Research

This study introduces a compact high-speed vision platform called IDP Express, which can execute real-time image processingand high-frame-rate video recording. In IDP Express, a dedicated FPGA board processes 512x512 pixel images from two camera heads; the input images andprocessed results are transferred to standard PC memory at a rate of 2000 fpsor more. Owing to the simultaneous high-frame-rate video processing and recording, IDP Express can be used as an intelligent video logger for long-term high-speed phenomenon analysis.

IDP Express consists of two compactly designed camera heads, a dedicated FPGA image processing board (IDP Expressboard) with two camera inputs, and a PC. Images captured by the camera headsare transferred to the IDP Express board at a high speed. The IDP Express boardexecutes arbitrary image processing, which is hardware-implemented by the user. The input images and processing results are transferred to a standard PC memory through a PCI-express bus. By executing simultaneous video processing and recording functions at a high frame rate, IDP Express can function as anintelligent high-speed video logger.

The camera head can capture and transfer color/gray 8-bit images at 2000 fps for 512x512 pixels and 10000 fps for 512×96 pixels. The camera head was also compactly designed for mounting on movable objects; the dimensions and weight were 35x35x34mm and 90g, respectively. The IDP Express board dedicated to IDP Express was designed for high-speed video processing and recording of two 512x512 pixel images transferred at rates as high as 2000 fps. This board consists of an FPGA (Xilinx XCVFX60) for camera I/O and PCI express bus controls, an FPGA (Xilinx XC3S5000) for hardware implementation of the algorithms by the user, serial-to-parallel converters for camera inputs, FIFOs for data transfer between the FPGAs, and configuration PROMs for the FPGAs.

Owing to the simultaneous high-frame-rate video processing and recording, IDP Express can be used as an intelligent video logger for long-term high-speed phenomenon analysis even when the measured objects move quickly in a wide area. We applied IDP Express to a mechanical target tracking system to record a high-frame-rate video at high resolution for a crucial moment, which is magnified by tracking the measured objects with visual feedback control. Several experiments on moving objects that undergo sudden shape deformation were performed.