3—Basic Operation of the Tau and GUI Tau User’s Manual
3-2 April 2009 TAU-0035-00-10, version 100
3.2 Remote control of the Tau camera
The Tau camera accommodates advanced camera control through an RS-232 serial interface.
A user can control the camera via this interface by following the Serial Protocol Communication
and command structure requirements located in Appendix B and their own hardware/software
interface. This requires programming skills and a strong technical background. The user can
also use the FLIR Camera Controller offered as a free download from FLIR using a Windows
based PC with the standard serial communications and components provided in the
Development Kit. This software provides remote control of various camera features and
modes. The FLIR Camera Controller software is compatible with Windows XP. The PC must
have a spare serial communications port or you must use the Tau VPC module USB accessory.
Note
If your embedded or specialty applications require custom control software, a Software
Developer’s Kit (SDK) is available. Those intending to generate their own custom software are
encouraged to read the remainder of this section regarding the FLIR Camera Controller to
better understand the camera modes and parameters.
3.3 Connecting the serial communications interface using the
development kit
You should have successfully operated the camera and obtained live video on a monitor as
described in paragraph 3.1 “Operation of the Tau camera using the Photon development kit” on
page 3-1.
The only additional hardware required for serial communication is a serial cable connected as
shown below.
Attach one end of a standard RS-232 serial port (9-pin) PC cable to the communications port
labeled RS-232 on the I/O Module. Attach the other end to the serial port on your PC. This
cable should be a standard RS-232 cable, not a cross-over configured serial cable.
A USB to Serial port adapter is acceptable, but the data communication rate must be set to
57600 BAUD.
To PC serial COM port
(RS232)
To Camera
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