Line4, FixedRate, Software, InputLines). Not all values are supported for all cameras.

1.9.4. Usage

In order to use this plugin, please install the Vimba SDK from Allied Vision in version 2.0 or higher (see http://www.alliedvisiontec.com/de/produkte/software.html). During the installation, the necessary Vimba DLLs (VimbaC.dll and VimbaCPP.dll) should be copied into the system directory of Windows, such that no further steps need to be done using the AVT cameras within itom. If this is not the case, copy both libraries from the Vimba installation folder to the lib-folder of itom (make sure that you use the 64bit versions for 64bit itom and vice versa).

If you want to build this plugin from the sources, you need to make sure that you installed the C++ component of the Vimba SDK (select this component during the install process). In CMake enable the checkbox of the variable PLUGIN_AVTVimba and re-configure CMake. Then set the variable AVTVIMBA_INCLUDE_DIR to anything similar like C:/Program Files/Allied Vision Technologies/Vimba_2.0/VimbaCPP/Include (subfolder of the Vimba installation path) and generate your CMake project again. The variables AVTVIMBA_API_DIR, AVTVIMBA_LIBRARY**… should now be found automatically if you indicated a right Vimba installation directory in the step before.

1.9.5. Known issues

Some cameras raise a timeout error when acquiring images. If so, try to set the parameter ‘trigger_mode’ to 0 (off):

cam.setParam("trigger_mode", 0)

1.9.6. Changelog

  • itom setup 1.4.0: This plugin has been compiled using AVT Vimba 1.3.0

  • itom setup 2.0.0: This plugin has been compiled using AVT Vimba 1.3.0

  • itom setup 2.1.0: This plugin has been compiled using AVT Vimba 1.4.0

  • itom setup 2.2.0: This plugin has been compiled using AVT Vimba 2.0

  • itom setup 3.0.0: This plugin has been compiled using AVT Vimba 2.0

  • itom setup 3.1.0: This plugin has been compiled using AVT Vimba 2.1

  • itom setup 3.2.1: This plugin has been compiled using AVT Vimba 2.1

  • itom setup 4.0.0: This plugin has been compiled using AVT Vimba 3.1.0

  • itom setup 4.1.0: This plugin has been compiled using AVT Vimba 3.1.0