Optotune Lens Driver 4 User manual

Manual: Lens Driver 4
Date: 28.06.2019
Copyright © 2019 Optotune
Page 1 of 22
No representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made
as to the reliability, completeness or accuracy of this paper.
Optotune AG | Bernstrasse 388 |CH-8953 Dietikon |Switzerland
Phone [phone] |www.optotune.com |[email protected]om
Electrical Lens Driver 4
Lens Driver Manual

Manual: Lens Driver 4
Date: 28.06.2019
Copyright © 2019 Optotune
Page 2 of 22
No representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made
as to the reliability, completeness or accuracy of this paper.
Optotune AG | Bernstrasse 388 |CH-8953 Dietikon |Switzerland
Phone [phone] |www.optotune.com |[email protected]om
Table of Contents
1. Overview...................................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Integration Into OEM Systems.......................................................................................................... 3
1.2 System requirements .......................................................................................................................4
2. Hardware Operation ................................................................................................................................. 4
2.1 Connecting to a lens with FPC cable.................................................................................................. 4
2.2 Connecting the with an extension cable ........................................................................................... 4
2.3 Using the driver as current source only............................................................................................. 4
2.4 Connecting industrial-style lenses to the Lens Driver 4i..................................................................... 5
2.5 Open and Close Housing of Lens Driver 4i......................................................................................... 5
2.6 Connector Pinout............................................................................................................................. 6
3. Lens Driver Controller Software.................................................................................................................7
3.1 Software Installation ........................................................................................................................ 7
3.2 Installation of the Windows driver in Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10..............................7
4. Preparing Lens Driver 4 ............................................................................................................................. 7
5. Operating Lens Driver Controller ............................................................................................................... 7
Controls........................................................................................................................................................ 8
5.1 Limiting the Maximum Current.........................................................................................................8
5.2 Temperature Compensation.............................................................................................................9
5.3 Achievable Range of Focal Power ..................................................................................................... 9
5.4 Drift Compensation........................................................................................................................ 10
5.5 Autofocus ...................................................................................................................................... 11
5.6 Trigger Output Signal ..................................................................................................................... 13
5.7 Lens Control by Analog Signal......................................................................................................... 13
5.8 Sensor Control ............................................................................................................................... 15
6. Communication Protocol......................................................................................................................... 15
6.1 Current Set Commands .................................................................................................................. 16
6.2 Focal Power Set Command............................................................................................................. 17
6.3 Mode Commands........................................................................................................................... 18
6.4 Calibration Commands................................................................................................................... 19
6.5 Temperature Reading..................................................................................................................... 19
6.6 CRC Algorithm................................................................................................................................ 20
6.7 Checking for Communication Error................................................................................................. 20
6.8 Adding a CRC Checksum to a Data Array......................................................................................... 20
7. UART Communication (only Applicable for EL-10-30-C Firmware Type A)................................................. 22

Manual: Lens Driver 4
Date: 28.06.2019
Copyright © 2019 Optotune
Page 3 of 22
No representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made
as to the reliability, completeness or accuracy of this paper.
Optotune AG | Bernstrasse 388 |CH-8953 Dietikon |Switzerland
Phone [phone] |www.optotune.com |[email protected]om
1. Overview
The Electrical Lens Driver offers a simple yet precise way to control Optotune’s electrical lenses. There are two
types of lens drivers available. The Electrical Lens Driver 4 is used to drive Optotune’s OEM-type lenses with 6-
pin FPC cables and comes in a plastic housing. The second Lens Driver 4i is suited to drive the industrial ver-
sions with 6-pin Hirose connectors and is contained in a steel housing. The main features are:
•Current control range up to -290 to +290 mA with 12 bit precision
•Drive frequencies from 0.2 to 2000 Hz (rectangular, triangular or sinusoidal)
•I2C sensor read-out e.g. for temperature compensation
•USB powered
•Driver software in Windows 7 and Windows 8
•Available with or without housing
Mechanical specifications
Lens Driver 4
Lens Driver 4i
Dimensions (L x W x H)
77 x 19 x 13
99.05 x 19 x 13.5
mm
Weight
11
41
g
Interface to lens
0.5mm pitch 6 way FPC connector
6-pin Hirose connector
Interface to PC
USB Type A
Electrical specifications
Lens Driver 4
Lens Driver 4i
Maximum output current
-290 to 290 mA depending on resistance (see Figure 8)
Maximum output update frequency
>100
kHz
USB input voltage
5
V
Power consumption
50-1100
mW
Digital to analog converter
12 bit Analog Devices ADN8810
Microcontroller
8-bit, 16 MHz with 32 KB Flash (Atmel ATmega32U4)
Connector
6-way FPC (Molex 503480-0600)
6-way Hirose HR 10 G
Maximum cable length
3 meters 1
Thermal specifications
Lens Driver 4
Lens Driver 4i
Operating temperature
-20 to +65
°C
Storage temperature
-40 to +85
°C
1.1 Integration Into OEM Systems
Both Lens Drivers are easily integrated into OEM systems. The microcontroller that is used offers serial inter-
faces over USB and 5V UART (which can be translated to RS-232 using a MAX232 or MAX3232 chip). Also, ana-
log input from 0-5V is available on the driver PCB. Schematics and part list of the Lens Drivers are available on
request. Documentation of the firmware is presented at the end of this document. For more information
please contact [e-mail].
1
5 m have been successfully tested, however the capacitance is 550 pF (I2C specification 400 pF max).

