Meridian Innovation MI0801 User manual
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MI0801!Camera!Module!
Evaluation!Kit!
!User!Manual!
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Contents!
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1.!Overview!...........................................................................................................................................!3!
!MI0801!Camera!Module!Evaluation!Kit!(EVK)!..........................................................................!3!1.1.
!EVK!Internal!Connections!.........................................................................................................!3!1.2.
!MI0801!Camera!Module!-!Bobcat!.............................................................................................!3!1.3.
!MI48A0!Thermal!Image!Processor!(TIP)!...................................................................................!4!1.4.
!MI48A0!Thermal!Image!Processor!Board!.................................................................................!4!1.5.
!External!Interface!Processor!Board!..........................................................................................!5!1.6.
!EVK!Graphical!User!Interface!(GUI)!Software!...........................................................................!5!1.7.
2.!GUI!Software!....................................................................................................................................!6!
!Minimum!System!Requirements!..............................................................................................!6!2.1.
!Obtaining!and!Launching!GUI!...................................................................................................!6!2.2.
!Connecting!via!USB!...................................................................................................................!6!2.3.
!Capturing!Image!........................................................................................................................!7!2.4.
!Display!&!Cursor!Interactions!...................................................................................................!7!2.5.
!Color!Palette!and!Scaling!..........................................................................................................!8!2.6.
!Pixel!Filter!.................................................................................................................................!9!2.7.
!Temperature!Unit!.....................................................................................................................!9!2.8.
!Multiple!EVK!connection!..........................................................................................................!9!2.9.
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1. Overview!
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This! user! manual! is! aimed! to! give! users! a! fast! introduction! to! the! use! of! the! MI0801!Camera!
Module!Evaluation!Kit!(EVK)!and!its!accompanying!software.!
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MI0801!Camera!Module!Evaluation!Kit!(EVK)!1.1.
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The!EVK!contains!two!circuit!boards,!the!MI48A0!Thermal!Image!Processor!and!the!External!
Interface!Processor!Board.!This!kit!contains:!
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•MI0801!Camera!Module!
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•MI48A0!Thermal!Image!Processor!(TIP)!Board!
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•External!Interface!Processor!Board!
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•Graphical!User!Interface!(GUI)!software!
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Together,! these! components! combine! to! form! a! thermal! camera! system! capable! of!
capturing!80-by-62!thermal!images.!This!kit!is!designed!to!be!connected!via!USB!to!a!host!
PC!and!controlled!using!the!provided!GUI!software.!
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EVK!Internal!Connections!1.2.
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The! following! diagram! provides! a! high-level! view! of! the! physical! and! electrical!
connections!within!components!of!the!EVK.!
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EVK
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MI0801!Camera!
Module!
MI48A0!Thermal!Image!!
Processor!Board!(TIP)!
!External!
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Interface!Processor!
Board!
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TIP!External!
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Direct!connection!
Processor!Interface!
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TIP!
M484!
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Via!FPC!cable!and!
Via!2.54mm!12-pin!
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connectors!
header!
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USB!
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MI0801!Camera!Module!-!Bobcat!1.3.
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The!MI0801!Camera!Module!is!a!thermal!imaging!sensor,!capable!of!capturing!80x62!(4,960)-
pixel! images! of! long! wave! infrared! radiation! (LWIR).! It! is! factory! calibrated! and! has! a!
completely! digital! interface.! No! mechanical! shutter! is! employed! nor! required.! Its! patented!
fabrication! and! wafer-level! vacuum! packaging! ensures! low! cost! of!ownership,! enabling! many!
new!applications!to!employ!LWIR!thermal!imaging!technology.!
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MI48A0!Thermal!Image!Processor!(TIP)!1.4.
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The! MI48A0! TIP! is! a! Meridian! Innovation! product! made! specifically! to! interface! with! the!
MI0801!Camera!Module!as!a!companion!chip.!It!is!a!5mm!by!5mm!QFN32!chip!with!a!bottom!
thermal!pad!and!is!expected!to!be!electronically!connected!to!the!corresponding!signal!pins!of!
the! MI0801!Camera! Module.! This! companion! chip! performs! all! the! low-level! computations!
and! signal! timing! required! to! process! the! raw! data! from! the! MI0801!Camera! Module,! thus!
removing!this!burden!from!any!external!processors.!
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The!MI48A0!TIP!also!provides!the!external!interface!which!is!made!up!of!common!electrical!
buses!and!interfaces.!The!serial!peripheral!interface!(SPI)!bus!is!provided!to!transfer!thermal!
image!data!with!the!MI48A0!TIP!as!a!SPI!slave!device.!The!Inter-Integrated!Circuit!(I2C)!bus!is!
provided! to! control! MI0801!module! parameters.! The! DATA_READY!Interrupt! is! a! digital!
signal!output!from!the!MI48A0!TIP!to!alert!the!external!processor!of!available!image!data!for!
reading.!
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MI48A0!Thermal!Image!Processor!Board!1.5.
