Implementation of Synchronization Between Basler Camera and Custom Lighting System

[shimens]

Describe what you want to implement and what the issue & the steps to reproduce it are:

Hello,

We are planning to implement synchronization between the camera and lighting system based on the Basler Light Control documentation (https://docs.baslerweb.com/light-control).

Our current camera models are:

a2A640-240gmSWIR
a2A2840-67g5mUV
In addition, we plan to use a custom-designed lighting board based on an STM32 microcontroller. Our lighting is intended to operate at a high intensity, with an on-time ranging from a minimum of 10 µs to a maximum of 1 ms. During the period when the light is on, we want the camera shutter to be exposed so that an image illuminated by the light is captured. Furthermore, we would like the camera to generate a trigger signal for the lighting system on every frame. For example, at 50 fps, there should be 50 trigger signals per second, and at 200 fps, 200 trigger signals per second.

Additionally, we plan to implement the lighting control system using a strobe method. While the existing Basler solution includes separate components for the camera, controller, and LED board, we intend to develop a custom board that integrates both the LED and controller so that the light automatically turns on in response to a trigger signal (with the trigger occurring on every frame, allowing the light to cycle on and off repeatedly).

In this regard, we kindly request your assistance with the following questions:

Is it possible to implement synchronization between the camera and our custom-developed lighting system as described?
When using a custom lighting board, is a separate controller necessary?
Can this operation be implemented in a standalone manner without relying on higher-level control systems?
Are there specific I/O specifications or logic requirements for communication between the custom lighting controller and Basler cameras, i.e., is bidirectional trigger communication between the lighting system and camera necessary?
Can the desired functionality be achieved solely via settings in the pylon Viewer, or is custom code development required?
Finally, is the SLP comm feature mandatory for this implementation?
We appreciate your guidance on these matters.

Thank you.

Is your camera operational in Basler pylon viewer on your platform

No

Hardware setup used

OS: Windows 11 Pro
CPU: Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 155H 1.40 GHz
Memory: 32GB RAM

Custom STM32 light board

Camera(s) used

a2A640-240gmSWIR
a2A2840-67g5mUV

Runtime information:

The program is not operational yet. This was written to inquire about its feasibility.