Manual: Lens Driver 4
Date: 28.06.2019
Copyright © 2019 Optotune
Page 4 of 22
No representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made
as to the reliability, completeness or accuracy of this paper.
Optotune AG | Bernstrasse 388 |CH-8953 Dietikon |Switzerland
Phone [phone] |www.optotune.com |[email protected]om
1.2 System requirements
•Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, 32/64 bit
•Lens driver: USB 2.0 port
•uEye camera: USB 2.0 port (preferably 3.0)
2. Hardware Operation
2.1 Connecting to a lens with FPC cable
The Molex flex cable can be plugged directly into the connector of the lens driver. The copper side of the cable
has to be upwards and the black clamp has to be closed.
Figure 1: Connecting the EL-10-30-C directly to the lens driver.
2.2 Connecting the with an extension cable
If a larger distance is required, the easiest way is to use an USB extension cable for the lens driver. If a larger
distance in between the lens and the driver is required, an extension as described in Figure 2 can be built. For
large distances, shielded cables are recommended to ensure interference-free performance of the I2C bus. The
butterfly connector and the 5cm long transition cable are provided with the lens driver.
Figure 2: Connecting the EL-10-30-C with an extension cable to the lens driver.
2.3 Using the driver as current source only
On the side of the PCB, two pads are available to connect lenses without temperature sensor.
Figure 3: Connecting the compact EL-10-30 to the lens driver by soldering the plus and minus poles.
transition cable
butterfly connector
+

Manual: Lens Driver 4
Date: 28.06.2019
Copyright © 2019 Optotune
Page 5 of 22
No representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made
as to the reliability, completeness or accuracy of this paper.
Optotune AG | Bernstrasse 388 |CH-8953 Dietikon |Switzerland
Phone [phone] |www.optotune.com |[email protected]om
2.4 Connecting industrial-style lenses to the Lens Driver 4i
The connection of the industrial EL-10-30-Ci to the Lens Driver 4i is straight forward. Simply connect the cable
to the plug, the position of the pins is unambiguous.
2.5 Open and Close Housing of Lens Driver 4i
To open the housing use the gaps on the side to spread the cover side-walls with an appropriate flat head
screw driver. Hold the enclosure base and lift the cover to open the casing:
In order to close the housing, place the cover on top of the enclosure base (a) and move it towards the USB
stick (b) until the front side clips fit in the openings of the cover. Then push the cover at the back downwards
(c) until the back side clips snap into the square holes (d). If the clips do not snap in, gently apply pressure from
the top/bottom/side to move the cover forward/backward or up/down relative to the base unit.

