Tetracam Hawk User manual

Tetracam Inc
21601 Devonshire Street Suite 310
Chatsworth, CA 91311
Tetracam
Hawk
User's Guide

Notices
Documentation Copyright 201 Tetracam Inc. All rights reserved.
Camera software Copyright 2000-201 Tetracam Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.
Specifications subject to change.
This documentation is copyrighted material. The making of unauthorized
copies is prohibited by law. No part of the documentation may be reproduced,
transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system or translated into any
human or computer language without the prior written permission of
Tetracam, Inc.
Unless otherwise provided by written agreement with Tetracam Inc., this
publication is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, expressed or
implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability
or fitness for a particular purpose. Some states do not allow disclaimer of
expressed or implied warranties in certain transactions, so this statement
may not apply to you.
While reasonable efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of this
document, in no event will Tetracam be liable for direct, indirect, special,
incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any defect in this
publication or the associated software. Tetracam Inc. reserves the right to
change this document at any time without obligation to notify anyone.
Trademarks
Windows™ is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Photoshop™ is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems.
Other brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.
Version .1 - Last Modified April 201
Tetracam Inc
21601 Devonshire Street Suite 310
Chatsworth, CA 91311

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Hawk Users Guide
Contents
NOTICES........................................................................................................1
TRADEMARKS...............................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................3
QUICK START INSTRUCTIONS.......................................................................4
UNPACKING THE BOX..................................................................................8
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION................................................................................9
Becoming Familiar With Your Hawk System...........................................9
Hardware Overview...............................................................................10
inux Operating System Memory...........................................................11
Hawk Optical Configuration ( ens, Filters and Sensor).......................11
SYSTEM SETUP...........................................................................................13
USING THE TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACE.......................................................13
Startup Page...........................................................................................14
ive View Page.......................................................................................14
The TOO S Page...................................................................................15
The REVIEW Page.................................................................................15
ADVANCED Page..................................................................................16
The Settings Pages.................................................................................17
VEGETATION INDEX RECIPES.....................................................................18
Palette Scaling.......................................................................................19
I S Adjustments......................................................................................20
The Clock Setup page.............................................................................20
GPS OPTION INSTALLATION AND USE.......................................................2
EVENT LOG FILE.........................................................................................21
TRIGGERING THE HAWK AT SPECIFIC GPS COORDINATES........................23
CAPTURING AND PROCESSING HAWK IMAGES...........................................24
The Calibration Image...........................................................................24
Flying Aerial Imaging Missions.............................................................24
Managing Hawk Images in PixelWrench2.............................................25
Handling GPS Data...............................................................................26
PC SOFTWARE OVERVIEW..........................................................................26
PixelWrench2.........................................................................................26
PC System Requirements........................................................................27
Software Installation..............................................................................27
OPTIONS AND ACCESSORIES.......................................................................27
GPS Receiver.........................................................................................27
ADVANCED TOPICS.....................................................................................28
ogging into the Hawk inux Operating System...................................28
Updating the Hawk System Files Using Hawk Update..........................29
Stopping the Camera Application (hawkmain)......................................29
Camera Control Files............................................................................29

Auk Users Guide
Page 2
Image Capture Partition Organization..................................................30
Host Interface Packages for Microsoft Windows:.................................30
Image File Formats................................................................................31
Hawk RS232 Serial Control Commands................................................31
SUPPORT INFO.............................................................................................32
SPECIFICATIONS..........................................................................................33
INDEX..........................................................................................................37

