PcoCameras.jl

PcoCameras is a Julia interface for PCO cameras. This package is based on a experimental IO framework ExternalDeviceIOs.jl and also offers direct access to low-level APIs of PCO cameras (PCO_SDK and PCO_Recorder).

There are packages offering similar features:

• Ionimaging.jl is the first Julia package for PCO cameras. The following reasons have decided me to make this new package.
  • It does not work with GigE PCO cameras.
  • It searches for cameras available when loading the package. It is time-consuming and unnecessary for some purposes.
  • Camera API should be implemented consistently.
• pco is a offical python package. PcoCameras.jl's internal structure is similar to the Python package.

Installation

You need to pre-install pco.sdk and pco.recorder to use the package. The development kits are available on the PCO website. When installing the development kits, they should be installed system-wide for now.

It additionally requires ExternalDeviceIOs.Therefore, to install this package, you should type

julia> ]add https://github.com/ehgus/ExternalDeviceIOs.jl https://github.com/ehgus/PcoCameras.jl

Example

using PcoCameras
using Unitful

# PcoCameras.reset() # to reset the camera connection

# start camera
cam = PcoCamera(Interface.GigE)
acquired_image = open(cam) do io
    @show trigger_mode(io)
    @show timing_mode(io)
    @show buffer_mode(io)
    trigger_mode!(io, TriggerMode.automatic)
    timing_mode!(io, exposure = 100u"μs", delay = 0u"μs")
    buffer_mode!(io, MemoryRecorder.sequence, 4)
    @show trigger_mode(io)
    @show timing_mode(io)
    @show buffer_mode(io)
    activate(io) do activated_io
        sleep(1)
        read(activated_io)
    end
end

Shared library configuration

The default library path is set supposing you install the recent Recorder library for all users. You can check and change the path using get_library_path and set_library_path!. The directory should contains 'sc2_cam.dll' and 'pco_recorder.dll'.

old_path = PcoCameras.get_library_path()
new_path = "some/dir/of/shared/library/"
PcoCameras.set_library_path!(new_path)

Contribution

This package was tested only with GigE PCO cameras. If you face problems with your cameras, please report the issues.