Open source 'Frankencamera' is fully programmable!

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By Matt Mets
Posted 2009/09/03 @ 5:54 pm
Category Electronics, Photography & Video

Computational photography researchers at Stanford have developed this open-source ‘Frankencamera’ using a sensor from a Nokia n95 cell phone, Canon camera lenses, and an ARM development board. Their goal is to create a future where your digital camera is no different than any other computer, and you can load new programs into it in order to change how it works. Of course, you can kind of do that now with Canon cameras by using CKDK, however their approach is from the ground up and should be much more versatile.

I love my Nikon camera, but I would love to be able to open it up and reprogram it at my bidding!

[via technabob]

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8 Responses to Open source 'Frankencamera' is fully programmable!

Mike on September 3rd, 2009 at 11:44 pm said:

I think a manufacturer like Canon should see the very existence of something like CHDK as an indicator that there is a potential market for an “open” camera.

Almost all limitations with cameras are software limitations designed to secure the camera model’s hierarchy and price structure. A model that costs $200 more because it can do RAW and bracketing doesn’t have anything extra inside of it. It basically just has those lines of firmware uncommented. The shutter button isn’t actually attached to the shutter. These are already “software assignable”, etc.

Anyways, I’m sure everyone reading this knows this stuff already. But I guess my point is that for those who don’t know most consumer electronics limitations are programmed specifically to be limitations, CHDK has definitely let them know that.

Now what Canon needs to do is open all of this stuff up, and start selling a camera for nerds that aren’t afraid of options. If Roomba can do this with vacuums…

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Stunmonkey on September 3rd, 2009 at 11:52 pm said:

This would be awesome for specific scientific use and as a software testbed.
Probably not real useful for actual traditional photography, but I want one anyway!!!

The article understates dramatically when it likens it to CKDK, as this goes a >whole< lot further down into actual coding of how events happens and the actual coding at the lowest levels, not just adjustments of levels and triggering of events.

The difference between choosing exposure modes and writing your own de-noising algorithms are worlds apart.
I can understand the confusion if the author has been working with equipment as proprietary and/or crippled as Nikon – good gear but definitely not meant to be hacked!

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- Matt Mets on September 4th, 2009 at 7:48 am said:
  
  Right right right. I think there is a world of difference between the typical P&S firmware and what CHDK lets you do, too, which this of course supersedes.
  
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bill on September 4th, 2009 at 4:47 am said:

… open source camera doesn’t already exist.
Google for “Elphel Camera”, even the hardware is open, with fully reprogrammable FPGA.
And it’s not that expensive, for what you can do with it.

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- Matt Mets on September 4th, 2009 at 7:42 am said:
  
  It’s linked at the bottom of the article! This is really just a an embedded system with a fancy lens focusing mechanism on it. No one is claiming ‘first’ here!
  
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Travis on September 4th, 2009 at 7:25 am said:

I’m glad to see any type of open hardware; however, there is nothing intrinsically new about this hardware device. Essentially it is a commercial CCD or CMOS imager hooked up to an embedded Linux machine (such as a Beagle Board).

Something that would be much more exciting would be an open hardware initiative to build “computational cameras” — such as ones that employ assorted pixel masks for high dynamic range or actuated imaging elements to produce flexible depth of field.

If you’re into the idea of “computational cameras”, there was a really cool plenary talk at a conference earlier this year — check out some coverage at Hizook.com

http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/06/26/computational-cameras-exploiting-megapixels-and-computers-redefine-modern-camera

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- Matt Mets on September 4th, 2009 at 8:19 am said:
  
  Awesome video! I think these people are working on non-traditional imaging mechanisms as well, just that they need a platform to start with. It will be interesting to see what their kit ends up looking like.
  
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me.gbraad.nl on September 6th, 2009 at 8:18 pm said:

Nice idea, but we also have the LeopardBoard (http://leopardboard.org/) from Leopard Imaging. Also completely open source, also based on a TI ARM (TMS320DM355 DaVinci), costs only $99 and has interchangeable CCD’s (from VGA, 1.5M to 5M)… and the community has a close relationship with the BeagleBoard.

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