Updated the Maxim Plugin to fix subframes and dynamically load the .dll plus other bug fixes new version reports V1.3 in camera setup dialog.
Get it here CCDPlugQuickAudine.dll Please give feedback. Click and then Save to your Maxim DL/CCD directory
V1.6,V1.7 released. Timing correction KAF3200 support. See below. Please give feedback.
Background:
Thierry Maciaszek created a USB interface for the Audine and Genesis cameras. It is manufactured by Raymond David and sold by his company Essentiel Electronique here is Thierry's page for his QuickAudine design. Christian Buil also has excellent information on the QuickAudine including sample driver code. His programs PISCO and IRIS are compatible with the interface. As is Maxim DL/CCD. These guys are the Mac Daddys behind Audine.
I found this interface fascinating and was very interested in shorter downloads and having a responsive PC throughout the download. I decided this would be a good basis for future camera control projects and a good platform for experimenting with the camera.
Printed Circuit board Schematic and Bill of Materials:
At first I was going to hand wire a prototype but this isn't very easy or reproducible. I discovered a very useful service called ExpressPCB. You can download the free schematic and PCB capture software they provide then draw your layout and have boards made all from within the program. Three boards can cost as little as $59. I doubt I'll ever hand wire a board again.
Below are links to the schematic and PCB files in the ExpressPCB format. Right click on these and save them to your machine and you can pull these directly into Express PCB's tools and make changes or order your own boards.
quickaudine.sch quickaudine.pcb
The image below shows the PCB Layout including component
placement Right click and save for a copy. (PDF follows)
Click on the image below to see the schematic. Right click and save for a copy. (PDF follows)
Bill of Materials QuickAudine
Rev A
C1 22pf DigiKey 1330PH-ND
C2 22pf DigiKey 1330PH-ND
C3 .1uF DigiKey 3013PH-ND
C4 .1uF DigiKey 3013PH-ND
C5 10uF 16V TANTALUM DigiKey 399-1403ND
D1 LED 5MM YELLOW DIFFUSED DigiKey 160-1133-ND
D2 LED 5MM HI-EFF RED DIFFUSED DigiKey 160-1127-ND
J1 Right angle PC mount DB-25 connector DigiKey A2102-ND
R1 2.2K ¼W DigiKey 2.2KQBK-ND
R2 2.2K ¼ W DigiKey 2.2KQBK-ND
R3 10K ¼ W DigiKey 10KQBK-ND
U1 [note 1] PIC16F876 DigiKey PIC16F876-20I/SP-ND
U1 [note 2] PIC18F252 DigiKey PIC18F252-I/SP-ND
U2 USBMOD2 http://www.hobbyengineering.com/SectionIN.html
X1 [note 1] 20MHZ Digikey 300-6042-ND
X1 [note 2] 10MHZ Digikey 300-6021-ND
SOCKET 28pin .0300 DigiKey AE7321-ND
SOCKET 32pin .600 DigiKey AE7322-ND
CRYSTAL INSULATOR DigiKey 492-1039-ND
PCB ExpressPCB MiniBoard Service
Notes:
[1] - part for French 16F876 version
[2] - part for my 18LF252 version
Finally I have the bill of materials and copies of the layout in .PDF and .doc formats.
billofmaterials.pdf billofmaterials.doc
Software:
Three pieces of software are required. The QuickAudine uses an FTDI USB chip. The FTDI chip is called FT8U245AM and the data sheet is here in PDF format. This chip is actually mounted on a third part module called USBMOD2 by Ravar The Ravar download page has the data sheet for the module as well as drivers. The latest drivers and troubleshooting info, app notes, etc. will be on the FTDI site.
You will need to install the FTDI D2XX drivers on your PC. Go to the FTDI driver page to get them and find out how. There is a known problem with XP and a fix for it.
You also will need PISCO, IRIS, or Maxim DL/CCD. Get the latest version of PISCO or MaximDL/CCD 3.21 or better.
The final piece of software is embedded firmware that resides in the PIC. Thierry's site has code for the PIC16F876 and 20mhz crystal. I have written code in MicrochipC18 for the PIC18F252 and 10mhz crystal. It has a slightly faster download time and may be more understandable to English speaking people.
Here is my code QuickAudineC18.zip It builds under MPASM and Microchip C18 the archive includes the project files and workspace. If you are just making a PIC all you will need is the .hex file.
Program Features:
Shorting together pins 6-7 on the PIC will cause the unit to produce timing for the 100KSPS ADC otherwise timing is for the 200KSPS ADC. On boot the program will indentify it's version number major and minor by a series of blinks on the RED status led. Zero is a single long pulse of light. The digits 1-9 are indicated by 1-9 short flashes. For instance version 1.0 looks like a single 1/2sec flash followed by one second of dark then a single 1 second flash.
Discussion of the circuit: Not written yet...
Below is the current timing. This has provided very good noise performance over the previous 'pipelined' timing as the intervals from reset to clamo and clamp to convert are held absolutely constant. This apparently is a good thing.
Click here to see a screen capture of the bias frame. Note the std. dev. of the full frame is only about 4.777adu. This corresponds to about 15e. Also note how clean the histogram is.
Since construction we have had several problems. First the 2uS Vertical clock used caused poor CTE and as a result vertical streaking. It has been increased to 12uS which seems adequate.
Currently with the help of Jean-Claude PELLE we are looking at the widths of reset and clamp as well as the video settling time as well as the fast Hclocks used in subframing and binning.
The optimal values for these parameters have not been determined, but will be very soon. V1.4 will incorporate these changes.
Here is the Revision History thus far:
// V1.1 - lengthened V clock to 12uS from 2uS for vertical CTE
// V1.2 - lengthened H bin clock for Horizontal CTE
// V1.3 - remove V1.2 mod and widen reset and clamp to 1uS.
// V1.4 - Added support for sensor type 3 KAF3200..
// V1.5 - extended left and right skip pulse to 400ns
// extended bin pulses to 600ns
// extended reset pulse to 1.2uS
// made reset to clamp and h1/h2 to start conv settling times 3uS
//V1.6 - As above but 400ns bin pulses 2uS settling times.
//V1.7 - As above but 1.5uS settling
time.
Scope waveforms measured at CCD and ADC with OP467 Op-amp Courtesy of George Wieland III
Below is a picture of the unit mounted on my scope. Note the white box next to the camera.
