TSI-IOBOB2

User Guide
TSI-IOBOB2

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Description ....................................................................... 2
1.1. Description ................................................................... 2
1.2. General Usage .............................................................. 2
1.2.1. Arduino® based Shield Design ..................................................3
1.2.2. Code Example #1 ......................................................................5
1.2.3. Code Example #2 ......................................................................6
1.2.4. Code Example #3 ......................................................................8
1.2.5. Schematic Diagram.................................................................. 10

Chapter 2 Regulatory ...................................................................... 11

2.1. Waste Treatment is Your Own Responsibility ............... 11
2.2. Ecological Background ................................................ 11
Chapter 3 Thorlabs Worldwide Contacts ...................................... 12

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TSI-IOBOB2 Chapter 1: Description

Chapter 1 Description
1.1. Description
The Thorlabs’ Scientific Imaging I/O Break-Out Board, TSI-IOBOB2, is a
general purpose interface board designed primarily as a means of
accessing the various I/O signals present in our series of Digital Video
Cameras. However, it can just as easily be used to break-out signals
from any device compatible with MD6 (mini din) and electrical SMA
connections.

The camera-side connector is an industry standard 6-CKT Mini Din style

female connector that is routed to five (5) standard SMA receptacles (and 5 Arduino®
compatible shield pins), see Figure 1, with a common ground circuit being the sixth
circuit. The Mini-Din connector is compatible with standard off-the-shelf 6-pin “mini-
din” cables* as well as any standard 6-pin Mini-Din male connector. When used with
our line of Digital Video Cameras it is recommended that you use the appropriate I/O
cable offered in our catalog and on our web
page (http://www.thorlabs.com). Besides being directly compatible with our
cameras, these custom cables include the ferrite cable core required for
EMC compliance.

For our 1500 Series of cameras please use: 1500-CAB1

For our Scientific and Compact Scientific Series please use:

8050-CAB1.

Both of these cables are 10’ (3m) long. If you need to extend this length
further you can add an additional off-the-shelf extension cable* in series, however
signal integrity might be affected, and EMC compliance of our Digital Video
Cameras has not been evaluated with lengths greater than 10’.
Thorlabs also offers a selection of mating SMA cables, in both SMA-SMA
and SMA-BNC versions. Please look for the CA-28xx and CA-29xx
product lines on our web page and catalog (i.e. CA-2848 for a 48” SMA-BNC
cable).

* L-com DK226MM-10, DK226MF-10, or equivalent

1.2. General Usage

The TSI-IOBOB2 was designed to allow users to trigger TSI cameras and monitor
their resulting output signals in two different ways. The first way involves using the
TSI-IOBOB2 like the TSI-IOBOB and simply connect the signals from the gold SMA
connectors directly to an oscilloscope. The second way is to place the TSI-IOBOB2
shield on an Arduino® (or equivalent board) supporting the Arduino-Uno® Rev 3.
form factor.

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TSI-IOBOB2

1.2.1. Arduino® based Shield Design

The TSI-IOBOB2 is designed around the Arduino-Uno® Rev 3 shield form factor and
allows direct connection of the lines exposed in the TSI camera trigger line to the
digital IO lines of the Arduino®. There are bi-directional logic level converters
between the DIN/SMA connectors and the shield pins to prevent cameras with 5V
signals from damaging Arduino® based boards expecting 3.3V logic. In addition,
there is an LED connected to the FVAL signal on the SMA/DIN side of the circuit that
glows during the camera frame read out period (FVAL). The Arduino® pins currently
used in the shield are:

Camera Line Arduino® Pin SMA (V Typ) Arduino® Pin (V Typ)

Trig In D3 (Output) 5 3.3
Strobe D4 (Input) 5 3.3
FVal D5 (Input) 5 3.3
Trig Out 1 D6 (Input) 5 3.3
LVal D7 (Input) 5 3.3
1 – Trig Out is incompatible with Thorlabs’ “Compact Scientific” cameras. Refer to the specific camera User Guide for details.

Figure 1 Signal Locations

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TSI-IOBOB2 Chapter 1: Description

Figure 2 Sample Configuration with Camera, PC, and other Devices

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TSI-IOBOB2

1.2.2. Code Example #1

The example below shows how to trigger the camera at a rate of 1 Hz.

int trigPin = 3;

void setup()
{
//Set trigger pin (D3) to output
pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);
//Camera typically triggers on LOW
digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
}

void loop()
{
//Trigger Camera every second
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
//Slight delay to give camera time to react
delay(1);
//Set trigger line back to HIGH
digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
//Delay next trigger
delay(995);
}

Figure 3 Timing Diagram of the Trig_In Signal Sent to the Camera

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TSI-IOBOB2 Chapter 1: Description

1.2.3. Code Example #2

The example below show how to trigger a camera, wait until the camera is done
reading out, then trigger the next frame. This allows triggered acquisition at the
fastest possible rate.

int trigPin = 3;
int fvalPin = 5;
int prevFVal;
int currFVal;

void setup()
{
//Set trigger pin to output
pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);
//Set fval pin to input
pinMode(fvalPin, INPUT);
//Camera typically triggers on LOW
digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);

prevFVal = LOW;
}

void loop()
{
//Trigger Camera
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
//Slight delay to give camera time to react
delay(1);
//Set trigger line back to HIGH
digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);

//Wait until FVal falling edge to trigger next frame

while(1)
{
currFVal = digitalRead(fvalPin);
if(prevFVal == HIGH and currFVal == LOW)
{
//1ms delay gives the camera a chance to get ready
//for the next trigger
delay(1);
break;
}
prevFVal = currFVal;
}
}

