Supported MIPI Cameras

This page lists the MIPI CSI-2 cameras that the Modalix BSP supports: which camera to order, which carrier board ports have an overlay for it, and which sensor modes the drivers provide. To configure a camera on your board, see MIPI Camera Interfaces.

Where this information comes from

The overlays and sensor modes on this page are taken from the kernel source for platform release 2.1.3, in simaai-linux. They show what the BSP provides, not what SiMa.ai has validated on every carrier board. An item marked Not confirmed has no published source yet.

Cameras and Ordering

The BSP has overlays for five sensors from three vendors. A vendor often sells several modules with the same sensor, and they differ in lane count, connector, and lens. Order by part number, not by sensor name. Select a camera to view its specifications.

Vendor	Camera	Shutter	Name in the overlay file	Part number
Arducam	Sony IMX477	Rolling	`ARDU-IMX477`	Not confirmed
e-con Systems	Sony IMX568, Standard camera	Global	`ECON-IMX568`	Not confirmed
e-con Systems	Sony IMX568, Camera with the e-con FPGA board	Global	`ECON-FPGA-IMX568`	Not confirmed
e-con Systems	Sony IMX568, Camera with the e-con KOBE1 FPGA board	Global	`ECON-KOBE1-IMX568`	Not confirmed
e-con Systems	Sony IMX678	Rolling	`ECON-IMX678`	Not confirmed
Leopard Imaging	onsemi AR0234	Global	`LI-AR0234`	`LI-AR0234CSC-MIPI-M12`Listed by the vendor for SiMa.ai
Leopard Imaging	OmniVision OG05C10	Global	`LI-OG05C10`	`LI-OG05C10-MIPI-102H`Listed by the vendor for SiMa.ai

Leopard Imaging lists both part numbers above among its cameras for SiMa.ai.
The part numbers of the Arducam and e-con Systems cameras that the BSP supports are not published yet. Ask your SiMa.ai representative before you order.
e-con Systems supplies the IMX568 camera in three assemblies: the standard camera, the camera with the e-con FPGA board, and the camera with the e-con KOBE1 FPGA board. Each assembly has its own overlay. Use the overlay that matches your assembly.

Camera Specifications

Add a camera to view its specifications. Add up to four cameras to compare them side by side, and use × to remove one. The sensor modes are the modes that the drivers in release 2.1.3 set up for each camera, before any scaling.

Specification	Arducam Sony IMX477
General
Shutter	Rolling
Name in the overlay file	`ARDU-IMX477`
MIPI data lanes	2
Sensor modes in release 2.1.3
Largest mode	4032 × 3040, 10 fps
Fastest mode	2048 × 1080, 30 fps
Bit depth	12-bit
All modes	1920 × 1080, 30 fps 2048 × 1080, 30 fps 4032 × 3040, 10 fps
Overlay files
Connect Tech	`modalix-som-connectech-ARDU-IMX477-0CAM.dtbo` `modalix-som-connectech-ARDU-IMX477-1CAM.dtbo` `modalix-som-connectech-ARDU-IMX477-2CAM.dtbo` `modalix-som-connectech-ARDU-IMX477-3CAM.dtbo`
Seeed Studio	`modalix-som-seeedstudio-ARDU-IMX477-0CAM.dtbo` `modalix-som-seeedstudio-ARDU-IMX477-2CAM.dtbo`
Waveshare	`modalix-som-waveshare-ARDU-IMX477-1CAM.dtbo` `modalix-som-waveshare-ARDU-IMX477-2CAM.dtbo` `modalix-som-waveshare-ARDU-IMX477-DUAL.dtbo`
Location on the board	`/boot/boot-0/` or `/boot/boot-1/`The active boot directory. In dtbos, give the file name without the path.
Source in the kernel	`arch/arm64/boot/dts/simaai/overlays/`
Ordering
Part number	Not confirmed
Vendor documents	Selection guide (PDF)

Connect a Camera

Power off the board before you connect or disconnect a camera.
Connect the camera to a MIPI CSI-2 connector on the carrier board. The Modalix DevKit has two.
Note which port you used. The overlay name includes the port.
Select the overlay for your carrier board, camera, and port, as described in MIPI Camera Interfaces.

Every overlay on this page uses two MIPI data lanes.

The connector on a camera often differs from the connector on the carrier board, so you may need an adapter cable. The cable and adapter part numbers for each camera are not published yet. Ask the camera vendor or your SiMa.ai representative. For the connectors on the reference carrier board, see Carrier Board Bring-up.