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Hawk Users Guide
Introduction
This User’s Guide contains general information about Tetracam’s Hand-held
Agricultural Wireless Camera (HAWC or Hawk) imaging systems covering
installation, operation, options and accessories, warranties, and technical
support. The information is specific to firmware version 1.11.
Tetracam’s Hawk is an updated version of the company’s previously-
manufactured ADC products. The Hawk is faster than earlier systems and
offers superior features and programmability, such as color processing and
vegetation index extraction for each picture taken.
The Hawk also features touch-screen LCD that allows the user to frame
images, review captured images, and control system settings.
The system uses a Red-Green-NIR sensor. Images are 2 Mpix in normal
mode. There is also an optional mode (slower) that captures images at
Mpix. The wireless link can be used to transfer data to a host PC. The
camera image folder shows up as a shared network folder. (Samba).
Upward looking light sensors record the intensity of radiation at the time a
picture is taken, a feature that is highly valuable for calibration, and
adjustment of the color processing for indoor lighting, such as in
greenhouses.
The purpose of this document is:
1. To guide the user through the installation of the product and its
supporting software on its target host system.
2. To describe the basic camera operating procedures.
3. To describe the interaction between the camera’s interface software and
the image editing and archiving software it may be used with.
This document assumes that the user is familiar with the operation of an IBM
compatible personal computer running the Windows 10 or earlier Windows
operating systems. The user should be familiar with the use of spectroscopic
signatures to identify materials of interest. Since the camera is controlled by
embedded Linux, some familiarity with the Linux operating system is also
useful
A PDF version of this manual is supplied on the installation CD.

Page 4Hawk Users Guide
Quick Start Instructions
This section contains basic information needed to connect and use the Hawk
or HAWC (Handheld Agricultural Wireless Camera). The Hawk is a wireless,
battery powered, Linux-based, NIR/R/G multi-spectral camera designed
primarily for vegetation analysis. A 6 to 24 VDC 3W minimum external power
source can also be used to power the camera. An ILS (incident light sensor)
is included and is under the white plate on the top side of the Hawk housing.
The ILS feature can be enabled through the camera menu and may improve
remote sensing accuracy under certain conditions. Orient the ILS so that the
white plate on the Hawk housing is positioned with a clear view of the sky.
To begin using the Hawk camera, you may power it from one of the provided
9 V batteries or from the included 12 VDC power supply. Make sure that the
switch is in the off position before attempting to connect power; the off
position is when the switch is facing towards you when you are looking at the
touchscreen.
The 9V batteries provided are specialized high capacity rechargeable LiPo
types and should be charged in the provided charger prior to use. Do not use
common 9V alkaline or Lithium batteries in the camera. These standard
types of 9V batteries do not have enough capacity to power the camera and
will not work. When installing the 9V battery, be sure to align the battery so
that the polarity is correct and gently seat the battery into the camera battery
contacts.
To power the Hawk using the provided 12 VDC power supply, insert the
power connector into the power jack found on the right side of the Hawk
housing. The power jack is located slightly above the position of the battery
slot, near the blue plastic cover. Now, connect the provided 12 VDC power
supply to the AC wall outlet.
Move the power switch on the top of the camera to the on position. The LED
indicator on the camera will turn orange shortly after power is connected and
the switch is in the on position, and will then turn to red during camera
initialization. When the LED is green, the Hawk camera is initialized and
ready to operate. This process typically takes from 30 to 60 seconds to
complete.
The Hawk has an LCD touchscreen type display that should be used with the
provided stylus. It is located on the left side of the case; it is the black
protruding object below the blue plastic cover. Gently and firmly pull on it to
release it from its protective slot.
When the Hawk is powered up and operational, a live view screen should be
present on the LCD display. Take a picture by pressing and quickly releasing
the white button on the top of the Hawk housing. The status LED will turn red
and will change back to green when the picture has been saved. When you
take pictures, the captured picture is displayed and the live stream stops until
you click on the Resume button on the touchscreen.