Manual: Lens Driver 4
Date: 28.06.2019
Copyright © 2019 Optotune
Page 6 of 22
No representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made
as to the reliability, completeness or accuracy of this paper.
Optotune AG | Bernstrasse 388 |CH-8953 Dietikon |Switzerland
Phone [phone] |www.optotune.com |[email protected]om
2.6 Connector Pinout
Figure 4: Connector pinout of the Lens Driver 4 (left) and Lens Driver 4i (right).
Lens Driver 4
Lens Driver 4i
Position
Function
Position
Function
1
I2C Gnd
1
Lens (+ pole)
2
Lens (- pole)
2
Lens (- pole)
3
Lens (+ pole)
3
I2C Gnd
4
I2C SDA
4
I2C Vcc 3.3V
5
I2C SCL
5
I2C SCL
6
I2C Vcc 3.3V
6
I2C SDA

Manual: Lens Driver 4
Date: 28.06.2019
Copyright © 2019 Optotune
Page 7 of 22
No representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made
as to the reliability, completeness or accuracy of this paper.
Optotune AG | Bernstrasse 388 |CH-8953 Dietikon |Switzerland
Phone [phone] |www.optotune.com |[email protected]om
3. Lens Driver Controller Software
3.1 Software Installation
•Run Setup.exe
•Follow the installation wizard
3.2 Installation of the Windows driver in Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
Please follow the instructions below to install the Windows driver for the Optotune Lens Driver
•IMPORTANT: Please disconnect any lenses from the Lens Driver hardware!
•Connect Lens Driver to a free USB port on your PC.
•Windows will now try to install a driver. This process won't succeed because of a missing driver soft-
ware. This can be ignored.
•Open Windows "Device Manager”.
•Windows 7, 8, 8.1
In "Device Manager" navigate to the category "Other devices", right click on the device "Optotune LD"
and select "Update Driver Software...".
Windows 10
In "Device Manager" navigate to the category "Ports (COM & LPT)", right click on the device "USB Seri-
al Device (COMX)" and select "Update Driver Software...".
•Select "Browse my computer for driver software".
•Click on "Browse" and navigate to the directory where you installed the Lens Driver Controller applica-
tion (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Optotune AG\Lens Driver Controller). Confirm the folder choice by
clicking "OK".
•Make sure "Include subfolders" is checked and click "Next".
•Click "Next" in the "Update Driver Software" window.
•The installation proceeds and installs the Windows driver.
•The Windows driver is successfully installed if you see a device called "Optotune Lens Driver powered
by atmel" in the section "Ports (COM & LPT)" within the "Device Manager".
4. Preparing Lens Driver 4
In order for the Lens Driver 4 to operate correctly, a product specific firmware needs to flashed. Please refer to
the manual of the Lens Driver Flash Utility on how to flash the firmware. The following list gives an overview of
the different firmware types.
Firmware Type
Compatible Lens
A
EL-10-30-C series
F
EL-10-30-TC series, EL-16-40 series
5. Operating Lens Driver Controller
Launch Optotune Lens Driver Controller and click on Connect. This will establish the hardware connection and
open the main window with the current control and the temperature readout.

Manual: Lens Driver 4
Date: 28.06.2019
Copyright © 2019 Optotune
Page 8 of 22
No representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made
as to the reliability, completeness or accuracy of this paper.
Optotune AG | Bernstrasse 388 |CH-8953 Dietikon |Switzerland
Phone [phone] |www.optotune.com |[email protected]om
Controls
Figure 5 shows the main window. The output current can be changed, either by shifting the arrow or by using
the +/- buttons. Using the +/- buttons together with the Shift key increases the step size. Alternatively, the
desired value can be written in the gray box.
Figure 5: Screenshot of the main window of the Lens Driver software with the current control.
The drive signal can be chosen to be a DC, sinusoidal, rectangular or triangular
2
signal with the possibility to set
the upper and the lower signal level as well as the driving frequency. This is indicated in Figure 6.
Figure 6: The drive signal can be chosen to be a DC, sinusoidal, rectangular or triangular2signal.
5.1 Limiting the Maximum Current
The limits for the current are set in the Hardware tab, shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7: Setting the current limits.
2
FW Type A only