Carrier Boards and Ports

Release 2.1.3 has an overlay for each combination in this table. The overlay file name is modalix-som-<carrier>-<camera>-<port>.dtbo, for example modalix-som-waveshare-ARDU-IMX477-1CAM.dtbo.

Name in the overlay file	Connect Tech`connectech`	Seeed Studio`seeedstudio`	Waveshare`waveshare`
`ARDU-IMX477`	`0CAM`, `1CAM`, `2CAM`, `3CAM`	`0CAM`, `2CAM`	`1CAM`, `2CAM`, `DUAL`
`ECON-IMX568`	—	—	`1CAM`, `2CAM`
`ECON-FPGA-IMX568`	`0CAM`, `1CAM`, `2CAM`, `3CAM`	`0CAM`, `2CAM`	`1CAM`, `2CAM`
`ECON-KOBE1-IMX568`	`0CAM`, `1CAM`, `2CAM`, `3CAM`	`0CAM`, `2CAM`	`1CAM`, `2CAM`
`ECON-IMX678`	`0CAM`, `1CAM`, `2CAM`, `3CAM`	`0CAM`, `2CAM`	`1CAM`, `2CAM`, `DUAL`
`LI-AR0234`	`0CAM`, `1CAM`, `2CAM`, `3CAM`	`0CAM`, `2CAM`	`1CAM`, `2CAM`, `DUAL`
`LI-OG05C10`	`0CAM`, `1CAM`, `2CAM`, `3CAM`	`0CAM`, `2CAM`	`1CAM`, `2CAM`, `DUAL`

By default, the Modalix DevKit has the Waveshare carrier board, so use the overlays in the Waveshare column.
The number in the port is the MIPI CSI interface of the SoM that the connector is wired to. For example, 1CAM is CSI1. The numbers differ between carrier boards.
DUAL sets up both Waveshare ports with the same camera model in one overlay.
To use two cameras of different models, list one overlay for each port. See Use Multiple Cameras.
A dash (—) means that there is no overlay for that combination.
The carrier name identifies the vendor of the carrier board, not a board model. To compare carrier boards, see Third-Party Carrier Boards.

The overlays are in the active boot directory of the board. To list the ones that your board has:

sima@modalix:~$ ls /boot/boot-*/modalix-som-*.dtbo

Overlay Names in Earlier Releases

Release	Camera overlays
2.1.0	`ARDU-IMX477`, `ECON-IMX568`, `ECON-IMX678`, `LI-AR0234`, and `LI-OG05C10`
2.1.1	Adds `ECON-KOBE1-IMX568`
2.1.3	Renames `ECON-IMX568` to `ECON-FPGA-IMX568`, and adds a new `ECON-IMX568` for the standard camera on the Waveshare carrier board

The ECON-IMX568 overlay changed in release 2.1.3

In releases 2.1.0 and 2.1.1, ECON-IMX568 is the overlay for the camera with the e-con FPGA board. From release 2.1.3, that overlay is named ECON-FPGA-IMX568, and ECON-IMX568 is the overlay for the standard camera. Check the dtbos variable in U-Boot after you update.

Sensor Modes

The sensor modes of each camera are in Camera Specifications.

The data sheet of a camera can list other modes for the same sensor. Do not assume that a mode works because the data sheet lists it.
The modes that your board reports are the authority. To list them, run cam -c <camera> -I, as described in MIPI Camera Interfaces.

ISP Output

An application receives the output of the ISP, not the raw sensor data. In release 2.1.3, the ISP driver offers its output in the NV12, RGB24, and BGRA32 formats, and reports the sensor mode sizes as its output sizes.

Output sizes that the ISP scales to are not confirmed. To use a different size in a Neat application, resize in the preprocessing of the model, as described in Use a MIPI Camera.

Tuning image quality for a camera is a separate task. See the Modalix Camera & ISP Tuning Guide in Reference Documents, which is available from your SiMa.ai representative.

For what tuning covers and how to get the guide, see ISP Tuning.

Next Steps

MIPI Camera Interfaces: select the overlay and validate the camera.
Use a MIPI Camera: read camera frames in a Neat application.
Integrate Your Own Camera: a camera that is not on this page.
Carrier Board Bring-up: cameras on your own carrier board.

Cameras and Ordering​

Camera Specifications​

Connect a Camera​

Carrier Boards and Ports​

Overlay Names in Earlier Releases​

Sensor Modes​

ISP Output​

Next Steps​