Active Time-of-Flight Depth Camera Module for the Raspberry Pi is Now Available! Arducam

With a 240180 resolution and measurements down to 13 feet in "far mode," this active depth sensor is available for crowdfunding for $29.90.

The time-of-flight (ToF) sensor in this new camera module for the Raspberry Pi from computer vision expert Arducam is intended to deliver depth information at 30 frames per second.

Arducam's most recent Raspberry Pi-compatible camera module shifts to active depth detection with time-of-flight (ToF) measurement, in contrast to its earlier offerings, which were largely focused on collecting visible light at ever-increasing resolutions.

Technically capable of operating at 120 frames per second, the camera combines a 240180-resolution image sensor with a 940nm infrared vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). However, the Raspberry Pi can only handle 30 frames per second. The sensor can record depth data at up to 6.5 feet in "near mode" and 13 feet in "far mode" with a 70-degree field of view (FoV).

Arducam ToF camera specifications:

• Compatibility – Any Raspberry Pi board with a MIPI CSI connector
• Effective number of pixels – 240×180
• Frame Rate
• Up to 120 fps (sensor)
• Up to 30 fps (when processed by a Raspberry Pi using 4-phases RAW frames)
• Sensor size – 1/6-inch
• Modulation Frequency – 75MHz/37.5MHz
• Viewing Angle – 70° Diagonal
• Light Source – 940nm VCSEL illuminator
• Output Formats
• 4-phases RAW Frame
• Depth Frame
• Grayscale Amplitude Frame
• Host interface – 2-lane MIPI CSI
• Range
• Far Mode – Up to 4 meters
• Near mode – Up to 2 meters
• Dimensions – 38 x 38 mm

The camera, which is just 3838mm (or 1.51.5") in size, is connected to the Raspberry Pi's MIPI Camera Serial Interface (CSI) connector as well as the GPIO header to supply power to the laser. It also provides examples C, C++, and Python programs for raw data capture and depth analysis. Along with enabling interoperability with common V4L2 camera frameworks like OpenCV and TensorFlow, Arducam's drivers also expose the sensor as such.

The launch of the ToF sensor comes after the company unveiled its most recent USB 3.0 camera sensor evaluation kit and ultra-high-resolution 108-megapixel camera sensor. These products serve as a higher-resolution alternative to the Pi Hawk-eye camera's already impressive 64 megapixels, which was introduced as a replacement for an earlier, less expensive 16-megapixel autofocus camera module design.

Arducam ToF Camera is now being funded on Kickstarter, with a supporter price of $29.90 instead of the intended retail price of $50.