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Hawk Users Guide
The Hawk may be used in forward facing mode or ground facing mode. To
switch it to ground facing mode, grasp the sensor housing and gently rotate it
down until the sensor is facing down instead of forward. This is useful for
unmanned or calibration purposes, and allows the ILS sensor to be oriented
with a clear view of the sky while capturing images of objects or vegetation on
the ground.
Clicking on Review takes you to the image review page. In the review page,
you may view any picture by clicking on the top left drop down menu and
selecting a picture from the drop down list. Once a picture has been opened,
the raw image is displayed on the camera LCD screen. When Index
Extractions are enabled, you will also be able to access an NIR/R/G color
processed image, NDVI, or other index extractions as defined in the Edit Veg.
Index page by clicking on the second drop down menu at the top of the
screen and selecting the desired display format. Press the M button on the
right of the screen to view the metadata of the picture. Return to Live View by
clicking the Done button on the bottom right of the screen.
Clicking on Tools button gives you access to the following buttons: Set Date/
Time, Erase Pictures, Advanced, Shutdown, and Format Disk. Clicking Done
takes you back to Live View. By clicking the Advanced button in the Tools
page, you can change the camera operation. A status screen is visible in the
Advanced page. You may edit vegetation index definitions by clicking on the
Edit Veg. Index button. Edit Settings lets you have access to useful functions
that include Capture Mode, Auto Capture Delay, ILS Adjustments, Index
Extractions, and Disable Raw Data options. See help details by pressing the
Help button next to each item. Save changes to the settings by clicking the
Save Changes button. Click Tools to return to the previous page. Click Done
to go back to Live View.
For wireless access to the camera's web browser interface, you can connect
it to a Wi-Fi enabled device, such as a PC, tablet, or smartphone. Open the
Wi-Fi network settings on your device and search for the Hawk camera's Wi-
Fi hotspot, indicated by the following hostname: HAWKXXXX, where XXXX
represents the last four digits of your camera serial number. Once you have
successfully connected to the Hawk Wi-Fi hotspot, open up a web browser on
your device. In the web browser URL navigation field enter 192.16 .1XX.1,
where XX is the last two digits of your camera serial number. You should now
see the Hawk Live View appear in your browser. Only Google Chrome and
Mozilla Firefox browsers are currently supported.
Using a Windows 10 PC, you can directly access the files in the Hawk by
connecting with the Samba file sharing service that runs in the camera. Open
the Windows File Explorer and type \\192.16 .1XX.1 where XX represents
the last two digits of your camera serial number. TTCHAWK should come up
as a network folder. Opening TTCHAWK will provide access to images,
settings, log files, extractions, and the DOCS folder.
In order to be processed and analyzed, the original images saved by the
camera in the HAWKJPGS folder must be converted to RAW format using
PixelWrench2. Under the PW2 File menu, use the Convert Auk Jpeg to RAW

Page 6Hawk Users Guide
function. To process multiple images, use the Convert Auk Jpeg to RAW
function found in the Batch tab of the IndexTools form. IndexTools can be
launched from the “Index Tools” selection under the View menu, or by right
clicking in the PixelWrench2 active window and selecting “Index Tools”.
Where XXXXXX is your Hawk serial number, note that opening the
XXXXXX.cpf file from the Matrix tab in IndexTools is highly recommended
before color processing RAW files. Refer to PixelWrench Help in the Help
menu for detailed instructions.
As mentioned above, if the Index Extractions setting is enabled the Hawk has
the capability to internally process and save images to TIF format under the
EXTRACTIONS folder. Most common would be to enable the RGB
Extractions in the Edit Veg. Index page to process and save NIR/R/G
rendered images. Vegetation index extractions such as NDVI can also be
created and saved in TIF format if those extraction types are enabled.
Although camera performance and file storage space will be reduced,
processing images in the camera can greatly simplify the data collection and
management of images captured by the system.
There is a micro SD card installed in the Hawk. It is located underneath the
blue cover next to the power connector. This micro SD card contains the
Hawk system as well as stored images, settings, and log files. It is strongly
recommended to not remove this micro SD card under normal use. There are
multiple partitions on this micro SD card that will not be recognized properly
on a Windows PC and the contents of the card could be corrupted. To access
images, settings, and log files, please use Samba as directed in the previous
paragraphs.
There is a folder called DOCS located in TTCHAWK, accessible via Samba.
The DOCS folder contains this document as well as other documents and
software. Please note that if you use the Format Disk function in the Hawk
web browser interface, this folder will be permanently lost. The documents
and software in the DOCS folder are also provided in a Tetracam CD.
The Hawk camera also has Ethernet and USB ports. A protective cover may
be installed over both the Ethernet and USB connectors. For certain uses
such as testing or hardwired only installs, it may be necessary to use the
Ethernet connection instead of Wi-Fi. To access the Ethernet connector,
remove any protective covers from the Ethernet connector and USB port.
Plug a network connected Ethernet cable into the camera Ethernet connector
to allow the Hawk to communicate on with the network via DHCP, and power
up the Hawk. Once you have looked up the private IP address assigned by
the network to the Hawk, you can access the Hawk web browser interface
and Samba using this new IP address as well as the IP address associated
with the Wi-Fi hotspot. A typical Ethernet IP address may be something like
192.16 .1.XX, where XX are the two digits assigned by your modem or
router.
The Hawk USB ports are intended only for use with an optional USB type
GPS. If a GPS has been provided by Tetracam, before installing the GPS,
make sure the Hawk is powered down. As noted above, slide and remove

