Transitioning to Ladybug6 from Ladybug5+

Applicable Products

Ladybug®6

Application Note Description

The purpose of this application note is to:

1. Answer some frequently-asked questions about transitioning to Ladybug6 from Ladybug5+.
2. Outline the primary similarities and differences between the two cameras.
3. Offer suggestions and pointers to users for migrating their custom applications to Ladybug6 from Ladybug5+.

Questions about Upgrading to Ladybug6 from Ladybug5+

Is Ladybug5+ being discontinued?

No.

What hardware is required to use Ladybug6?

• Interface Card—The Ladybug6 requires a USB 3.1 Gen 1 PCIe host controller compliant with the SuperSpeed USB Specification and the xHCI Specification.
• Cable—The Ladybug6 requires a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A to M12 X-coded connector cable with locking screws.
• Power supply—Power must be provided through the 12-pin GPIO interface. The required input voltage is 12-24 V.
• GPIO—In addition to power, the 12-pin GPIO connector is used for external trigger input, strobe output, power, and PPS.

There is a development kit (DEVKIT-01-0008) offered to support the Ladybug6 which includes:

• Interface Card—USB 3.1 Gen 1 Host Controller Card (Dual port) (ACC-01-1201)
• Cable—1 m USB 3.1 Gen 1, Type A-male locking to M12-male (ACC-01-2308)
• Cable—3 m USB 3.1 Gen 1, Type A-male locking to M12-male (ACC-01-2309)
• Cable—5 m USB 3.1 Gen 1, Type A-male locking to M12-male (ACC-01-2310)
• Power Supply (ACC-01-9001)
• GPIO—Hirose to DC barrel connector + pigtails (6 m) (ACC-01-3012)
• Mount—Desktop tripod mount combination (ACC-02-0001)
• Hub—USB 3.1 Gen 1 Hub VIA VL812 1-port screw locks (ACC-01-6001)

All items in the development kit can be purchased separately by individual part numbers.

Can I run Ladybug6 with my existing application?

The Ladybug SDK version 1.18 (or newer) is required to run Ladybug6.

API changes are minimal but you will have to rebuild your application with the latest library.

Image Processing Pipeline

Image Processing

For both Ladybug5+ and Ladybug6, when using the JPEG8 pixel format, some image processing is done on the camera during capture before being output to the PC. Additional post processing is then performed on the PC.

For Ladybug6 there is a new format - JPEG12Processed - which operates like JPEG8 with higher bit depth.

When using the JPEG12 (unprocessed) pixel format, most of the image processing is done on the PC. This processing is done as part of ladybugConvertImage(). This allows users to fine tune the output settings independently from image capture.

User access to adjusting the parameters for image processing is available in LadybugCapPro or via CSRs.

Frame Rates

Shutter Range

Both Ladybug6 and Ladybug5+ offer four preset shutter range modes to set the maximum shutter value:

• Drive Highway—maximum shutter is set to as short as possible to prevent motion blur. Best used outdoors at high speeds or images may be too dark. This is the default.
• Drive City—maximum shutter is slightly longer than highway mode, suitable for slower speeds (~45 km/hour or 25 mph).
• Indoor—maximum shutter is slightly longer than the drive modes, for use in indoor applications.
• Low Noise—maximum shutter is not restricted.

Auto Exposure Modes

Both Ladybug6 and Ladybug5+ offer three preset modes for the auto exposure algorithm:

• Bottom 50%—uses only the bottom 50% of the five side cameras and excludes the top camera from its calculations.
• Top 50%—uses only top 50% of the five side cameras and includes the top camera in its calculations. This is the upside down version of the first mode, used when the camera is mounted upside down (for example, on a helicopter).
• Full Image—uses the entire image of all six cameras for its calculations. This is the default.

For 8-bit and JPEG12Processed pixel formats, the auto exposure modes are set for image capture. For JPEG12 (unprocessed), the auto exposure modes are set both for image capture and post processing on the PC.

