- Elecrow Paa3905 Optical Flow Camera
- Is compact and ideal for low-light-level operation
- Provides stable motion tracking, perfect for drones and rolling robots
- Features an 8-bit, 35 x 35 pixel imager sensitive to visible and infrared light
- Comes with a custom-fit polycarbonate lens for the PAA3905 IC
- Offers standard and enhanced detection, automatically adjusting to light conditions
The Elecrow Paa3905 Optical Flow Camera is a compact breakout board for PixArt's PAA3905 optical flow sensor. This sensor is specifically designed for low-light level operation and is ideal for far-field tracking applications. It provides motion tracking with a stable hovering function, making it suitable for drones.
The sensor provides lateral velocity information, which is useful for UAV hovering and navigation. It also has an application in the navigation of rolling robots, within the limitation of its maximum 7.2 rad/s flow speed. The sensor employs an 8-bit, 35 x 35 pixel imager, sensitive to both visible and infrared light. It automatically identifies features in the pixel map and tracks them from frame to frame at up to 126 Hz frame rate to identify the average feature motion.
The sensor comes with a properly fitted L242-ZSZ1 polycarbonate lens made specifically for the PAA3905 IC. However, the task of gluing this lens to the PAA3905 liquid crystal polymer package is left to the user. It is recommended to glue the lens where significant mechanical impact during use is expected.
The sensor uses standard SPI for communications and has an interrupt for data ready. Power input is limited to 1.8 - 3.6 V and GND. There is also an LED sync pin exposed on the board for controlling an LED via a FET for custom illumination.
The sensor offers two sensitivities: standard detection and enhanced detection for rough terrain at >15 cm height. It can automatically switch between bright, low-light, and super-low-light conditions. The sensor can operate in navigate mode producing delta X and Y values which are proportional to lateral velocity.
The sensor can also operate in raw data mode producing 35 x 35 pixel images from the sensor at a frame rate of ~18 Hz. This makes the PAA3905 a cost-effective, low-resolution, infrared-sensitive video camera.
Please note that the sensor needs to be held stationary for the duration of grabbing raw data until the data array is completely read out. This is to avoid blurring or changing of the pixel values during the readout process.
