May 23, 2023
A new accessory has been made available for the proFRAME 3.0 video grabber and playback system which should be of particular interest to the developers and validators of vehicle interior monitoring systems. The new LED driver adapter ledAD3 gives the user the means to control one or multiple LEDs, e.g., IR LEDs for illuminating the car’s interior in sync with the exposure of a camera sensor
The LED driver adapter ledAD3 is connected directly to the proFRAME Base Board 3.0 just like the camAD3 camera adapters. The power supply of the LEDs by the LED driver adapter is handled through an adjustable constant current source, with its output being toggled by the trigger signal from the camera sensor which is connected to a camera adapter on the same proFRAME Base Board 3.0 (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Synchronizing the LEDs with the camera sensor during video data acquisition
The LED driver adapter is available in two variants, ledAD3 Base and ledAD3 Expansion. The ledAD3 Base variant enables the LED control in synch with a trigger signal of a particular camera. For this, ledAD3 Base is connected to the proFRAME Base Board 3.0 next to the camAD3 camera adapter used for the camera which is to be synchronized with the LEDs. The trigger signal of the camera is received by the camera adapter and led to the LED driver adapter ledAD3 Base via the proFRAME Base Board 3.0 for generation of the synchronized toggle signal to the LEDs.
As an optional addition to the ledAD3 Base, the expansion module ledAD3 Expansion is available for controlling more LEDs that are toggled in sync with the trigger signal from a second camera. ledAD3 Expansion is attached directly to the ledAD3 Base and thus doesn’t occupy another slot on the proFRAME Base Board 3.0. Thus, a complete system consists of a proFRAME Base Board 3.0, a camAD3 camera adapter, an ledAD3 Base and, optionally, an ledAD Expansion. With such a system, LEDs can be operated in sync with one or two cameras (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Individual synchronization of the LEDs with two camera sensors
For the PCIe® form factor of the proFRAME Base Board 3.0, suitable slot brackets for the use of ledAD3 Base in isolation (Figure 3, left) or in combination with the expansion module ledAD3 Expansion (Figure 3, right) are available. In the latter case, the proFRAME system occupies two PCIe® slots due to the height of the assembly.
Figure 3: proFRAME with ledAD3 Base (left) or with ledAD3 Base and ledAD3 Expansion (right)
Technical data for the ledAD3 can be found here.
proFRAME is a registered trademark of Solectrix GmbH. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
