Using M8 I/O to trigger the RGB camera

yishu_corpex

Hi,

So I have multiple OAK cameras from OAK S2 PoE to OAK 4D and OAK 4S. I want to look into the ability to use the M8 I/O pin at the back of these cameras to trigger the camera especially the RGB camera.

The only document I have found regarding this is frame synchronization. It mentions that as most of the sensors on the cameras I have are rolling shutter and can run in continues mode but also refer a FSYNC input.

Can you please help me understand if I can use an external trigger via the M8 connector to trigger the RGB camera or not and if yes then share some available documentation or examples for the same.

I am a bit confused on this I/O capability of OAK and want to get it cleared so i can integrate it accordingly in our solutions.

Thanks,
Yishu

jakaskerl

Hi yishu_corpex
S2 POE should already work with a 12V external trigger - it has to be accurate and the same frequency as set in the colorCamera node fps. The node's FrameSyncMode has to be set to INPUT.

On OAK4, it is not yet possible to externally trigger the cameras, but should be supported soon. The voltage level will be 5V and will support both INPUT and OUTPUT.

Thanks,
Jaka

TOWIN

You can use the M8 connector on OAK cameras (including OAK-D-S2-POE, OAK 4D, and OAK 4S) to trigger the RGB camera via an external signal, but the implementation depends on the sensor type and firmware support.

Use CameraControl.setFrameSyncMode() to set FSIN as input or output (depending on your setup).

For STROBE control, configure the signal timing to match sensor exposure (e.g., via CameraControl.setExternalTrigger()).