Im working on building a high attitude research craft to take data on cosmic radiation. To do this I am modifying 2 cameras so that there CCDs are exposed and then hooking them to an Arduino so that they will operate in sync. This is my first time using an Arduino so if anyone has done something similar to this I would like any information i can have. the main thing I need is a basic idea of how to do this.
If you're looking for the arduino to decode/parse your video feed, I hate to be the bearer of bad news - the chip ain't powerful enough to do so, nor is there enough on board memory to deal with this sort of thing.
No, all I need is for the Arduino to turn them on and off at the same time. We have a separate way to decode the data.
hooking them to an Arduino so that they will operate in sync
Are you saying you need the Arduino to provide clock signals to the CCDs?
You's need the spec of the devices to work that one out.
What specific specs should I be looking for
I am modifying 2 cameras so that there CCDs are exposed
So - you are basically removing the lens assembly; letting cosmic rays inpinge on the sensors directly (causing "flashes" of some sort) - I think I read about this method somewhere...
Anyhow - what kind of cameras? Are these camera boards of some sort (small PCB style cameras), or are they somewhat "regular" digital cameras that have been modified? Do you have a picture or link for them?
If it is just a small PCB camera, depending on the settling time you might just be able to turn them on/off by switching their power inputs; in that case, a simple relay or transistor control for the power would probably work OK.
For a digital camera, you could try to interface with the shutter button, but both cameras might not go off at the same exact moment.
There might be some kind of inhibit/enable line for the CCD chip used in the camera, but you would need to know the information about the chip used (manufacturer and part number); sometimes this can be found on or near the chip, other times you won't find anything (or you will find a "house" number if the chip is made by the same company as the PCB for the camera). Even with that information, you may not be able to find a specification sheet (or you may have to pay for one, or become an integrator to get it, or both); but without the information for the chip, you can't even start.
There also may be auxilary chips or other interface devices on the PCB you could look for specs on; you may have to reverse engineer the camera's PCB and schematic just to understand what to do where in order for you to acheive your goal...
Good luck.
the original idea was to use Kodak C180s, but they have a built in fail safe that makes them die immediately after the case is removed. We're going to try to get another set of digital cameras, but basically we are using off the shelf digital camers