Getting Started Guide: Cobra OCT Spectrometers
Page 11
Cobra Camera Link Commands
The spectrometer camera board has an FPGA that provides control of the line scan array and sends out
data via the serial port in the Camera Link board and cable. The spectrometer is designed to conform to
the Camera Link standards for pinouts and I/O. The spectrometer has been tested with Camera Link cards
from Dalsa and National Instruments, but any card that conforms to the Camera Link standards should
work.
Camera Link Card Requirements
For the 2048 pixel arrays, base Camera Link configuration is used. This requires one Camera Link cable
connected to the top connector (closest to the USB connector). For base Camera Link, the bottom
connector is not used. The Camera Link interface should be configured for 12-bits per port with
interleaved pixels.
Control of the spectrometer happens via the serial port on the Camera Link card. The following parameter
values should be used for the serial communications:
•
Baud Rate 9600
•
Parity None
•
Data bits 8
•
Stop bits 1
For external triggering the CC1 line on the base Camera Link connector is used.
Triggering should use
LVDS values compatible with the Camera Link interface, with trigger pulses that are at least 1 microsecond
long.
Typical Setup Procedure
The following command sequence can be used to start generating lines from the camera. This sequence
uses internal triggering and generates A-scans at a rate of 10,000/second. Please see the following section
for a detailed description of the commands.
init
gain 100
offset 0
int 90
ltm 100
lsc 1
NOTE:
To stop generating lines, use lsc 0. Be sure to use an lsc 0 command BEFORE changing int, gain, or
offset.
NOTE2:
The above commands MUST be sent prior to image capture. The instrument does not gather data
until an lsc 1 command is sent.
