NileCAM81_CUOAGX Multi-Camera System From e-con Systems Offers High Resolution for Robots

e-con Systems last week launched the NileCAM81_CUOAGX, a 4K multi-camera system for NVIDIA's Jetson AGX Orin and Xavier. The company said it is suitable for autonomous mobile robots, agricultural robots, and smart trolleys. NileCAM81 can also be used in surround-view systems, smart checkout systems, smart traffic management, and sports broadcasting and analytics.

“NVIDIA Jetson ORIN and AGX Xavier are the most powerful energy-efficient processors for autonomous machines," stated Gomathi Sankar, head of the industrial cameras business unit at e-con Systems. "Such machines require superior-quality video feed for object detection, recognition, and characterization. 4K video feed and HDR [high dynamic range] performance are essential for such operations. NileCAM81_CUOAGX is a perfect fit for such applications."

Established in 2003, e-con Systems is a global OEM provider of MIPI camera modules, GMSL cameras, USB 3.1 Gen 1 cameras, stereo cameras, and more. The Chennai, India-based company has offices in San Jose, Calif.; St. Louis, Mo., and Karlsruhe, Germany.

e-con Systems said it has a strong partner ecosystem including sensors, image signal processor (ISP), and carrier board partners. It claimed it has built more than 250 products and shipped over 2 million cameras across more than 90 countries. Applications in retail, medical, agriculture, manufacturing, and other industries use its systems.

e-con Systems designs for vibration, low light

The NileCAM81_CUOAGX is based on onsemi's AR0821 4K sensor with HDR up to 140 dB, explained Sankar.

"The built-in ISP allows the user to get the best-in-class performance with zero processing on the host," he added. "NileCAM81 comes with automotive-grade GMSL2 interface to withstand high vibration, which makes the camera ideal for various different kinds of robots."

NileCAM81 comes with a pixel size of 2.1µm x 2.1µm, offering high sensitivity, said e-con Systems. This helps it to capture images with great details even in extremely low lighting conditions, claimed the company.

The new HDR camera also uses multiple exposures in a single frame to bring out details in the brightest as well as darkest areas of the same scene in high-contrast lighting conditions, e-con Systems said.

In addition, as a multi-camera system, the NileCAM81 has multiple pipelines that transfer high-resolution images and videos. It is designed to be compatible with high-performance host platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin and Xavier.

NileCAM81_CUOAGX features

e-con Systems listed the following features for its new multi-camera system:

AR0821 sensor – This captures 4K images with high details even in low lighting conditions, said e-con Systems.

High dynamic range – HDR helps to capture image data in challenging outdoor lighting conditions without any detail loss.

GMSL2 (Gigabit Multimedia Serial Link) – e-con Systems said its system can connect up to six cameras to the host platform and reliably transmit video data up to a distance of 15 m (49.2 ft.) with very low latency,

Compatibility with NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin and Jetson AGX Xavier – NileCAM81 dlivers high-quality images to use Jetson AGX Orin’s server-class artificial intelligence performance at the edge. This in turn can help product developers build next-generation smart machines with end-to-end autonomous capabilities, said the company.

Image signal processor – Helps in providing the best possible output with HDR processing, auto white balance, auto gain control, and auto exposure functions, said e-con Systems.