Scorpion Vision Software has a special driver for Sony SmartCameras.

The following cameras are tested and supported by Scorpion:

• XCI-SX1 SmartCam  - ICamGrab.dll
• XCI-V3 SmartCam - ICamGrab_V3.dll

The actual camera interface file must be selected in Scorpion  - this file is located on the Scorpion directory after installing Scorpion Vision Software.

Change Scorpion Camera Interface

The camera dll is changed using the rmouse menu in the camera pane - more information.

Both hardware trigging and software trigging are supported.

Example 1: Testing SmartCamera HW-Triggering

A nice way to test the hw-trigger on the camera is by using the optically isolated output from the camera to toggle the trigger input.

1. Connect the ISO output + (pin 4 on the power connector) to +12V on the camera power supply.
2. Connect together the IOS output - (pin 9 on the power connector) and the Trigger pulse input (pin 11 on the power connector).
3. For the XCI-SX1 it is important to configure the camera with "Positive" Shutter polarity
   • this is contrary to documentation from Sony
   • the V3 camera is working according to specification
4. Configure the camera in HW trigger mode
5. Call the following "Python" script after the "Grab" command in the "GrabExecute" system event:

# this method generates a pulse on the hw-trig input when ISO output is connected
def HWTrigger():
    camera = GetCamera('0')
    camera.setProperty('OutputISOState',0)
    camera.setProperty('OutputISOState',1)

Please note that this hardware and software setup holds the trigger pulse input normally "high", and pulls it to "ground" for a short interval.

Example 2: Making Backup of Flash Card

It is strongly recommended to make a backup of the Flash Card inside the Sony SmartCam. To make a backup the following equipment si needed:

• A Personal Computer running Windows XP
• Compact Flash Adapter USB or PCMCIA
• Flash Card management Software

We can recommend the Undisker Software package to manage these Flash Card Images. The software is available at www.undisker.com. Unidisker is described as a disk image utility that can handle ISO files - create, open, view and extract them

Tordivel AS produces custom XPembedded Images with Scorpion Vision Software installed. These images contains in addition to XPe, the Sony camera drivers and Scorpion Vision Software:

• .Net Framework version 1.1
• Python 2.4
• Python for Windows Extentions
• PySerial

These Images are available from Tordivel upon request with a valid Service Maintenance contract.