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Hawk Users Guide
any protective covers to expose the Ethernet connector and USB ports.
Install the GPS into the USB port. You may now power on the Hawk. When
the GPS blinks a blue LED, it has obtained a GPS location fix, and will
transmit position data to the Hawk. The GPS data is visible on the LCD
screen, through the Hawk web browser interface, log files, and image
metadata.
To power down the Hawk system from the touchscreen or from a web
browser, select the Shutdown button in the Tools page. You may also power
down the system by holding down the white button on the case until the LED
blinks red and green rapidly; upon witnessing this, release the white button.
The Hawk LED will turn red, orange, and then off. At this point, it is safe to
turn the switch to the off position then unplug power from the system. The
Hawk User's Guide should be consulted for more detailed product
information.

Page 8Hawk Users Guide
Unpackin The Box
Your new Hawk multi-spectral imaging system is shipped with a variety of
items to facilitate integrating the camera into a system:
An Hawk digital still camera
A CD-ROM with the installation software supporting the camera
An AC power adapter and power input cable
A white Teflon calibration plate
Your Hawk comes with a one-year warranty against defects.
Auk Multi-
spectral
Imaging
System

Hawk User's Guide Page 9
Product Description
Becoming Familiar With Your Hawk System
The Hawk sensor is mounted on a hinged platform that can look downwards
while the top of the camera faces upwards. This allows accurate
measurement of downwelling radiation when the picture is taken.
The hawk has serial port connector on the side with the battery opening. This
connector can be used as a Linux system serial port, or as a listener for an
external GPS serial port device. There is also a GPS USB option that
consists of a USB based GPS receiver that plugs into the side of the camera
opposite the battery.
A stylus is stored at the corner of case. The stylus can be used to make
touchscreen operation easier. An Ethernet connector allows the camera to be
attached to a Local Area Network for unloading images and managing
options
Power input can be any DC power supply from 6 to 24 volts. Current input is
200mA at 12VDC.
External
Serial Port
and Power
Jack
Hinged sensor
module
Touchscreen
Stylus
USB and
Ethernet Ports
Incident Light
Sensors (ILS)

