Eureca USB camera boards for linear sensors

Eureca offers a new family of USB line scan camera boards from its own production, based on the TCD1304DG linear sensor from Toshiba. Due to their small size, they are ideal for building compact optoelectronic measuring devices. A high line rate and a wide range of possible exposure times enable use in a variety of applications. The low price also makes these modules interesting for research, teaching and the maker scene.

Possible applications are:

• Spectroscopy / Spectrometry
• Edge detection
• Position control
• Measuring objects
• Scanning documents

We present some applications in more detail on a separate page.

A page with answers to possible questions (e. g. »How does … the operation of several line scan cameras on a single control computer actually work?«) is currently under construction.

Line scan camera modules

The modules in the line scan camera family are available in two basic versions, e9u-LSMD-TCD1304-STD and e9u-LSMD-TCD1304-PRO, each equipped with an unmodified TCD1304DG linear sensor from Toshiba. Since the sensor is socketed, it can easily be replaced by another version refined internally at Eureca. This can e. g. be sensors with the cover glass removed to avoid disturbing reflections. However, sensors coated with Lumogen to expand the usable spectral range into UV or sensors with special filters are also possible.

Common values include:

• Read out noise: 45 e⁻
• min. Exposure Time: 0.01 ms
• Maximum data rate via USB: 2 MB/s
• Supply current: < 250 mA

STD: Standard Version

This version offers a balanced price-performance ratio and is suitable for a variety of applications and different measuring tasks.

PRO: Professional Version

This version offers additional features such as an external trigger for demanding measurement tasks with lower tolerances. This significantly extends the possible uses.

Educational version e9u-LSMD-TCD1304-EDU

The e9u-LSMD-TCD1304-EDU was developed specifically for teaching purposes. Compared to the e9u-LSMD-TCD1304-STD, it offers deliberately reduced performance – but is significantly more budget-friendly and therefore perfect for internships, exercises, PoCs (proof of concept) and maker projects. It is aimed at professors, doctoral students, research assistants, and teachers, as well as tinkerers, makers, and pupils/students who want to work with real measurement data.

Hardware development has been completed and series production is being prepared (planned start: Q2/2026). We are currently polishing libraries, drivers, and documentation. Anyone who would like to get involved early on and provide feedback can already purchase prototypes as e9u-LSMD-TCD1304-EDU-EVAL at reduced prices. This EVAL variant is fully usable for teaching and laboratory environments, but is not yet suitable for safety-critical applications.

All details—including the »rules of the game« for the EVAL phase—can be found on the corresponding product subpage for the e9u-LSMD-TCD1304-EDU-EVAL.

Upon , EDU line scan camera boards can of course also be equipped with enhanced sensors.

Line scan camera modules Open Source (OS)

Among other things the line scan cameras were developed as part of the Optocubes research project (open source modular system for agile prototyping of laser-based sensors) [Forschungsprojektes Optocubes (Open Source Systembaukasten für das Agile Prototyping laserbasierter Sensoren) – german only], which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Easy control

A special »EasyAccess« DLL is available for our USB line scan camera modules, with which the cameras can be put into operation very quickly and controlled for simple applications.

The initialization of the camera, the recording as well as the transfer of the acquired sensor data is done with a few simple commands. This makes this DLL ideally suited for use with Python, but also with other programming languages. Our application examples for our line scan cameras, for example, were all realized with this »EasyAccess« DLL.

For more demanding, time-critical applications, the »EasyAccess« DLL naturally still contains all the conventional functions for controlling the line scan camera for programming with e. g. C++ or similar. The »EasyAccess«-DLL is available free of charge on request. Please contact us via e-mail if you are interested.

We have summarized details on this and other scripts on a separate page for controlling the line scan cameras.

From now on, our self-developed line scan cameras with USB connection can also be ordered in small quantities by end customers via our brand new Maker Shop!

Go to our Maker-Shop

For offers for larger quantities or if you are interested in reselling please contact us via e-mail.