ArduCam Mega is a 3MP or 5MP camera specifically designed for microcontrollers with an SPI interface, and the SDK currently supports Arduino UNO and Mega2560 boards, ESP32/ESP8266 boards, Raspberry Pi Pico and other boards based on RP2040 MCU, BBC Micro:bit V2, as well as STM32 and MSP430 platform.
Both cameras share many of the same specifications including their size, but the 3MP model is a fixed-focus camera, while the 5MP variant supports autofocus. Potential applications include assets monitoring, wildfire monitoring, remote meter reading, TinyML applications, and so on.
ArduCam Mega specifications:
- Camera Type
- 3MP with fixed focus
- 5MP with auto-focus from 8cm to infinity
- Optical size – 1/4-inch
- Shutter type – Rolling
- Focal ratio
- 3MP – F2.8
- 5MP – F2.0
- Still Resolutions
- 320×240, 640×480, 1280×720 x 1600 x1200x 1920 x 1080
- 3MP – 2048 x 1536
- 5MP – 2592×1944
- Output formats – RGB, YUV, or JPEG
- Wake-up time
- 3MP – 42 ms
- 5MP – 94 ms
- Host interface – 4-wire SPI @ 8 MHz
- Power Supply – 3.3V or 5V
- Power consumption (idle/active)
- 3MP – 185mW / 585mW
- 5MP – 182mW / 650mW
- Dimensions – 33x33x17 mm
ArduCam provides a C/C++ SDK with documentation for all supported platforms: Raspberry Pi RP2040, Arduino 8-bit AVR, STM32, MSP430, ESP32, ESP8266, etc… and you’ll find various demos on their YouTube channel. There’s also a GUI tool that’s only available for Windows.
Arducam also provides the ability to connect up to four ArduCam Mega cameras to a single MCU via a multi-camera adapter board: The Pico4ML Pro. It is an evolution of the Pico4ML based on the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and designed for TinyML applications. I can’t find any Pico4ML Pro demos at all, let alone with four cameras, so it might still be under development which would not be surprising for a crowdfunding campaign. There’s however a demo with four ArduCam Mega cameras connected to an ESP32 board.
ArduCam has launched the Mega on Kickstarter and raised close to $12,000 so far after less than one day. Rewards start at $16 for the Mega 3MP, $22 for the Mega 5MP, and $35 for the Pico4ML Pro board with the enclosure but no cameras. There are also bundles with multiple cameras. The company will ship to a limited number of countries for $6 to $11.4 depending on the destination, and deliveries are expected to start by April 2023.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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