Quick Start
Note
The following applies to the Bullseye system.
Hardware Connection
Warning
Cameras are sensitive to static. Earth yourself prior to handling the PCB.
A sink tap or similar should suffice if you don’t have an earthing strap.
Connecting Description
The Raspberry Pi and the camera module are connected using a flexible cable. The connection to the camera is called CSI interface and the connection to the Raspberry Pi is called MIPI interface.
- Connect to Camera
There are two different kinds of Raspberry Pi CSI camera connectors: 15-pin and 22-pin.
- Connect to Raspberry pi
The flex cable inserts into the connector labelled CAMERA on the Raspberry Pi, which is located between the Ethernet and HDMI ports. The cable must be inserted with the silver contacts facing the HDMI port. To open the connector, pull the tabs on the top of the connector upwards, then towards the Ethernet port. The flex cable should be inserted firmly into the connector, with care taken not to bend the flex at too acute an angle. To close the connector, push the top part of the connector towards the HDMI port and down, while holding the flex cable in place.
There are two different kinds of Raspberry Pi MIPI port connectors: 15-pin and 22-pin. The 15-pin connector is mostly seen on standard Raspberry Pi model; the 22-pin is on Raspberry Pi Zero-W and Compute Module IO Board.
15pin Pi3/Pi4
22pin Pi Zero/ Pi Zero 2 W
CM3/CM4
Connection schematic
- Pi3/Pi4
- Pi Zero/ Pi Zero 2 W
- CM3/CM4
Software
Pivariety Cameras
Pivariety cameras Sensor list:
Resolution | Camera Module |
---|---|
2MP | IMX462 |
2MP | OG02B10 |
2MP | OV2311 |
2.3MP | AR0234 |
16MP | IMX298 |
18MP | AR1820 |
21MP | IMX230 |
Note
Since Raspberry Pi Bullseye OS 6.1.21, the arducam-pivariety driver has been merged into the Raspberry Pi kernel and the name of the device tree is changed to arducam-pivariety, dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety
is required to set the overlay.
Use libcamera to access Arducam Pivariety Camera
Info
The Step 4. Install Camera Drivers is just suitable for the Raspberry Pi OS before 6.1.21. For later version, you just need to add dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety
under [all] at the bottom of config.txt file(run the command: sudo nano /boot/config.txt
to edit the config file), then reboot your Pi to take effect.
Step 1. Install Bash Script
wget -O install_pivariety_pkgs.sh https://github.com/ArduCAM/Arducam-Pivariety-V4L2-Driver/releases/download/install_script/install_pivariety_pkgs.sh
chmod +x install_pivariety_pkgs.sh
Step 2. Install libcamera
Troubleshooting
If you receive the following error when installing libcamera, you can use the command ./install_pivariety_pkgs.sh -l
to update your package:
![]() |
You can use following command to update your package:
Step 3. Install libcamera-apps
Step 4. Install Camera drivers
Note
Please select the driver installation against the table above, just select one of the commands.
Step5. libcamera-apps
Preview 5 seconds.
If you do not have a display screen, you can save an image without displaying it. And an image of test.jpg will be saved in the current directory.
Use V4L2 Tools to Manually Control Arudcam Pivariety Camera
Step 1. Modify the Config File
Please manually add dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety,media-controller=0
at the end of the last line of config.txt file:
Save and reboot
Step 2. Check the video0
node
Step 3. Check the capture formats and controllers
Step 4. Fetch Data
- Test the frame rate
- Save one-frame image
v4l2-ctl --device /dev/video0 --set-fmt-video=width=1920,height=1080,pixelformat='Y10P' --stream-mmap --stream-to=frame.raw --stream-count=1
- Adjust exposure and gain
v4l2-ctl --device /dev/video0 -c exposure=1000 -c analogue_gain=200 --set-fmt-video=width=1920,height=1080,pixelformat='Y10P' --stream-mmap --stream-to=frame.raw --stream-count=1
- Chech whether it is success