Manual: Lens Driver 4
Date: 28.06.2019
Copyright © 2019 Optotune
Page 9 of 22
No representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made
as to the reliability, completeness or accuracy of this paper.
Optotune AG | Bernstrasse 388 |CH-8953 Dietikon |Switzerland
Phone [phone] |www.optotune.com |[email protected]om
The maximum current of the driver is limited to either 290mA, see Figure 8, or 2.8V divided by the resistance
applied.
Figure 8: Dependence of maximum current on coil resistance.
5.2 Temperature Compensation
When heating up the lens, the fluid expands in volume and therefore, the focal length of the lens decreases.
The focal length decreases linearly by approximately 0.2 to 0.7 diopters per 10°C temperature increase, de-
pending on the lens model. This temperature effect is systematic and reproducible and is therefore accurately
compensated via a temperature sensor SE97B with an I2C sensor read-out, integrated in the lens (except in the
EL-3-10). This allows controlling the focal power directly.
In Focal Power mode, see drop down menu in Figure 6, temperature independent lens operation is ensured.
Depending on the present temperature, the current applied to the lens is adjusted for compensation of the
temperature drift. A look-up table with the calibration data for the temperature compensation are stored di-
rectly on the EEPROM of each individual lens. With the temperature compensation enabled, the absolute re-
producibility achieved over an operating temperature range of 10 to 50°C amounts to typically 0.05 or 0.1 diop-
ters for the EL-16-40-TC and EL-10-30-TC series, respectively.
5.3 Achievable Range of Focal Power
If the focal power is outside the guaranteed diopter range then a warning message will appear in yellow “warn-
ing focal power outside guaranteed range” and the panel has a yellow background, see Figure 9. The user can
then change the focal power until the displayed focal power no longer has a yellow color and is within the
guaranteed diopter range.
Figure 9: On the left, the focal power is outside the guaranteed range and the panel is yellow. On the right, the
focal power is within the range.
The limits for the range of focal power are determined by the temperature limits and the maximum and mini-
mum current. The maximum diopter limit is located at highest encoded temperature limit and maximum cur-
0.0
50.0
100.0
150.0
200.0
250.0
300.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Maximum current
Coil resistance

Manual: Lens Driver 4
Date: 28.06.2019
Copyright © 2019 Optotune
Page 10 of 22
No representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made
as to the reliability, completeness or accuracy of this paper.
Optotune AG | Bernstrasse 388 |CH-8953 Dietikon |Switzerland
Phone [phone] |www.optotune.com |[email protected]
rent and the minimum diopter limit is located at the lowest encoded temperature and the minimum current.
This is explained in Figure 10. The highest and lowest temperature define a sector for the linear relation of focal
power versus current, indicated by the light and dark gray line. The values are adjustable in File →Options
under Temperature Settings. The colored line represents the diopter range at the current temperature be-
tween the highest and lowest temperature, with the colors representing the following states:
•Green: Focal power can successfully be maintained at predefined temperatures limits in this range.
•Yellow: Focal power can be maintained at the current temperature and/or current drift state.
•Red: Focal power cannot be maintained at the current temperature and/or drift state.
The minimum green/yellow limit is determined by the diopter value at the highest temperature and minimum
current. The maximum green/yellow limit is determined by the diopter value at the lowest temperature and
maximum current. Both limits are indicated by the dashed horizontal lines in Figure 10. The closer together the
minimum and maximum temperature limits are, the larger the guaranteed range (green) will be. In addition,
the yellow/red limits are determined by the diopter values at min/max current at the current temperature.
Figure 10: Illustration of the achievable range of focal power (vertical axis) versus current (horizontal axis). The
guaranteed range (green line) also depends on the highest and lowest temperature, indicated by the gray lines.
5.4 Drift Compensation
When set to a certain focal power the lens shows a tiny drift over timescales of about 5min. If a highly stable
focus position over long times is required, using the implemented drift compensation is recommended. To do
so the Drift Compensation Gain, found under Hardware (see Figure 7) has to be set by the user to a finite value,
typically 1, otherwise no compensation is taking place. Higher values increase the gain up to a maximum value
of 5. Internally, two parameters Driftmax and Driftcurrent are affected by the Drift Compensation Gain, as dis-
cussed in the following.
When finite drift compensation is set it also scales the achievable diopter range. Figure 11 illustrates the effect
that drift compensation will have on the achievable diopter range. First, compared to Figure 10, the yellow/red
boundaries in Figure 11 are shifted upwards due to a finite current drift (Driftcurrent). As a consequence the
achievable diopter range is also shifted upwards by a small amount. Second, the maximum drift Driftmax set by
the drift compensation is added to the minimum guaranteed diopter limit, which is represented by the lower
Focal Power (m-1)
Current (mA)
Highest Temperature
Lowest Temperature
Currentmin
Dioptermax
Dioptermin
Currentmax
Diopter Range