We are looking for a camera for an indoor drone project requiring a high-resolution camera with a diagonal field of view (FOV) exceeding 90 degrees, high pixel density for detailed imaging, and a good balance between exposure and high shutter speed to capture fast-moving scenes. Based on your expertise in camera modules and lenses, we would greatly appreciate your recommendations for a suitable camera and lens combination that meets our specifications. **FOV Requirement**: * Diagonal FOV: >90 degrees * Horizontal FOV: Preferably >80 degrees for wide coverage * Application: Indoor drone navigation and obstacle avoidance, requiring wide-angle vision for confined spaces and real-time environmental mapping * **Performance Requirements**: * High pixel density to capture fine details such as Batch and SKU IDs. * High shutter speed to minimize motion blur during rapid drone movements * Balanced exposure for consistent performance in varied indoor lighting (e.g., fluorescent, LED, or low-light conditions). * Excellent image clarity with minimal distortion to ensure we can read barcodes/QRcode from a 1 meter distance or more. We know there will be some pros and cons of each camera we use in drones. While maintaining high resolution, clarity, and minimal distortion for indoor drone use. **We need a camera which can provide good Balance between the camera's FOV and performance characteristics (e.g., distortion, sharpness, light transmission).**

Hi, if you also need depth measurments/mapping then I would suggest going with [OAK-D Pro W](https://shop.luxonis.com/products/oak-d-pro-w?variant=43715946447071), since both variants ([IMX378](https://docs.luxonis.com/hardware/sensors/IMX378) and [OV9782](https://docs.luxonis.com/hardware/sensors/OV9782)) have DFOV: >119° and HFOV > 90°. It also has active stereo with IR dot projector, and IR illumination LED for night vision. The fixed-focus lens ensures reliable focus, which is better suited for drones where vibration can interfere with autofocus. Best, Lovro

Camera Recommendation for Wide-Angle FOV (>90°) Application

autonomy_08

We are looking for a camera for an indoor drone project requiring a high-resolution camera with a diagonal field of view (FOV) exceeding 90 degrees, high pixel density for detailed imaging, and a good balance between exposure and high shutter speed to capture fast-moving scenes. Based on your expertise in camera modules and lenses, we would greatly appreciate your recommendations for a suitable camera and lens combination that meets our specifications.

FOV Requirement:

Diagonal FOV: >90 degrees
Horizontal FOV: Preferably >80 degrees for wide coverage
Application: Indoor drone navigation and obstacle avoidance, requiring wide-angle vision for confined spaces and real-time environmental mapping

Performance Requirements:
- High pixel density to capture fine details such as Batch and SKU IDs.
- High shutter speed to minimize motion blur during rapid drone movements
- Balanced exposure for consistent performance in varied indoor lighting (e.g., fluorescent, LED, or low-light conditions).
- Excellent image clarity with minimal distortion to ensure we can read barcodes/QRcode from a 1 meter distance or more.
  
  We know there will be some pros and cons of each camera we use in drones. While maintaining high resolution, clarity, and minimal distortion for indoor drone use. We need a camera which can provide good Balance between the camera's FOV and performance characteristics (e.g., distortion, sharpness, light transmission).

lovro

Hi,

if you also need depth measurments/mapping then I would suggest going with OAK-D Pro W, since both variants (IMX378 and OV9782) have DFOV: >119° and HFOV > 90°. It also has active stereo with IR dot projector, and IR illumination LED for night vision. The fixed-focus lens ensures reliable focus, which is better suited for drones where vibration can interfere with autofocus.

Best,
Lovro

autonomy_08

Hey there,
Thank you for your response and the camera recommendations. The OAK-D W (IMX378) and OAK-1 W (IMX378) seem like strong candidates based on the specifications provided. Actually we have tested the OAK D camera which had the same sensor and OAK D lite. The camera quality was good as well as the auto focus and SpatialAI functionality, But the rgb image output lacked clarity and fov requirement for the barcode use case. Same for the OAK-1 although we haven't tested the OAK-D W and OAK-1 W.

I’ve attached a Camera Requirement document detailing our project requirements and a summary of our testing results with other cameras, including specific feedback on image quality, FOV, and performance in barcode reading.

autonomy_08

Any additional insights on optimizing these cameras for indoor drone applications—such as specific DepthAI nodes for real-time navigation, post-processing for image clarity, or configuration tips for Jetson integration—would be greatly appreciated.

lovro

autonomy_08
have u checked the oak-examples repository: luxonis/oak-examples there are some integrations here that could help you get started and maybe ake a look at: https://docs.luxonis.com/software-v3/depthai/examples/rvc2/vslam/basalt_vio_rtab/.

jjfink

@autonomy_08 What about the IMX462? Its a Stony Starvis Sensor which allows you to work with low exposure times compared to the IMX477 or IMX577.

autonomy_08

jjfink yes the IMX462 is good but now the thing is we are planning to add a LED to tackle to low light issue which would enable us to use a higher resolution sensor.

jjfink

@au_nz With Low Light I meant that you can avoid motion blur because you can work with lower exposure times.

autonomy_08

jjfink ohh but then I can also set lower exposure time from the depthai pipeline, how will the output differ then for both IMX477 and IMX462 sensors? which will provide better clarity for QR codes and barcodes.