Monday, March 22, 2021

LUCID Launches Helios2 – The Next Generation Time of Flight Camera. Improved 3D ToF Performance

 https://thinklucid.com/helios-time-of-flight-tof-camera/


Helios2 integrates Sony’s DepthSense™ IMX556PLR back-illuminated ToF image sensor and uses four 850nm VCSEL laser diodes. The camera delivers 640 x 480 depth resolution at up to an 8.3m working distance and at a frame rate of 30fps. Additional features include 6 different operating distance modes, an integrated ambient light filter, a wider FOV, multi-camera support and a flying pixels filter. On-camera processing provides range, intensity and confidence data which reduces the need for expensive host systems.

Helios2 HLT003S is list priced at $1,495 USD

Basler blaze - Time-of-Flight (ToF) Camera



https://www.baslerweb.com/en/products/cameras/3d-cameras/basler-blaze/



Universally usable time-of-flight camera with high precision for cost-efficient 3D imaging in real time

The Basler blaze industrial 3D camera operates on the pulsed Time-of-Flight principle. Its laser diodes (VCSEL) work in the NIR range (940 nm), generating 2D and 3D data in one shot with a multipart image, incorporating range, intensity and confidence maps.

The Basler blaze offers high resolution (VGA), precision via Sony’s innovative DepthSense™ sensor technology, plus powerful features at an attractive price, making the Basler blaze unique in the market.



The highlights of the Basler blaze camera at a glance




Outstanding 3D imaging with the latest Sony DepthSense™ IMX556PLR sensor technology
Precise, almost millimeter-accurate optical measurement with the time-of-flight method
Large measuring range, covering approximately two Euro pallets or a small car
Real-time streaming of pre-processed 3D point clouds and 2D intensity images
Daylight capability and IP67 protection for stable results under difficult conditions
Light and contrast independent
Easy system integration thanks to compact design and Gigabit Ethernet
User-friendly and platform-independent programming interface with sample programs
Reliable operation in multi-camera systems without mutual interference


Sunday, March 7, 2021

ampy - Utility to interact with a MicroPython board over a serial connection.

 

This can be really useful to control the I/O hardware if your control board is running on MicroPython like the Micro:Bit. 


I found ampy was being used by the Hadabot Project used for teaching ROS2. that consisted of an ESP32 Wifi board running ampy, and a simple DC motor controller on a magic chassis , turtle bot robot that is just two motors, a motor driver , and encoders, and a few sensors.  Everything was being over Wifi to be controlled by ROS via the ampy python library which is a cinch to in then map ROS messages in to micropython function calls.  


https://github.com/scientifichackers/ampy

ampy

MicroPython Tool (ampy) - Utility to interact with a CircuitPython or MicroPython board over a serial connection.

Ampy is meant to be a simple command line tool to manipulate files and run code on a CircuitPython or MicroPython board over its serial connection. With ampy you can send files from your computer to the board's file system, download files from a board to your computer, and even send a Python script to a board to be executed.

Note that ampy by design is meant to be simple and does not support advanced interaction like a shell or terminal to send input to a board. Check out other MicroPython tools like rshell or mpfshell for more advanced interaction with boards.