Welcome to our FAQ page! Here we answer the most important and most frequently asked questions about our line scan cameras and their control.

This page is still under construction and will be continuously expanded. If you are missing any information or have a specific question, please do not hesitate to contact us – we will be happy to help you!

Operating several line scan cameras on a single control computer

It is possible to operate several line scan cameras on a single control computer without any problems. Each camera requires its own USB port, possibly also via an external USB hub.

When the operating system is started, the available USB ports are processed in sequence and connected cameras are assigned their own number, which can be used to access them later. The order of the cameras depends on the assigned UART interfaces. This means that the defined order of the cameras can usually be reproduced until the system is restarted.

An example code for the operation of several cameras can be found in our Linux tarball.

You will find the file e9u_LSMD_basic-multi-camera.c in the examples/src/cli/ directory.

To identify a camera without any doubt, its serial number can be queried at any time using the command e9u_LSMD_eeprom_string, as shown in the example code.

Controlling the cameras in laboratory applications (LabVIEW, Node-RED, Scratch, etc.)

There are currently no special modules or extensions for LabVIEW, Node-RED, Scratch etc. that enable direct control of our line scan cameras. Nevertheless, it is often possible to operate the cameras in these environments without any problems by using an intermediate control script, unless the application requires actual real-time capability.

Such a script can be written in Python, C or another programming language that has direct access to the camera hardware. Communication between the lab application and this control script can then take place in various ways.

Communication via text files

The lab application writes control commands to a file, which are read and processed by the control script. The camera responses can also be saved in a file and exchanged in this way.

Communication via a shared memory area (shared memory)

This can be a high-performance solution, especially for time-critical applications.

Communication via a virtual COM interface

The laboratory application can send commands via a serial connection, which evaluates the control script and forwards it to the camera. The recorded data can then also be transmitted in the same way.

Why doesn't my USB line scan camera work with every USB cable?

USB is a standardized technology, so it should always work. Or so you'd think. In practice, however, the world of USB has unfortunately become much more confusing. USB-C cables in particular vary significantly: Some cables only carry power, some only USB 2.0 data, while others can handle 5 Gbps, 10 Gbps, or more … and on the outside, many of these cables look nearly identical.

This is important for our USB line scan cameras because they are not simple chargers, but rather measuring devices that transmit data continuously. An unsuitable USB cable can therefore cause the camera to not be recognized at all, to function only intermittently, or for the connection to become unstable during measurement.

We've put together more information on this topic in an article about cable knowledge.