Hawk Users Guide
Page 10
The Hawk can be configured by way of the user interface for auto capture.
There are two auto capture methods.
1. Trigger on GPS offset in meters
2. Trigger continuously with an intervening delay.
The maximum reliable capture rate for the unit is one frame per second.
Hawk Images are captured to the system memory card. The standard card
capacity is 24 GB of images. Very large cards (64GB, 12 GB) can be
supported, but they should be configured at the factory. Preparing a memory
card with a correct Linux system implementation in the field is a complex
operation.
Battery management is important when using your Hawk. The camera will
automatically shut off the display if it is idle for 5 minutes, but power drain
with the display off is still significant. With the display off in idle state the
battery will drain in approximately 3 hours. It is much better to completely
shut down the camera and set the power switch to off when the camera is not
in use.
The light sensors on the top of the camera can be obscured by a stray finger
if the user is careless. Make sure to hold the camera so the light sensors
have a clear view of the light source when pictures are taken.
The easiest way to shut down the camera is to hold the picture taking button
until the red LED begins to flash (about 5 seconds). The LED will cycle to red,
orange, and back to green, at which point the power switch can be set to
OFF. The camera can also be shut down by an appropriately labeled button
in the TOOLS touchscreen display.
Two types of image files are saved by the Hawk. The JPG files contain the
raw data captured by the camera, and reside in the ttchawk/HAWKJPGS
folder. Images containing color processed results are .TIF files located in the
ttchawk/EXTRACTIONS folder. File names are based on a ‘TC’ prefix, and
number of the sequence in which the picture was taken. Thus, a JPG file
might be named TCR00012.JPG, and the TIF extraction file associated with it
would be TCX00012.TIF.
An option is provided to capture images to DRAM rather than directly to the
micro SD card (Disable Raw Data). When this option is set only the jpeg
preview is retained in the AUKJPGS folder of image partition. The
EXTRACTIONS image files will contain processed data and raw bayer at the
end.
Hardware Overview
The Hawk system hardware is housed within a sheet metal and plastic
assembly. The Hawk is designed for use in as a hand-held agricultural
camera.

Hawk User's Guide Page 11
There is a single physical switch on the Hawk which is used to take a picture,
or start a continuous capture sequence. The Status LED indicates whether
the system is ready or not ready to take a new picture. When the Status LED
is green, the system is ready to take a new picture. When the Status LED is
red, the camera is busy capturing and saving images. After saving images,
this LED returns to green indicating the camera is ready to capture a new
picture. The Status LED is also made to blink when the unit detects a
shutdown action.
USB Connectors – The USB 2.0 data connectors are located on the side of
the camera opposite the battery . There is also a an Ethernet connector for
attaching to a local area network. Note that the USB connectors are used
primarily for an optional USB GPS.
The image partition has a linux EXT4 format, and can be formatted in the
camera. It is generally advisable to format the drive only from the
touchscreen or web browser interface because the palettes and special
control files are restored in an orderly way.
Linux Operating System Memory
One of the partitions of the Hawk’s internal memory card contains the Linux
operating system, the executable programs required by the system, and data
file backups for critical data. The memory card should not to be removed or
replaced in normal operation.
Hawk Optical Configuration (Lens, Filters and Sensor)
Each Hawk optical channel consists of a lens, a spectrometric filter and a
CMOS optical sensor. The lens focuses visible or near-infrared radiation
through the filter and on to a CMOS sensor. The filter limits the wavelengths
that are able to pass through it to a specific band of electromagnetic
radiation. The CMOS sensor accumulates electrons proportional to the
amount of radiation impinging upon the sensor at each of its 1640 X 1232
pixel locations. The size of the photo-sites that form the wells for each pixel
are very near the size of the near-infrared wavelengths that the sensors are
optimized to capture. Each well is cleared of its electron contents immediately
prior to image exposure. This ensures that each image has high spectral
fidelity and low image noise.

Hawk Users Guide
Page 12
The graph below shows the relative efficiency of the Hawk CMOS sensor for
different bands of visible and NIR light. The NIR response band in gray is the
same for each of the red, green and blue bands when there is no blocking
filter. The NIR response shown is empirically derived, and should not be used
for precise calculations.