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The!MI48A0!Thermal! Image!Processor!Board!demonstrates!how! the!MI0801!Camera!Module!
and!MI48A0!TIP!are!connected!and!provides!a!standard!2.54mm!12-pin!header!containing!the!
external! interface! for! easy! integration! into! any! external! processor! or! system.! The! External!
Interface!Processor!board!is!an!example!of!such!an!external!system.!
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External!Interface!Processor!Board!1.6.
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The!External!Interface!Processor!Board!is!an!example!of!an!external!system!that!interfaces!with!
the! MI48A0! TIP!using! the! TIP!External! Interface.! The! external! processor! is! the! Nuvoton!
M484SIDAE.! This! External! Processor! Board!is! shipped! pre-loaded! with! Meridian!Innovation’s!
firmware!to!demonstrate!the!TIP!External!Interface!communication!protocol.!
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The! External! Processor! Board!also! features! a! USB! Micro! B! connector!plug,! and! should! be!
connected!to!a!host!PC!via!a!USB!2.0!High-speed!(HS)!port!for!power!and!communication.!
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EVK!Graphical!User!Interface!(GUI)!Software!1.7.
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The! EVK! GUI! software! is! a! computer! program! that! allows! a! computer! user! to! control! the!
External! Interface! Processor!board,! view! the! thermal! images! captured,! and! more.! The! GUI!
currently!only!supports!computers!with!Windows-based!operating!systems.!
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The! screen! shots! below! show! example! images! from! the! GUI.! In! the! descriptions! that! follow!
items!shown!in!“"#$%&'!()*!+%(,+-'”!refer!to!the!corresponding!elements!of!the!GUI.!
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2. GUI!Software!
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The!following!sections!describe!how!to!obtain,!run!and!operate!the!GUI!on!a!Windows-based!
computer!with!a!USB!2.0!High-Speed!connector!socket.!
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Minimum!System!Requirements!2.1.
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The! GUI!currently! only! supports! computers! running! Windows! 7,! 8/8.1,! 10.! It! also!
requires!at!least!one!USB!2.0!port!supporting!USB!High-speed!mode.!!
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Obtaining!and!Launching!GUI!2.2.
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Please!contact!us!to!obtain!the!GUI!software!in!a!ZIP!file.!
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After! obtaining! and! downloading! the!ZIP!file,! extract! (a.k.a.! unzip)! the! contents!into! a!
convenient!directory.!
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Inside!the!directory!with!the!extracted!files,!run!the!file!in!.exe.!
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Note!that!most!GUI!controls!are!disabled!upon!launch.!
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Connecting!via!USB!2.3.
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Connect!the!EVK!to!a!computer!using!a!USB!2.0!A-Male!to!Micro!B!cable.!
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The! EVK!should! enumerate! as! a! “./0! /&1+(,!
2&3+-&!456789”!in!Windows’!“2&3+-&!7()(:&1”!
window,!where!x!is!an!integer.!The!EVK!is!a!USB!
Communications!Device!Class!(CDC)!device!and!
has! a! USB! Vendor! ID! of! 0416! (hex)! and! a! USB!
Product!ID!of!B002!(hex).!
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Note!that!upon!connecting!the!USB!cable!to!the!computer!and!EVK,!the!latter!is!powered!on.!
This!is!indicated!by!the!LED2!on!the!EVK.!
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After!launching!the!GUI!software!and!physically!connecting!the!USB!cable,!press!“;&<1&'=”!on!
the!GUI!under!the!“/&1+(,!>$1%”!section.!The!“/&1+(,!>$1%”!selection!drop-down!should!change!
from!“?$!'#+%(@,&!A$1%!<$#)*B”!to!“5678”!if!the!EVK!is!detected!properly.!
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Press!“5$))&-%”!to!establish!a!connection!between!the!GUI!and!the!EVK.!
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Note!that!most!GUI!controls!are!now!enabled!and!start!continuous!capturing!by!default.!
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Capturing!Image!2.4.
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Press! the! “C&%! /+):,&”! button! under! “/&)D$1! 5$)%1$,'”.! The! EVK!will! capture! a! thermal!
image,!which!will!be!transmitted!to!and!displayed!on!the!GUI.!Note!that!LED1!on!the!EVK!
may!blink!multiple!times.!LED1!indicates!that!frame(s)!are!being!captured!and!processed!
by!the!EVK.!
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Press! the! “C&%! 5$)%+)#$#'”! button! under! “/&)D$1! 5$)%1$,'”.! The! EVK!will! begin! to!
continuously! capture! thermal! images,! and! the! GUI! display! will! be! continuous! updated.!
Note!that!LED1!will!blink!continuously,!and!the!“E>/”!counter!under!“/&)D$1!5$)%1$,'”!on!
the! GUI! will! also! continuously! update! to! report! the! framerate! of! the! EVK.! “E>/”! here!
stands!for!Frames!Per!Second.!The!FPS!is!mainly!affecting!the!internal!frame!averaging.!!
