On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 7:15 PM, Tilman Baumann
<address@hidden> wrote:
On 15/08/12 17:54, Simon Wilks wrote:
A different photography related question.
I have seen small commercial UAVs here and there that claim to have pretty good quality camera (not video camera) devices integrated but they must be pretty small to fit into some of these frames. Does anyone know where you can get something like this? So far I have only found Sony industrial cameras but they all seem relatively large.
CCD sensors are pretty much standardized and you can choose a sensor board that fits your need. Then build a enclosure (or hack one) with your own lens.
And to read it use a small linux board with camera port for example (most SoC have that).
Not saying it's easy. But if you don't need all the stuff that cameras usually have attached you can go very small indeed because the sensor is small and the lens as big as you want it.
Most camera systems are layed out like this one for example.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-CCD-Video-Camera-Module-Model-XC-73CE-/350491543342?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item519aec872e (only for visualisation purposes)
On one end you see a industry standard lens mount. Then behind that is a PCB with the sensor with backs on the front lens housing.
>From that sensor board you usually have a flat ribbon cable and i2c which which again is fairly industry standard.
Take a cam like that, chop off the rest and replace with a small linux board with CCD port.
You get a high resolution rugged cam on very little space with industry standard lens mount.
My employer works with that stuff. Eventually I will build my own cam. But it's a bit too complex and not my priority right now.
PS: Really, I have not done this. But if you feel confident this is how I would do it.