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Many laboratory or embedded systems projects can leverage cameras similar to those of smartphones because of their size and geometry in general.

But the problem is we cannot just take out the camera parts from smart phones and put it in our setup (or can we?)

It would be of course best if we can purchase such camera modules from some distributers, and even better if it is already has integrated hardware or software around it. My perpose for example would be in the end to triger the acquisition/exposure electronically and some control over the exposure time, etc.

A specific good example would be that of the new Samsung S23 Ultra that has a 200 MP camera. This camera uses the isocell-hp3 sensor which is very useful for an embedded-systems or laboratory project that we have.

Is there a solution for this, either in terms of anywhere to buy them or any way to get similar modules, or how realistically can we take out the ones from an actual smartphone and integrate it in our setup?

Alejandro
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  • Avoid totally words like "Purchase", "buy", "obtain", "source" as these are taken as a purchasing question. If you really want "how" then ask about "how" it can be controlled, "how" it can be connected etc – Solar Mike Aug 10 '23 at 19:36
  • @SolarMike I want to already hint if the most realistic approach is a source to purchase them from, otherwise the question is open to realistic solutions to use these cameras without buying them – Alejandro Aug 10 '23 at 19:38
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    How do you want to get data out of the sensor? If you're ok with android, take apart the phone and build it into whatever you want. If you mean to control it from a PC, you're looking at an FPGA. – user1850479 Aug 10 '23 at 19:41
  • @user1850479 the problem is I want multiple instances of them beside one another and trigger them all together very accurately. also I imagine, there are flexibilities around their usage that I don't access through android, like exposure time, etc – Alejandro Aug 10 '23 at 19:44
  • why do you need a 200 MP camera for this? – jsotola Aug 10 '23 at 21:25
  • How do you want to access the data on the sensor? Android? PC? Microcontroller? Something else? Give us something more than a product recommendation request. – user1850479 Aug 10 '23 at 21:50
  • @jsotola for higher resolution – Alejandro Aug 10 '23 at 21:52
  • @user1850479 microcontroller, or even lower level hardware because it is only meant to send the image wirelessly – Alejandro Aug 10 '23 at 21:53
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    I would take apart the phone, run the sensor where you want it and then run an android app to handle the wireless data transfer. Saves you the trouble of having to figure out how to talk to some undocumented hardware. – user1850479 Aug 10 '23 at 22:05

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Extracting cameras from smartphones will probably be very difficult.

Using small sensors is already one level easier. If you go for the "raw" modules, you will have to add optics and some FPGA (or dedicated IC) to convert the output in an "usable" format.

Another step towards an easier solution is to use "modules" that already integrate the CSI outputs. You can find modules in the 331 cm size. usually, on the CSI cable, you have an hardware trigger (so you can trigger all cameras at once by connecting all triggers together). You will still need an interface to the SCI (it can be a raspberry PI, or something more involved).

Or if you want something simple yet compact, you can get small ethernet camera modules (sometimes powered with PoE, ie through the ethernet cable). This way, you have no electronics to do.

So it is all a compromise between compact, high resolution,cheap and easy to integrate. You can't get all of them at once.

Sandro
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  • you mean small sensors that also have for example 200 Megapixels? – Alejandro Aug 10 '23 at 21:54
  • I haven't seen 200Mpixels ones, but haven't looked for one neither. 10 Mpixels should be easy to find, above, it's more exotic. But I would seriously think twice whether you really need 200Mpixels (most likely not), and if you can really get the corresponding precision if you want to "measure" something with it (it means very high quality lenses, very advanced calibration, ...) – Sandro Aug 11 '23 at 07:18
  • do you have references on internet for the 200Mpixels that you have seen? I need high pixel density for a accurate measurement system – Alejandro Aug 29 '23 at 13:26