Sharp LZ0P3721 Mini CCD Camera

Posted 6 Sep 2003 at 13:24 UTC by steve

Many of the gyroscopes, accelerometers, and other small components used in recent mobile robots were originally developed for cell phones and PDAs. This trend continues with Sharp's new LZ0P3721 CCD camera. The new camera, intended for cell phone use, contains a 1 mega-pixel CCD that can output color images up to 1180 x 880. A built in DSP that provides a digital zoom function and an f2.8 lens are also included. The camera has a maximum frame rate of 7.5fps. Best of all, the entire unit is only 14mm x 12mm x 9.82mm in size, making it ideal for small robots. The single-unit sample price is just 11,000 yen (about $93).

What about the interface?, posted 6 Sep 2003 at 15:46 UTC by tafkaks » (Journeyer)

They do mention that the image format is UYVY, but this merely indicates how the pixels are stored in memory, not the actual interface. Obviously, the output format is digital, but does anyone have a clue as to the particulars of the actual interface? This makes all the difference for robotics use...

more info..., posted 6 Sep 2003 at 18:27 UTC by steve » (Master)

There's a little more info here but not much: http://sharp-world.com/products/device/ctlg/esite23/table/015.html
It indicates that there is a serial interface to the DSP and that the image output is a UYVY 8bit parallal interface.
I also turned up this spec sheet (PDF format) for a Sharp LZ0P3821 CCD chip which looks like it may be similar to the one used in the camera.
And last, there's 19 page booklet (PDF format) that includes some general block diagrams of the internal organization of Sharp's CCD cameras including the LZDP3721 and other cell phone cameras.