Appendix C—Tau 640 with Photon Accessories
Tau 640 User’s Manual
C-2
June 2011
TAU-0640-00-10, version 110
C.2 Remote control of the Tau 640 camera
The Tau 640
camera accommodates advanced camera control through an RS-232 serial
interface. A user can control the camera through this interface using their own software and
hardware by following the Serial Communication Protocol and command structure defined in
Appendix B. This requires programming skills and a strong technical background. The user can
also use the FLIR Camera Controller GUI offered as a free download from FLIR using a
Windows based PC with the standard serial communications and components provided in the
Development Kit. This software provides remote control of various camera features and
modes. The FLIR Camera Controller GUI
software is compatible with Windows XP and Windows
7. The PC must have a spare serial communications port or you must use one of the Tau 640
USB accessories (VPC module or Camera Link module). High-speed communication (921600
Baud) is possible using the USB accessories.
Note
If your embedded or specialty applications require custom control software, a Software
Developer’s Kit (SDK) is available.
C.3 Connecting the serial communications interface using the
development kit
You should have successfully operated the camera and obtained live video on a monitor as
described in paragraph C.1 “Operation of the Tau 640 camera using the Photon Accessory Kit”
on page C-1.
The only additional hardware required for serial communication is a serial cable connected as
shown below.
Attach one end of a standard RS-232 serial port (9-pin) PC cable to the communications port
labeled
RS-232
on the I/O Module. Attach the other end to the serial port on your PC. This
cable should be a standard RS-232 cable, not a cross-over configured serial cable, or null-
modem cable.
A USB to Serial port adapter is acceptable, but the data communication rate must be set to
57600 BAUD.
To PC serial COM port
(RS232)
To Photon
Replicator Board
