When NVIDIA launched their low cost Jetson Nano development board earlier this week, one reader asked whether it would support binocular depth mapping. It turns out Stereo Labs has updated the SDK (Software Development Kit) for the ZED depth and motion tracking camera in order to support the latest NVIDIA developer kit. Jetson Nano can manage depth and positional tracking at 30 fps in PERFORMANCE mode with 720p resolution, and while the more powerful and expensive Jetson TX2 achieves doubles the performance at 60 fps, it does so at a much higher cost. ZED depth and motion tracking camera specifications: Video 2.2K @ 15 fps (4416×1242 resolution) 1080p @ 30 fps (3840×1080 resolution) 720p @ 60 fps (2560×720 resolution) WVGA @ 100 fps (1344×376 resolution) Depth Resolution – Same as selected video resolution Range – 0.5 to 20 m Format – 32-bits Stereo Baseline – 120 mm Motion 6-axis Pose […]
eWelink Camera App Recycles Your Old Smartphone into a Remote Camera
Old devices often end up in drawers or shelves collecting dust, but as we’ve seen before there are better ways to recycle your unused gadgets, from giving it to friends or family to selling them on eBay, or re-purposing them for specific purpose. For example, we’ve previously covered Haven open source app that transforms smartphones into smart security cameras or baby monitors. eWelink, the default app used with Sonoff wireless switches, smart plugs and light-bulbs, now happens to support a similar feature. So if you’re using the stock firmware on your Sonoff device and control them with the Sonoff app, you don’t need an extra app to use your old smartphone(s) as IP camera(s). It looked easy enough to setup, so I gave it a try. First you need to download & install eWelink Camera app, only available as an apk at this time, in your old phone. Once the […]
HiSilicon Hi3559A Board Enables Smart 8K Camera Development
HiSilicon Hi3559A 5-core Arm Cortex A73/A53 camera processor was announced in 2017 with support for 8K 30fps or 4K 120fps video recording, as well as an integrated dual core neural network accelerator (NNA). It should not be confused with the earlier Hi3559 4K 30 fps processor, or the newer Hi3559C that looks to be the same as Hi3559A without the NNA. Nevertheless, today I was lead to check about Hi3559A processor once again, and I could not find any camera that you can just buy and use today. I still found some upcoming Hi3559A products with OBSBOT Tail AI camera offered for as low as $509 on Kickstarter (delivery scheduled for April 2019), one 4K 120fps OEM? camera from GKuvision, as well as an HiSilicon Hi3559A development board for 8K camera applications, which I’ll look into more details in this blog post. HI3559AV100DMEB specifications: SoC – Hisilicon Hi3559A V100 with […]
$100 Reolink Argus 2 is a Wire-Free IP Camera with Optional Solar Panel
This morning I had a look at battery-powered IP cameras since they avoid the hassle of wiring power and/or Ethernet around the house. I could remember I covered Immedia Blink IP camera with up to 2-year battery life back in 2014, and the company did very well since it got acquired by Amazon, and Blink IP security camera is now sold on Amazon US for $99.99 and up. It’s probably one of the best, if not the best options, for low-cost battery-powered cameras but the problem is that they only ship to a limited number of countries. Last year, there was a new entrant with Eufy Evercam outdoor IP camera with up to one year of battery life, but again it’s not easy to purchase from overseas, and the price starts at $279.99 for a single camera system. I also covered a solar and battery powered IP camera made by […]
Inforce 6560 Snapdragon 660 Pico-ITX SBC Comes with 3 MIPI Camera Connectors
Inforce Computing has launched yet another Snapdragon-based single board computer with their Inforce 6560 SBC powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor with stereoscopic depth sensing and deep learning capabilities made possible thanks to three MIPI camera connectors. The board also comes with to 3GB LPDDR4 RAM, 32GB flash, HDMI and MIPI DSI video outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, a wireless module, USB ports, sensors, and more. Inforce 6560 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 (SDA660) with 8x Kryo ARMv8 compliant 64-bit CPUs arranged in two dual-clusters, running at 2.2GHz (Gold) and 1.8GHz (Silver) each, Adreno 512 GPU, Hexagon 680 DSP with dual-Hexagon vector processor (HVX-512) @ 787MHz for low-power audio and computer vision processing, Spectra 160 camera (dual) Image Signal Processors (ISPs) System Memory – 3GB onboard LPDDR4 RAM Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, 1x µSD card v3.0 socket Video Output / Display Interface HDMI V1.3a FullHD @ 60fps port 4-lane MIPI-DSI with […]
Xiaomi Mi A2 Review with Android 9.0 Pie
I had been using Xiaomi Mi A1 Android One smartphone since the end of 2017, and was mostly satisfied with it thanks to regular (monthly) firmware update, although I was a bit disappointed by the camera overtime. Eventually I had a serious issue with Mi A1’s eMMC flash, and stopped using it at the end of last year, or roughly after one year of service, since the phone became unusable, unbearably slow. Xiaomi Mi A2 and A2 Lite where released last summer, and having seen Mi A2 was getting an Android 9.0 firmware in Q4 2018, I asked GearBest whether they could send a sample to review the latest Xiaomi Android One phone. They accepted, and I posted the first part of the review in early December. However, at this time, I did not get the update, since it was not released in Thailand, but soon enough Xiaomi Mi A2 […]
iCatch V37 4K AI Camera Processor Features a Neural Processing Unit (NPU)
Taiwan based iCatch Technology has recently announced iCatch V37 SoC for AI camera applications. The processor can capture 4Kp30 video thanks to the company’s 7th generation image signal processor (ISP) and H.264 high-performance encoder, and includes a neural processing unit (NPU) to enable features such as people detection. The V37 series includes V37A and V37M, where V37M has an embedded DRAM in the package to enable smaller form factor designs. iCatch V37 4K AI camera SoC key features: 32-bit RISC CPU Dual CIS Support HDR Combination 5-axis Electronic Image Stabilization Dewarping Engine Video Noise Reduction (MCTF) Rolling Shutter Compensation H.264 4Kp30 Video Encode Neural Processing Unit Security Engine USB 2.0, HDMI v1.4b, GMAC External WiFi/BT Support The SoC can be used to design products such as digital still camera (DSC), action camera, 360° VR Camera, digital video recorder (DVR), home security camera, or body worn camera. One example of use […]
Intel RealSense Tracking Camera T265 is Designed for Autonomous Devices
Intel has just launched another smart camera with RealSense Tracking Camera T265 powered by the company’s Myriad 2 VPU (Vision Processing Unit) also found in the first Neural Compute Stick, and designed for autonomous robots, drones, and augmented/virtual reality applications. The T265 camera is said to use proprietary visual inertial odometry simultaneous localization and mapping (V-SLAM) technology “delivering high-performance guidance and navigation”. Intel RealSense tracking camera T265 hardware specifications: VPU – Intel Movidius Myriad 2 vision processing unit with 12 VLIW 128-bit vector SHAVE processors optimized to run V‑SLAM at low power Cameras – 2x Omnivision OV9282 high-speed image sensors with Fisheye lenses for a combined 163±5° FOV; infrared cut filter Sensor – Bosch BMI055 6-axis IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) to measure rotation and acceleration of the device USB – 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Micro B port to transfer pose data, or pose + image data. Dimensions – 108 x 24.5 x 12.5 mm; 2x […]