Centeye Vision Chips
New Stonyman / Hawksbill Series
We recommend either the Stonyman or the Hawksbill chip for all new designs. Both vision chips are easy to use and require a minimal interface: 5 digital inputs and 1 analog output. These chips were designed to interface with microcontroller and DSPs. The Stonyman vision chip contains a 112 x 112 pixel array arranged in a conventional square array (like 99.9% of all commercially produced image sensors) while the Hawksbill vision chip contains a 136 x 136 pixel array arranged in a hexagonal form. The Stonyman vision chip also contains in-pixel binning circuitry much like the Firefly chip, allowing you to construct square or rectangular “super pixels” from the raw pixel array. Both vision chips use logarithmic response pixels.
We are working on a new ArduEye series which will be based primarily on the Stonyman chip. Details will be forthcoming. (The launch of any new Stonyman ArduEye sensors will include a promotion for past purchasers of Tam-based ArduEyes).
Stonyman and Hawksbill Datasheet <— DATASHEET HERE!!
Of course, our other vision chips are still available if you prefer them for your product or project.
To purchase vision chips, click here
Centeye vision chip portfolio summary
- Stonyman: 112 x 112 square array, logarithmic response, in-pixel binning, 5 digital in / 1 analog out interface
- Hawksbill: 136 x 136 hexagonal array, logarithmic response, 5 digital in / 1 analog out interface
- Tam2: 16 x 16 square array, logarithmic response, 2 digital in / 1 analog out interface
- Tam4: 4 x 32 rectangular (8:1 aspect ratio) array, logarithmic response, 2 digital in / 1 analog out interface
- FireflySmall: 128 x 256 square array, in-pixel binning, PIO12B interface, on-chip ADC and voltage regulator
- FireflyLarge: 480 x 256 square array, in-pixel binning, PIO12B interface, on-chip ADC
- Faraya64: 64×64 square array, switched capacitor pixel binning, PIO12B interface, on-chip ADC and voltage regulator
- Faraya256: 256×256 square array, switched capacitor pixel binning, PIO12B interface, on-chip ADC and voltage regulator
The PIO12B interface is a bi-directional parallel interface (8 digital IO, 2 digital in, 1 analog out) allowing multiple chips to be connected to the same digital bus but allow individual chips or groups of chips to be operated in parallel or in sequence.
Datasheets and Instructions
Stonyman / Hawksbill series vision chips (Stonyman and Hawksbill)
Tam series vision chips (Tam2 and Tam4)
Firefly series vision chips (FireflySmall and FireflyBig)
Faraya series vision chips (Faraya64 and Faraya256)
PIO12B instructions (needed for Firefly and Faraya series)
Overview Video
This video contains information on the Faraya, Firefly, and Tam series of vision chips.
(Access slides here)
To purchase vision chips, click here
Stonyman / Hawksbill Series (New):
The Stonyman and Hawksbill vision chips are the latest chips in our portfolio. The goal of these chips was to combine the variable resolution capability of the Firefly series with the simple interface of the Tam chip. These chips are very easy to use, yet provide adequate resolution for many applications
The Stonyman chip has a resolution of 112 x 112 pixels and has binning in the focal plane, much like the Firefly series of chips. The Hawksbill chip contains a hexagonal array of 136 z 136 resolution. Both chips use a minimalist interface with five digital input lines and one analog output line, and are perfect for use with a microcontroller.
* Stonyman: 112 x 112 pixel array with binning in the focal plane
* Hawksbill: 136 x 136 hexagonal array
Tam Series:
The Tam series of chips are the simplest image sensor chips we operate. They can be operated with as little as five connections: Ground, Power, Clock, Reset, and AnalogOut. The AnalogOut pin contains the analog pixel value (logarithmically compressed). Pulsing the Clock signal increments a counter that allows individual pixels to be read out row-wise. Pulsing the Reset line resets the counter to read out the top left pixel. It does not get much simpler than this.
Two Tam series chips are available, the Tam2 with a 16×16 resolution and the Tam4 with a 4×32 resolution, implemented with rectangular pixels. The Tam4 chip is appropriate for sensing information along one axis, for example one dimensional optical flow.
* Tam2: 16 x 16 resolution of square pixels
* Tam4: 4 x 32 resolution of rectangular pixels
Firefly Series:
Firefly series chips contain a logarithmic pixel array with binning in the focal plane. Binning is implemented with “switches” between pixel circuits. The native resolution pixel array may be binned and downsampled by a factor of 1, 2, 4, or 8 independently in each of the X and Y directions. It is also possible for the binning array to be offset- the top-left binned pixel could, for example, be formed from rows and columns 1 through 8, or could be offset so that, for example, rows 1 through 8 and columns 2 through 9 form the top-left binned pixel.
These chips are generally easy to use. This is the chip we recommend except for cases where extreme small size is needed. The primary interface is through a 10-bit wide PIO12 interface.
Two chips are available: FireflyBig with a 480×256 native resolution, and FireflySmall with a 128×256 native resolution.
Both Firefly series chips include on-chip bias generators, PIO12 interface, linear voltage regulator for analog circuits, and on-chip 8-bit ADC.
* FireflySmall: 128 x 256 array with in-focal plane binning
* FireflyBig: 480 x 256 array
Faraya Series:
Faraya series chips are similar to the Firefly series of chips, except that binning is performed with a separate capacitor array located adjacent to the pixel array. This may result in a lower acquisition time, but allows smoothing to be implemented beyond simple binning using switched capacitor techniques. The Faraya series chips are slightly more difficult to operate.
Two chips are available: Faraya256plus with a 256×256 native resolution, and Faraya64plus with a 64×64 native resolution.
Both Faraya series chips include on-chip bias generators, PIO12 interface, and an on-chip 8-bit ADC. The Faraya64plus chip also includes an on-chip linear voltage regulator.
* Faraya256: 256 x 256 array
* Faraya64: 64 x 64 array