Event Detection Intelligent Camera: Demonstration of flexible, real-time data taking and processing

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design 2015-10, Vol.96-97, p.980-984
• Main Authors: Szabolics, Tamás, Cseh, Gábor, Kocsis, Gábor, Szepesi, Tamás, Zoletnik, Sándor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algorithms; Cameras; Devices; EDICAM; Event Detection Intelligent Camera; Firmware; Frames; Hardware; Real time; Software; Software packages
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2015.03.040

•We present EDICAM's operation principles description.•Firmware tests results.•Software test results.•Further developments. An innovative fast camera (EDICAM – Event Detection Intelligent CAMera) was developed by MTA Wigner RCP in the last few years. This new concept was designed for intelligent event driven processing to be able to detect predefined events and track objects in the plasma. The camera provides a moderate frame rate of 400Hz at full frame resolution (1280×1024), and readout of smaller region of interests can be done in the 1–140kHz range even during exposure of the full image. One of the most important advantages of this hardware is a 10Gbit/s optical link which ensures very fast communication and data transfer between the PC and the camera, enabling two level of processing: primitive algorithms in the camera hardware and high-level processing in the PC. This camera hardware has successfully proven to be able to monitoring the plasma in several fusion devices for example at ASDEX Upgrade, KSTAR and COMPASS with the first version of firmware. A new firmware and software package is under development. It allows to detect predefined events in real time and therefore the camera is capable to change its own operation or to give warnings e.g. to the safety system of the experiment. The EDICAM system can handle a huge amount of data (up to TBs) with high data rate (950MB/s) and will be used as the central element of the 10 camera overview video diagnostic system of Wendenstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator. This paper presents key elements of the newly developed built-in intelligence stressing the revolutionary new features and the results of the test of the different software elements.