Dariusz Makowski

High-performance image acquisition and processing system with MTCA.4

Fast evolution of high-performance cameras in recent years has made them promising tools for observing transient and fast events in large-scale scientific experiments. Complex experiments, such as ITER, take advantage of high-performance imaging system consisting of several fast cameras working in the range of visible and infrared light. The paper presents a first implementation of complete image acquisition system built on the basis of MTCA.4 architecture, which is dedicated for operation with high-resolution fast cameras equipped with Camera Link interface. Image data from the camera are received by the frame grabber card and transmitted to the host via PCIe interface. The modular structure of MTCA.4 architecture allows connecting several cameras to a single MTCA chassis. The system supports precise synchronization with the time reference using Precision Time Protocol (IEEE 1588). The software support for the system includes low-level drivers and API libraries for all components and high-level EPICS-based environment for system control and monitoring.

Calibration of stereoscopic camera rigs using dedicated real-time SDI video processor

The paper presents a FPGA-based dedicated system for rapid calibration of 3D camera rigs. The developed device aims to help during camera set-up, by allowing the operator to easily compare the images from two cameras with use of several composition methods. The paper indicates the challenges related to development of high-throughput video processing systems in FPGA circuits. The processing methods were developed and verified using a platform with recent Kintex-7 FPGA device from Xilinx. The article covers the details of the implementation of the image analyser prototype. Moreover it identifies the crucial design considerations and addresses the problems that any FPGA designer can encounter during development of video processing systems.

Standardized Solution for Management Controller for MTCA.4

The Micro Telecommunications Computing Architecture (MTCA) standard is a modern platform, that is gaining popularity in the area of High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments. The standard provides extensive management, monitoring and diagnostics functionality. The hardware management is based on the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI), that was initially developed for management and monitoring of complex computers operation. The original IPMI specification was extended and new functions required for MTCA hardware management, were added. The Module Management Controller (MMC) is required on each Advanced Mezzanine Card installed in MTCA chassis. The Rear Transition Modules (RTMs) require Rear transition module Management Controller (RMC) that is specified in MTCA.4 extension specification. The commercially available implementations of MMC and RMC are expensive and do not provide the whole functionality that is required by specific HEP applications. Therefore, many research centres and commercial companies work on their own implementation of AMC or RTM controllers. The available implementations suffer because of lack of a standard and interoperability problems. The Authors developed a unified solution of management controller fully compliant to AMC and MTCA.4 standards. The MMC v1.00 solution is dedicated for management of AMC and RTM modules. The MMC v1.00 is based on Atmel ATxmega MCU and can be fully customized by user or used as a drop-in-module without any modifications. The paper discusses the functionality of the MMC v1.00 solution. The implementation was verified with developed evaluation kits for AMC and RTM cards.

Remote control of 3D camera rig with embedded system

The production of stereoscopic motion pictures has been recently getting increasingly popular. To provide the best quality of the resulting image, the parameters controlled must precisely correspond to the values calculated by the stereoscopic image analysis platform or chosen by a camera operator. Currently no integrated system exists, which can provide remote monitoring and control of the parameters of 3D rig and cameras on it. The parameters should be controllable both by the Rig Controller software, tablet application or hand controller. The paper discusses an innovative system for remote control of 3D camera rig created within the Recording of 3D Image (ROS3D) research project. The system controls several parameters of both camera rig - stereo base, convergence and camera lenses - focus distance, aperture and focal length. Several approaches of implementation of a solution for the aforementioned problem are presented and compared. The first proposed approach used custom servo motor controller with CAN bus as the communication interface between connected devices, i.e. Rig Controller board and hand manipulators. Another solution contains a commercial servo motor controller connected to the Rig Controller board via RS232 and commercial hand controller. D-Bus Inter-Process Communication (IPC) system is used to communicate between the servo motor controller drivers and Rig Controller software.

Towards automatic calibration of stereoscopic video systems

The last few years in the movie industry were marked by continuous growth in the popularity of 3D technology. 3D movies are nowadays a major draw for both cinema and TV audiences. The application of 3D technology in combination with modern ultra high-definition video cameras causes that todays movies are more impressive and realistic. However, it also makes their production more and more complex, demanding and expensive. One of the main issues encountered during recording of 3D movies is precise calibration of cameras working together in a 3D stereoscopic system. The calibration process should be performed very carefully to minimize all possible image distortions, because their correction in post-production is usually very long and costly, and sometimes even impossible. One of the most intuitive solution of this problem is calibration performed by a camera operator with using dedicated reference calibration boards. However, it is a long, iterative and subjective process. Taking into account that this process should be performed quite often, at least before every scene, the calibration greatly prolongs the preparation for the video recording and slows down the work on the movie set. All the aforementioned problems caused that the authors made an efforts aimed at automation of the calibration process. The paper presents the requirements and assumptions of the calibration method and first implementation of supporting software application. The main advantages of the presented method is significant reduction of the calibration time and a possibility of objective measurement of the calibration accuracy.