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TSI-IOBOB2

Figure 4 Timing Diagram of the Trigger Signal Sent to the Camera and the FVAL signal
measured by Arduino

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TSI-IOBOB2 Chapter 1: Description

1.2.4. Code Example #3

The example below shows how to trigger and read values from the camera using the
Arduino Uno registers for faster read/write times.
byte current,tmp;
byte readAllMask = B11111000;
byte trigMask = B00001000;
byte fvalMask = B00100000;
byte lvalMask = B10000000;
byte strobeMask = B00010000;
byte trigOutMask = B01000000;

void setup()
{
DDRD = trigMask;//Set all but trigIn to inputs
PORTD = trigMask;//Set the trigger to high
current = PIND & readAllMask;//Read current values

Serial.begin(115200);
}

void loop()
{
//Trigger Camera
PORTD = 0;//set trigger low;

//Read current values

current = PIND & readAllMask;

//While some condition not met

while(current != /*Add condition here*/)
{
//Set trigger line back to HIGH
PORTD = trigMask;

//Read current values

current = PIND & readAllMask;

//Add code to perform tasks in response to changes in camera

signals
}

Serial.println("Triggering next image...");

delay(1000);
}

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TSI-IOBOB2

Figure 5 Timing Diagram of the Trig_In Signal Sent to the Camera

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 TSI-IOBOB2 Chapter 1: Description

1.2.5. Schematic Diagram

VCC.3V3 VCC.5V0
J3
1 LVAL
R1 R2
2

1
10k 1% Q1 10k 1%
3

2
ANALOG 4
LVAL_ARD
1 5
2 6
3 7 BSS138
LVAL GND
4 8
5 9
6 10
VCC.3V3 VCC.5V0
PINHD-1X6 PINHD-1X10
TRIG_OUT
R3 R4

1
J1 10k 1% Q2 10k 1%

2
1
TRIGOUT_ARD
2
3
TRIGIN_ARD 4 BSS138
GND
STROBE_ARD 5 TRIGOUT
FVAL_ARD 6
TRIGOUT_ARD 7
VCC.3V3 VCC.5V0
LVAL_ARD 8
RESET
2 4
GND PINHD-1X8 TRIG_IN
1 3 R5 R6

1
NOPOP 10k 1% Q3 10k 1%

2
J2
TRIGIN_ARD
1
2
VCC.5V0 VCC.3V3 3 BSS138
GND
4
TRIGIN
5
6
VCC.3V3 VCC.5V0
7
+9V 8
FVAL
R7 R8
PINHD-1X8

1
10k 1% Q4 10k 1%
GND

2
FVAL_ARD

BSS138
GND
R11 FVAL
270 1%
VCC.3V3 VCC.5V0
LED1
GREEN
STROBE
R9 R10
1

10k 1% Q5 10k 1%
2

STROBE_ARD

BSS138
GND GND
STROBE

J7
STROBE 6 5 FVAL

4 3 TRIGIN

TRIGOUT 2 1 LVAL
GND

Figure 6 Schematic Diagram

Additional support documentation, including dimensional drawings and 3D models, is

available at www.thorlabs.com .

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TSI-IOBOB2

Chapter 2 Regulatory
As required by the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) of
the European Community and the corresponding national laws, Thorlabs offers all
end users in the EC the possibility to return “end of life” units without incurring
disposal charges.
 This offer is valid for Thorlabs electrical and electronic equipment:
 Sold after August 13, 2005
 Marked correspondingly with the crossed out
“wheelie bin” logo (see right)
 Sold to a company or institute within the EC
 Currently owned by a company or institute
within the EC
 Still complete, not disassembled and not
contaminated
As the WEEE directive applies to self contained
Wheelie Bin Logo
operational electrical and electronic products, this end of
life take back service does not refer to other Thorlabs products, such as:
 Pure OEM products, that means assemblies to be built into a unit by the
user (e.g. OEM laser driver cards)
 Components
 Mechanics and optics
 Left over parts of units disassembled by the user (PCB’s, housings etc.).
If you wish to return a Thorlabs unit for waste recovery, please contact Thorlabs or
your nearest dealer for further information.

2.1. Waste Treatment is Your Own Responsibility

If you do not return an “end of life” unit to Thorlabs, you must hand it to a company
specialized in waste recovery. Do not dispose of the unit in a litter bin or at a public
waste disposal site.

2.2. Ecological Background

It is well known that WEEE pollutes the environment by releasing toxic products
during decomposition. The aim of the European RoHS directive is to reduce the
content of toxic substances in electronic products in the future.
The intent of the WEEE directive is to enforce the recycling of WEEE. A controlled
recycling of end of life products will thereby avoid negative impacts on the
environment.

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TSI-IOBOB2 Chapter 3: Thorlabs Worldwide Contacts

Chapter 3 Thorlabs Worldwide Contacts

For technical support or sales inquiries, please visit us at
www.thorlabs.com/contact for our most up-to-date contact information.

USA, Canada, and South America UK and Ireland

Thorlabs, Inc. Thorlabs Ltd.
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]

Europe Scandinavia
Thorlabs GmbH Thorlabs Sweden AB
[email protected] [email protected]

France Brazil
Thorlabs SAS Thorlabs Vendas de Fotônicos Ltda.
[email protected] [email protected]

Japan China
Thorlabs Japan, Inc. Thorlabs China
[email protected] [email protected]

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