How would you go about putting a camera on a large workspace that has a lid? The suggestions are all greater in height than the minimum distance from material to top center of enclosure (I’ve yet to receive machine but it’s about 27cm from what the manufacturer told me, does this sound correct for an enclosure?)
What is the formula for calculating distance needed?
What is the max FOV the software can reliably use?
I found 16mp camera with a 180 degree fov, what is the minimum mounting height for this?
EDIT:
So I found a youtube video from Farbulous Creations showing that he installed the ThunderCam on his Thunder laser and just keeps his lid open. Maybe this is the answer?
You may want to swap the way you’ve listed your dimensions so that it’s 1600x1000 mm. The way you’ve done it you’re trying to apply a portrait orientation camera to a landscape orientation subject which is requiring greater distance. If you match these up then you’ll be taking more efficient use of the camera sensor.
Camera degree FOV indicates angle from lens… then the widest area of the bed needs to fit within the widest area of the projected cone from the lens. The height required to get full coverage is the distance needed.
Ideally you’d use the narrowest lens that gets the job done. This will maximize the available resolution.
In general the expectation is that you’re opening the hood to operate the camera.
Thanks for all of the info. I think I understand the goal now is to have an optimal combination of height/fov to have the least dead space on the edges of the cameras view.
I’m leaning towards the Arducam 16MP with a variable zoom lens based off of @Dannym recommendation.
However I saw that a camera placed on the laser head might be an option, although it’s in beta. How good does that work at this time?
I’m not personally familiar. If you have the luxury of time and money and don’t mind experimentation I’d encourage you to try it out as there aren’t that many people using this. But if you need something that has to work now and work predictably then perhaps not worth the effort as there’s not much in terms of documentation or references to help you.
I did a poor man’s vacuform to put a bubble in the acrylic window to be able to mount the camera on the lid with it shut. Made the bubble about 3 inches high to fit a 160 degree lens on my K40. Works good.