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The! EVK! always! captures! raw! sensor! data! at! 30! frames! per! second! (FPS),! which! is! then!
processed!by!the!TSP!companion!chip!into!images!of!dense!temperature!data.!The!TSP!also!
features!various!post-processing!functions.!
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One! such! function! is! internal! frame! averaging.! Depending! on! the! application,! it! may! be!
desirable!to!sacrifice!framerate!for!higher!accuracy!and!lower!image!noise.!Internal!frame!
averaging!controls!the!number! of!frames!(N)!captured! and! averaged!before!output!from!
the!TSP.!The!resulting!framerate!is!30/N!frames!per!second.!Lower!FPS!means!more!frames!
are!taking!for!internal!averaging.!By!default,!the!range!of!FPS!is!set!between!1!to!15.!
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Human!hand!under!different!internal!frame!averaging!
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Display!&!Cursor!Interactions!2.5.
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While! there! is! an! image! displayed! on! the! “F=&1G(,! HG(:&”! display! area,! it! accepts! cursor!
clicks! on! the! displayed! image! to! place! a! “-1$''=(+1”! on! a! pixel.! The! array! coordinates! and!
temperature!reading!for!that!pixel!is!shown!in!the!“HG(:&!H)<$!(%!F(1:&%”!area.!
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Note! that! the! crosshair! persists! with! new! frames! from! “C&%! /+):,&”! or! “C&%!
5$)%+)#$#'”!and!the!information!for!the!target!pixel!will!update!correspondingly.!
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Color!Palette!and!Scaling!2.6.
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The! GUI! performs! its! own! post-processing! functions! (i.e.! processing! down! on! the! host! PC)!
before!displaying!the!thermal!data!received!over!USB.!One!such!function!is!to!apply!color!to!
pixel!values!so!that!temperature!differences!are!more!visually!significant.!
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Under!“5$,$1!>(,&%%&!()*!/-(,+):”,!there!are!a!drop-down!control!to!select!different!pre-
set!color!palette!mapping!to!the!temperature!value.!
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The!“I#%$J”!checkbox!selects!whether!the!color!palette!is!scaled!automatically!to!cover!the!
minimum! and! maximum! temperatures! of! the! currently! displayed! image.! While! this! is!
checked,! “/-(,&! 7+)”! and! “/-(,&! 7(8”! controls! display! the! minimum! and! maximum!
temperature!values.!While!this!is!unchecked,!the!“/-(,&!7+)”!and!“/-(,&!7(8”!controls!allow!
the!user!to!manually!adjust!the!minimum!and!maximum!temperatures!of!the!color!scale.!
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Note! that! if! a! pixel! on! the! image! exceed! the! maximum! temperature! of! the! color! palette!
scale,!that!pixel!will!be!applied!the!color!corresponding!to!the!maximum!value!on!the!color!
palette! scale,! similar! to! a! pixel! below! minimum! temperature.!On! the! other! words,! the!
scaling! affects! how! the! color! palette! spreading! in! between! minimum! and! maximum!
temperature! boundary.! Please! adjust! the! scaling! range! according! to! the! target! object! and!
environment!temperature!to!optimize!visualization.!
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Take!a!human!hand!as!example,!under!HEATED_IRON!color!palette:!
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Pixel!Filter!2.7.
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Another!GUI!post-processing!function!is!the!pixel!filter.!In!traditional!image!processing!terms,!
this!function!is!equivalent!to!apply!a!2D!convolution!to!the!thermal!image!with!a!NxN!mask,!
where!N!is!set!to!be!0,!3!or!5!corresponding!to!Sharp,!Smooth!and!Blurred!currently.!The!GUI!
controls!for!these!parameters!are!available!under!the!“>+8&,!E+,%&1”!sections!of!the!GUI.!A!pixel!
filter!performs!spatial!filtering!of!the!image,!in!order!to!reduce!noise!and!effective!in!removing!
“salt!and!pepper!noise”!in!temperature!images.!
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Note!that!the!effective!image!size!is!reduced!when!a!pixel!filter!is!applied.!For!a!mask!of!size!3,!
the! top,! left,! right! and! bottom! image! border! pixels! are! disregarded! and! hence! the! effective!
image!size!is!reduced!by!2!rows!and!2!columns.!For!a!mask!of!size!5,!the!effective!image!size!is!
reduced!by!4!rows!and!4!columns.!
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Temperature!Unit!2.8.
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By!default,!all!temperatures!values!displayed!on!the!GUI!is!in!degrees!Celsius.!This!can!be!
modified!to!degree!Fahrenheit!or!Kelvin.!
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Multiple!EVK!connection!2.9.
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If! there! are! more! than!one! EVK! connecting!to! the! device,! the! GUI! can! expand! to! multiple!
widgets! for! different! EVK.! Under! “Action”! ->! ”Add! New! Viewer”! tag! and! new! widget! can! be!
added!on!the!left!or!right!to!the!main!window.!Widget!Ctrl!controls!the!corresponding!widget!
swap!with!left,!close!or!swap!with!right!widget.!!
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Table of contents
