[Updated: June 9] — E-con’s “e-CAM120_TRICUTX2” is a camera system powered by a Linux-driven Jetson TX1 or TX2 module that features three 13-megapixel, 4K@30 cameras via 4-lane MIPI-CSI-2 interfaces.

Last September, E-con Systems launched an e-CAM30_HEXCUTX2 system with six 3.4-megapixel, HD cameras. Now it has followed up with an e-CAM120_TRICUTX2 camera rig with only three cameras but each with higher 4K@30fps resolution via 13-megapixel technology.

e-CAM120_TRICUTX2 with Nvidia’s Jetson TX2 Developer Kit

As before, the brains behind the operation is a Jetson TX2 or older TX1 compute module running Linux. You also need the Nvidia Jetson Developer Kit (see farther below.)

The e-CAM120_TRICUTX2 is designed for applications including ADAS, 360-degree cameras, multimedia, 3D video recording, agricultural application, drones, and deep learning. The kit consists of a 75 x 40.7mm camera board with 4-lane MIPI CSI-2 interfaces that integrate with the Jetson module via the J22 connector. Each of the three cameras is equipped with an e-CAM137_CUMI1335_MOD module with a 1/3″ AR1335 color CMOS image sensor from ON Semiconductor, as well as an Image Signal Processor (ISP).

e-CAM120_TRICUTX2 cameras
(click images to enlarge)

The cameras support up to 3x simultaneous synchronized streams of uncompressed, YUV422 format 4K@30fps video. It supports both sync and async modes, with the latter supporting up to 72fps for 720p or 1080p resolution, and up to 100fps for VGA. Other stats include 4700 e/lux-sec responsivity, 37 dB SNR, and 69.6 dB dynamic range.

Jetson TX2

Each camera connects to the mainboard via a customized, 30cm long micro-coaxial cable. The kit includes S-Mount holders and an electronic rolling shutter.

The system ships with an SD card with a V4L2 Linux driver for MIPI CSI-2, as well as a sample app with source code for video preview and still image capture. The system supports Gstreamer 1.0 for video recording and network streaming.

Nvidia’s Jetson kits extend the Jetson TX1 and Jetson TX2 modules, which run Linux on the quad-core, Cortex-A57 Nvidia Tegra X1 and Tegra X2 SoCs, respectively. The Tegra X2 (Tegra Parker) adds two high-end “Denver” cores to its quad -A57 foundation. Both COMs measure 87 x 55mm and include 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth. The Jetson TX2 supplies 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB of eMMC 5.1.

Nvidia’s Mini-ITX form-factor TX2 Developer Kit, which is very similar to the TX1 model, includes 400-pin connectors to hook up the COM. The board supplies coastline GbE, USB 3.0, micro-USB 2.0, and HDMI ports, as well as SATA, M.2 Key E, and PCIe x4 interfaces. There’s a full-sized SD slot, as well as display and MIPI-CSI camera headers.

 
Further information

The e-CAM120_TRICUTX2 is now sampling and available for evaluation at $649, discounted from the $749 price charged on June 20. More information may be found on E-con Systems’ e-CAM120_TRICUTX2 product page.