IEEE 1588 Time Synchronization Board in MTCA.4 Form Factor

Distributed data acquisition and control systems in large-scale scientific experiments, like e.g. ITER, require time synchronization with nanosecond precision. A protocol commonly used for that purpose is the Precise Timing Protocol (PTP), also known as IEEE 1588 standard. It uses the standard Ethernet signalling and protocols and allows obtaining timing accuracy of the order of tens of nanoseconds. The MTCA.4 is gradually becoming the platform of choice for building such systems. Currently there is no commercially available implementation of the PTP receiver on that platform. In this paper, we present a module in the MTCA.4 form factor supporting this standard. The module may be used as a timing receiver providing reference clocks in an MTCA.4 chassis, generating a Pulse Per Second (PPS) signal and allowing generation of triggers and timestamping of events on 8 configurable backplane lines and two front panel connectors. The module is based on the Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA and thermally stabilized Voltage Controlled Oscillator controlled by the digital-to-analog converter. The board supports standalone operation, without the support from the host operating system, as the entire control algorithm is run on a Microblaze CPU implemented in the FPGA. The software support for the card includes the low-level API in the form of Linux driver, user-mode library, high-level API: ITER Nominal Device Support and EPICS IOC. The device has been tested in the ITER timing distribution network (TCN) with three cascaded PTP-enabled Hirschmann switches and a GPS reference clock source. An RMS synchronization accuracy, measured by direct comparison of the PPS signals, better than 20 ns has been obtained.

Application of PCI express interface in high-performance video systems

Rapid evolution of the high-performance digital cameras entailed a development of new gigabit interfaces for video streaming and further image processing. A 25 megapixel camera, shooting with 100 frames per second, can easily produce a stream of data reaching tens of gigabits per second. The situation is more complex in case of image processing systems that acquire video stream from many cameras. In this case the video data throughput could reach 100 Gbps. Image acquisition systems require a flexible interface that allows sending data with high throughput. The image stream is usually transmitted to a high performance CPU that collects video data and performs further image processing. The PCI Express (PCIe) bus is widely used in modern computers. The PCIe standard provides a scalable, low latency connection between a CPU and peripheral devices. The paper discusses the application of a PCIe interface in an image acquisition system based on MTCA.4 standard. The system uses an external CPU connected to a MTCA.4 chassis. The initial results of performance evaluation are presented and discussed.

Control and Monitoring System for Composite Materials Fabrication Based on PPS Method

Cubic boron nitride (cBN) is commonly used as a cutting tools material for the sake of its high hardness and wear-resistance. But on the other hand cBN, it requires application of an expensive HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) to avoid the transformation of cBN into low-hardness h-BN, they must be sintered under a pressure of 5 to 6 GPa which substantially increases their production costs. An alternative method, called PPS (Pulse Plasma Sintering), was proposed to decrease the production costs. The PPS significantly decreases the costs of production and therefore it is very attractive for industry. However, automation and dedicated control system for PPS is required to carefully control parameters and hamper the transformation of cBN into hBN. Only the application of automated production line guarantee high-quality of cubic boron nitride samples. The paper discusses the requirements and presents the architecture of the control system dedicated for pulse plasma sintering system.

Image analyzer for stereoscopic camera rig alignment

The paper presents a versatile solution facilitating calibration of stereoscopic camera rigs for 3D cinematography and machine vision. Manual calibration of the rig and the camera can easily take several hours. The proposed device eases this process by providing the camera operator with several predefined analyses of the images from the cameras. The Image Analyzer is a compact stand-alone device designed for portable 19″ racks. Almost all video processing is performed on a modern Xilinx FPGA. It is supported by an ARM computer which provides control and video streaming over the Ethernet. The article presents its hardware, firmware and software architectures. The main focus is put on the image processing system implemented in the FPGA.

Human machine interface for high energy physics experiments

The increasing complexity of scientific experiments puts a large number of requirements on the systems, which need to control and monitor the hardware components required for the experiments. This article discusses three different technologies of developing Human Machine Interface (HMI) for the Piezo Control System (PCS) developed at the Lodz University of Technology (TUL). The purpose of the PCS system is compensating the detuning of a superconducting accelerating structure caused by the Lorentz force. A set of full-custom HMI operator panels was needed to operate the prototype device. In order to select the technology, which would best suit the requirements; the interface was designed and developed in native Qt, Qt Quick and EPICS. The comparison was made and their advantages and drawbacks are presented.