HALCON 10 Image Acquisition Interface for Andor Scientific Cameras
This page provides the documentation of the HALCON Andor image acquisition interface for accessing the scientific cameras from Andor Technology. Registered customers can download the latest revision of this interface from the MVTec WWW server.
Revision: 4.3
System Requirements
- Intel compatible PC with Windows XP/Vista/7.
- Andor device drivers included in Andor SDK.
- Andor DLL atmcd32d.dll version 2.88 or higher. This DLL must be within your search path %PATH% (typically, it resides in the directory of the Andor installation path.
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HALCON image acquisition interface hAcqAndor.dll
or hAcqAndorxl.dll, respectively.
If you have properly installed the interface, both DLLs should reside in bin\%HALCONARCH% within the HALCON base directory %HALCONROOT% you have chosen during the installation of HALCON.
Features
- Synchronous and asynchronous grabbing.
- Software control of a variety of camera parameters.
- Cropping of image parts.
- Support of dual exposure mode to grab images with different internal exposure times, without the need of further settings.
- Tested on the following cameras: Luca-S, Luca-R, iKon-M and iXon. However, the interface will work with any Andor camera.
Limitations
- grab_data and grab_data_async not supported.
- Using multiple cameras at the same time not supported yet.
Description
Parameters for open_framegrabber():
| Name | 'Andor' | The name of the HALCON image acquisition interface. | |||
| HorizontalResolution | 1, 2, 3, 4 | The desired horizontal image resolution. Use 1 for full resolution, or 2/3/4 for binning with factor 2/3/4, respectively. Default: 1. | |||
| VerticalResolution | 1, 2, 3, 4 | The desired vertical image resolution. Use 1 for full resolution, or 2/3/4 for binning with factor 2/3/4, respectively. Default: 1. | |||
| ImageWidth | 0, width | The width of the desired image part ('0' stands for the complete image). | |||
| ImageHeight | 0, height | The height of the desired image part ('0' stands for the complete image). | |||
| StartRow | 0, row | The row coordinate of the upper left pixel within the desired image part. Default: 0. | |||
| StartColumn | 0, column | The column coordinate of the upper left pixel within the desired image part. Default: 0. | |||
| Field | --- | Ignored. | |||
| BitsPerChannel | --- | Ignored. | |||
| ColorSpace | 'gray' | Only the gray formats are supported by the camera models. | |||
| Generic | --- | Ignored. | |||
| ExternalTrigger | 'true', 'false' | Activate/deactivate external triggering. Default: 'false'. | |||
| CameraType | --- | Ignored | |||
| Device | --- | Ignored | |||
| Port | --- | Ignored. | |||
| LineIn | --- | Ignored. | |||
Parameters for set_framegrabber_param():
| 'ad_channel' | channel | Sets the ad channel to one of the possible ad's in the system. | |||
| 'baseline_clamp' | 'enable', 'disable' | Enable/disable the baseline level of each scan in a series. | |||
| 'continuous_grabbing' | 'enable', 'disable' | Sets the camera to single scan mode or continuous capture mode (video mode). The continuous mode is related to the RunTillAbort' parameter described in the Andor documentation. Default: 'disable'. | |||
| 'cooler' | 'on', 'off' | Switches the running state of the device cooler (please keep in mind, that this feature is not supported by each camera model). | |||
| 'do_abort_grab' | --- | Cancels a pending asynchronous grab. | |||
| 'do_force_trigger' | --- | Forces an event trigger when using the software trigger. This might be useful for testing purposes. | |||
| 'do_prepare_acquisition' | --- | Update any data that has changed without starting the image acquisition. | |||
| 'do_start_video' | --- | Starts the camera running in video mode. In this mode the camera will continuously grab images, which the user can get using grab_image or grab_image_async, until the action parameter 'do_abort_grab' is called. | |||
| 'dual_exposure_mode' | 'enable', 'disable' | The parameter turns on or off the dual exposure mode. Dual exposure mode will acquire 2 images at two different exposure times for every trigger that is sent to the camera. It will only operate on certain cameras, the parameter 'continuous_grabbing' must be set to 'continuous' (video mode), and the parameter 'trigger_source' must be set to 'hardware'. | |||
| 'dual_exposure_time_1' | time (float) | Specifies the first dual exposure time in seconds of the camera. | |||
| 'dual_exposure_time_2' | time (float) | Specifies the second dual exposure time in seconds of the camera. | |||
| 'em_advanced' | 'off', 'on' | The parameter turns 'on' and 'off' access to higher EM gain levels. | |||
| 'em_gain' | gain | Sets the CCD gain value. The valid range depends on what gain mode the camera is operating in. | |||
| 'em_gain_mode' | 'dac_255', 'dac_4095', 'linear', 'real' | Sets the em gain mode to one of the possible settings. | |||
| 'exposure' | time (float) | Specifies the desired exposure time in seconds of the camera. Default: 0.1. | |||
| 'frame_transfer' | 'off', 'on' | Enables/disables frame transfer mode. | |||
| 'fan_mode' | 'full', 'low', 'off' | Sets the mode of the camera fan. If the system is cooled, the fan should only be turned off for short periods of time. During the time, the body of the camera will warm up which could compromise cooling capabilities. If the camera temperature gets to high, some models will signal an alarm via a buzzer. If this happens, turn off the external power supply and allow the system to stabilize before continuing. | |||
| 'grab_timeout' | milliseconds | Specifies the desired timeout (milliseconds passed as an integer) for aborting a pending grab. The default of the timeout depends on the cycle time of the device. Default: current cycle time plus 5 seconds. | |||
| 'horizontal_binning' | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Sets the desired horizontal binning factor. | |||