Software Workflow

Image Acquisition

The Ladybug6 can be started and controlled in the same way as Ladybug5+.

However, there are some changes to your source code that should be made.

• Auto buffer usage should be enabled in JPEG data formats, instead of using a fixed JPEG quality value. This allows the camera to adjust the JPEG compression quality in order to fit the image into the available buffer size. The camera clamps the maximum quality value used to 80%. You can control the feature using ladybugSetAutoJPEGQualityControlFlag(), and control the buffer usage using ladybugSetAutoJPEGBufferUsage(). A buffer usage value between 90% to 95% is suggested.
• The default SDK settings when starting the camera are designed to allocate the appropriate frame buffer sizes in order to support 15 FPS or 30 FPS acquisition via an Intel host controller. If the desired frame rate or bandwidth is lower, the default SDK settings may be inadequate. Please see Using Packet and Buffer Size to Adjust Frame Rate on Ladybug for further information on how to optimally tune your settings.

Stream Recording

The Ladybug6 has the same maximum bandwidth and the amount of data written to disk per second is the same as Ladybug5+. It is possible to greatly reduce the amount of data sent in JPEG modes by reducing the compression quality.

Image Processing and Stitching

The workflow for data formats with on-camera image processing remains the same. See the LadybugPanoStitch example for an example.

For data formats that do not perform image processing on-camera, see ladybugImageAdjustment.h in the \include directory for image processing parameters as well as usage instructions. In addition, the LadybugCapPro application provides a graphical interface to these parameters.

In both cases, ladybugConvertImage() prepares the image for output purposes, including JPEG decompression, Bayer demosaicing as well as image post processing.

Image Output

The image output functionality remains the same as previous LadybugCapPro versions. If a full resolution panoramic image is desired, it is recommended that an output size of 12288 x 6144 (pixels) is used.

Ladybug SDK release 1.18 supports the following formats:

HDR, FLV, and WMV are no longer supported.

Image Size

For Ladybug6, the size of a single sensor image after image conversion is 4096 x 2992.
For Ladybug5+, the size of a single sensor image after image conversion is 2464 x 2048.

If your software allocates its own memory for image conversion and texture updating, the amount of memory to be allocated should be 6 x W x H x (bytes per channel), where bytes per channel is 1 for 8‑bit modes and 2 for 12-bit modes.

For example, the memory size required to contain a JPEG8 image after conversion is:

Detailed Comparison between the Ladybug6 and Ladybug5+

Mechanical Properties

GPIO Properties

The GPIO pinout is the same between Ladybug6 and Ladybug5+.

Ladybug6 has enhanced noise immunity protection on the bi-directional GPIO IO2 and IO3.

Diagram	Color	Pin	Function	Description
	Green	1	OPTO_GND	Ground for opto-isolated IO pins
	Blue	2	I0	Opto-isolated input (default Trigger in)
	Brown	3	O1	Opto-isolated output
	Orange	4	IO2	Input/Output / GPS data
	White	5	+3.3 V	Power external circuitry up to 150 mA
	Black	6	GND	Ground for bi-directional IO, VEXT, +3.3 V pins
	Red	7	VEXT	Allows the camera to be powered externally
	Red	8	VEXT	Allows the camera to be powered externally
	Red	9	VEXT	Allows the camera to be powered externally
	Green	10	OPTO_GND	Ground for opto-isolated IO pins
	Yellow	11	IO3	Input/Output / PPS signal
	Black	12	GND	Ground for bi-directional IO, VEXT, +3.3 V pins

Hardware/Electronics

Firmware

Both Ladybug6 and Ladybug5+ adhere to the IIDC v1.32 specification and the firmware operates similarly in both cameras.

Software, Driver, and System Support

Dimensions

Ladybug6 Dimensional Diagram

Ladybug5+ Dimensional Diagram