Hawk User's Guide Page 13
System Setup
There are many configuration options for a Hawk camera. The camera ships
from the factory configured for the following:
English language
Single image capture
False RGB color, and NDVI processing enabled
Normal Resolution (1640 X 1232) acquisition
Brief metadata logging
16 bit TIFF file format for extraction, JPG for raw capture
Auto-exposure average algorithm
The system can be reconfigured as needed using the touchscreen interface,
or on a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer equipped with a
browser. The settings are changed by way of a set of option boxes which are
clearly labeled and associated with help files. The Hawk is set up as a Wi-Fi
hotspot that will show up in the Wi-Fi menu for the device with the browser as
HAWKXXXX where XXXX are the last 4 digits of the serial number.The Wi-Fi
configuration is displayed on a touchscreen startup page until the page is
disabled by the user.
There is a background process definition file (indices.txt) which allows up to
band ratio / RGB calculations to be performed on each image that is
captured. The calculated images are saved as a set in a multi-page TIFF
image file in the EXTRACTIONS folder. The raw JPG images from which they
are derived have the same numeric file attribute, and are found in the
HAWKJPGS folder. If Disable Raw Data is enabled in the Settings, raw bayer
data is appended to the end of the multi-page TIFF image files in the
EXTRACTIONS folder, and JPG previews are saved in HAWKJPGs with no
raw data written.
Usin the Touchscreen Interface
There are six user interface screens that manage camera setup. Each is
provided with help buttons to explain its use. The various screens, which are
HTML pages resident in the camera in the /var/www/html/* folder are these:

Hawk Users Guide
Page 14
Startup Page
This page is used to display the Wi-Fi configuration of the unit so it can be
attached to a personal computer or smart phone.
Live View Page
When the startup page is closed, the Hawk enters live view mode so that
picture can framed, taken, and saved. From the live view scrren the user can
access the TOOL screen or the REVIEW SCREEN. The TOOLS screen is
used to manage the camera, the REVIEW screen allows captured pictures to
be displayed.

Hawk User's Guide Page 15
After each picture is captured using the picture taking button, the screen will
freeze, showing the frame captured. Tapping RESUME re-establishes the live
view.
The TOOLS Page
The tools page
provides buttons for
managing the state of
the camera. Images
can be erased, the
image storage partition
can be formatted, and
the camera can be
shut down. The page
also has an
ADVANCED button
that allows the camera
settings to be
changed. The changes include control of vegetation index extractions, power
off settings, capture modes, ILS adjustment settings, index extraction size
settings, and others.
The REVIEW Page
Captured images are displayed in the image review menu. An image is
selected from the dropdown box (TCA00002.JPG) and displayed by using the
control buttons (Fwd, Back, Delete Image, etc.). These buttons are labeled
symbolically:
>> = Forward
<< = Back
M = View Metadata
X = Delete image
There is also a dropdown box for selecting image extractions
performed from the selected image. If no index calculations have been set up
in the file indices.txt, no selections other than “Jpeg Preview” will be shown.

Hawk Users Guide
Page 16
The Jpeg Preview image has been optimized for touchscreen viewing, and
does not always reflect the brightness and contrast of the raw data. To see
the finished picture quality, an RGB extraction should be used. The RGB
extraction shows the illumination and contrast of the final image correctly.
ADVANCED Page
This page displays details about the current state of the camera, and allows
various configuration values to be changed. These include basic settings,
vegetation index recipes, and ILS calibration values
.

Hawk User's Guide Page 17
The status information is updated once per second. Battery state is shown,
along with image counts and storage use. ILS measurements are shown in
live bars at the bottom of the info screen.
The Settings Pages
The three settings pages provide selection boxes and help file links for all
camera settings. The settings only take effect when the Save button is
pushed. Each entry is an option box which shows the available choices in a
self-explanatory list. Help files are also provided for each entry.
The first page shows the serial number and code version, and provides
selections for language and picture capture. Image format is also adjustable
here.
The second settings page provides control of index extraction processing, ILS
data application and image capture exposure methods.

Hawk Users Guide
Page 18
The third settings screen allows the user to set a palette scaling default value.
Palette scaling is used to limit the color application to the range of NDVI
values that could represent living plants.
Ve etation Index Recipes
The camera maintains a file named “indices.txt” which directs the post
processing of a captured image. Up to post processing operations can be
selected. In practice, one or two are usually enough. Post processing is not
completely necessary. PixelWrench2 is able to do the processing after the
images have been copied from the camera.