Ultra low-cost camera for embedded applications
The Allied Vision Alvium series is a camera range designed for embedded vision applications, fulfilling the high standards of industrial and scientific image processing.
The Alvium range includes entry-level and advanced models. The entry-level family focuses on the essentials and represents a door opener for very cost efficient vision solutions for both classic PC-based and compact embedded vision systems. A CMOS sensor range from 0.5 to 5 megapixels provides the necessary variety of choice.
The advanced camera series focuses on flexibility which not only includes a broader range of features, but also a large selection of sensors ranging from 0.5 up to 18 megapixels and different housing options.
Both camera families are available with two interfaces: the C camera family with MIPI CSI-2 interface and the U camera family with USB3 Vision interface. Both families are powered by Allied Vision’s ALVIUM technology including advanced image processing features. It provides freedom and flexibility, while setting new standards in quality and performance with it's proprietary processor, tiny size, low power consumption and low cost design.
The Allied Vision Alvium series accommodates over 100 current and future sensors. Designed to meet a very wide variety of requirements, it encapsulates the high performance of the latest CMOS sensors from leading manufacturers such as Sony or ON Semiconductor. The portfolio ranges from VGA up to 21 Megapixel resolutions.
Working with established host interface standards, the Alvium series ensures easy integration. Options include MIPI CSI-2 and USB 3.1 available in the USB3 Vision standard for industrial imaging. External components (such as triggers or lens control) can easily be connected by using the general purpose I/O pins (GPIO) provided by the design.
The low weight is just one of the benefits to the ultra compact single board design. The unique system-on-chip (SoC), designed by Allied Vision, completely reinvents the machine vision camera. It overcomes a lot of the problems associated with FPGA-based machine vision cameras, including how bulky they are. The high performance embedded system packs a lot of features into a very small system.
The Allied Vision Alvium camera line provides a lot of housing options, from a bare board right the way through to a completely enclosed camera. The orientation of connectors can be selected as well. Options include bare board, open front and full housing. With the USB camera, depending on the application's constraints, back or side connectors are available.
The high power consumption problems associated with FPGA based cameras are not a problem with the Allied Vision Alvium series. The proprietary chip technology ensures the system only consumes as much power as it needs. If an application only requires a finite set of functionalities, that's all it will draw the power for. Furthermore, each series of the Allied Vision Alvium has been designed with a pre-selected set of functions, tailored to the market segment, ensuring maximum efficiency with very effective power management. Therefore models with basic feature sets (designed for specific functions) will consume considerably less power than advanced models.
The Allied Vision Alvium camera range has the capacity to encompass a lot of preprocessing. Each series has a tailored group of performance, image quality and system level feature sets customised to meet most of the target market's requirements.
Robotics applications require ultra-compact and low weight cameras with good image quality, which can be ideally found in the entry-level models.
Reverse Vending Machines and other compact systems with limited space profit from ROI (Region of Interest) readout, which ensures that only specific regions of the image are inspected, like a barcode or the shape of a bottle.
Slide scanners, e.g. in pathology, demand an ultra-compact size and outstanding image quality, which are supported by the various features ALVIUM technology provides in the entry-level models, like defect pixel correction or adaptive noise reduction.
Traffic applications like Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) profit from outstanding image quality and multiple regions of interest of the Alvium advanced series.
Resolutions up to 18 megapixels in the advanced series give outstanding image quality for aerial mapping, besides the sequencing feature that enables shooting images with different conditions.
Microscopy needs good images with extreme low noise, which can be provided by means of integrated denoising algorithms as well as the passive cooling design offered by the Alvium advanced series closed housing version.