| 'hs_speed' | speed (float) | Sets the shift speed of the pixels when they are shifted into the output node during the acquisition readout phase. Typically the camera will capable of operating several shift speeds. Please keep in mind, that several cameras also support the 'output_amplifier' parameter which could also affect the 'hs_speed' parameter. | |||
| 'image_height' | height | The height of the desired image part. | |||
| 'image_width' | width | The width of the desired image part. | |||
| 'output_amplifier' | index | Specifies the index of the used output amplifier. If multiple amplifiers are supported by the device, please check the camera documentation for detailed amplifier description. The 'output_amplifier' parameter is also internally used by the 'hs_speed' and 'num_hs_speeds' parameters. Default: 0 | |||
| 'preamp_gain' | gain | Sets the pre amp gain to be used for subsequent acquisition. | |||
| 'shutter_closetime' | ms | The time in milliseconds specifies how long the shutter needs to close. Default: 1. | |||
| 'shutter_opentime' | ms | The time in milliseconds specifies how long the shutter needs to open. Default: 1. | |||
| 'shutter_mode' | 'auto', 'open', 'close' | The parameter configures whether the shutter open and closes automatically with the value 'auto'. Setting the value to 'open' forces a permanently opened shutter. With 'close' the shutter is closed permanently. | |||
| 'shutter_ttl' | 'low', 'high' | The parameter controls the behaviour of the shutter. With 'low' the output TTL low signal will open the shutter. With 'high' the output TTL high signal will close the shutter. Default: 'low'. | |||
| 'start_async_after_grab_async' | 'enable', 'disable' | By default, at the end of grab_image_async a new asynchronous grab command is automatically executed. If this parameter is set to 'disable' this new grab command is omitted. Default: 'enable'. | |||
| 'start_column' | column | The column coordinate of the upper left pixel of the desired image part. | |||
| 'start_row' | row | The row coordinate of the upper left pixel of the desired image part. | |||
| 'target_temperature' | degree | Sets the target temperature in Celsius the camera should achieve. The current status could be queried with the 'temperature_status' parameter. | |||
| 'trigger_source' | 'internal', 'hardware', 'software' | Sets one of the trigger sources. Be aware of the settings your camera supplies. Default: 'internal'. | |||
| 'vertical_binning' | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Sets the desired vertical binning factor. | |||
| 'vs_speed' | speed (float) | Sets the shift speed of the pixels when they are shifted into the output node during the acquisition readout phase. Typically the camera will capable of operating several shift speeds. | |||
Parameters for get_framegrabber_param():
Additional parameters supported by get_framegrabber_param only. Note that all parameters supported by set_framegrabber_param except the ones with prefix 'do_' can also be accessed by get_framegrabber_param. Furthermore, corresponding to the parameters supported by set_framegrabber_param, there may exist additional read-only parameters with the following postfixes:
- '_description': These parameters provide the tooltip of the corresponding parameter as a string.
- '_range': These parameters provide the minimum, maximum, stepwidth, and default values for the corresponding integer or float parameter as a tuple with 4 elements, e.g., get_framegrabber_param(..,'grab_timeout_range',..) will return the output tuple [min,max,step,default]. Optionally, this tuple can also contain additional valid string values like 'auto' or 'manual'.
- '_values': These parameters provide the valid value list for the corresponding parameter as a tuple, e.g., get_framegrabber_param(..,'trigger_source_values',..) will return the output tuple ['enable','disable'].
| 'num_ad_channels' | number_channels | Gets the number of supported ad channels. | |||
| 'num_amplifiers' | number_amplifiers | Gets the number of supported amplifiers. | |||
| 'num_hs_speeds' | number_speeds | Gets the number of the horizontal shift speeds in microseconds which are supported by the device. The camera will capable of operating several shift speeds. Please keep in mind, that several cameras also support the 'output_amplifier' parameter. The number of shift speeds is also based on the currently set amplifier type. | |||
| 'num_vs_speeds' | number_speeds | Gets the number of the vertical shift speeds in microseconds which are supported by the device. | |||
| 'revision' | revision | The revision number of the HALCON Andor interface. | |||
| 'temperature' | degree (long) | Gets the current temperature in Celsius. | |||
| 'temperature_float' | degree (float) | Gets the current temperature in Celsius as float type. | |||
| 'temperature_status' | status | Gets a status about the cooling state of the camera. | |||
| 'video_running' | 'true', 'false' | Gets the information whether the video mode is active or not. | |||
Release Notes
-
Revision 4.3 (Apr 18, 2011):
- Added new parameters 'fan_mode', 'temperature_float', 'image_width', 'image_height', 'start_row', and 'start_column'.
- Fixed bug in parameter 'do_abort_grab' to ensure the proper abort of all current image acquisition activities.
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Revision 4.2 (Dec 10, 2010):
- Added new parameters 'output_amplifier' and 'num_amplifiers'.
- Changed default shutter values: Set 'shutter_mode' to 'open', 'shutter_ttl' to 'high', and the 'shutter_opentime' and 'shutter_closetime' to 0.
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Revision 4.1 (Aug 10, 2010):
- Adapted to SDK version 2.88.
- Added new parameters 'continuous_grabbing', 'do_start_video', 'dual_exposure_mode', 'dual_exposure_time_1', 'dual_exposure_time_2', and 'video_running'.
- HALCON 10 version of the interface (included in HALCON 10 DVD).
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Revision 4.0 (Jan 12, 2010):
- First official release.
