How to set up camera Dart BCON Basler for iMX8MPlus on Embedded Linux

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In this article, I will explain how to set up the iMX8M Plus to use the 4K Dart BCON Basler Camera module.

Requirements:

• Evaluation Kit for the i.MX 8M Plus Applications Processor. (i.MX 8M Plus Evaluation Kit | NXP Semiconductors)
• Basler Camera for i.MX 8M Plus (4K dart BCON for MIPI camera module for i.MX 8M Plus | NXP Semiconductors).
• Embedded Linux for i.MX Applications Processors (Embedded Linux for i.MX Applications Processors | NXP Semiconductors) (For this example we will use BSP version Linux 5.15.71_2.2.0)
• Serial Console Emulator

Basler Camera Specifications and Manuals:

• Basler Camera Specifications at this link: Embedded Vision Kits daA3840-30mc-IMX8MP-EVK - Embedded Vision Kits (baslerweb.com).
• Basler Manual to identify and setting up the hardware at this link: daA3840-30mc-IMX8MP-EVK | Basler Product Documentation (baslerweb.com)
• Basler Camera Module out-of-box with i.MX 8M Plus Applications Processor. (Video: Basler Camera Module out-of-box with i.MX 8M Plus Applications Processor | NXP Semiconductors)

Steps

After setting up the hardware we will need to turn on the iMX8M Plus and follow these steps:

1. Stop the boot process on Uboot by pressing any key.
2. Use the following command to list interfaces.

=> mmc list
Output example
=> FSL_SDHC: 1 (SD)
=> FSL_SDHC: 2

The above command will show you the device number in this example for SD, the device number is 1.

3. Then use fatls <interface> <device[:partition]> [<directory>]

fatls mmc 1:1
(Device 1 : Partition 1)

With this command, we will be able to list device tree files.

=> fatls mmc 1:1

4. Select imx8mp-evk-basler.dtb or imx8mp-evk-dual-basler.dtb and use the command editenv fdtfile. 

=> editenv fdtfile 
Output example
edit: imx8mp-evk-basler.dtb

5. In edit command line put the selected device tree (*.dtb).
6. Use saveenv command to save environment and continue with the boot process.
7. Using the terminal and go to /opt/imx8-isp/bin and execute the script run.sh.

$ ./run.sh -c basler_1080p60 -lm

8. Use the command gst-device-monitor-1.0 to list devices. Here you will find the path to the camera device.

$ gst-device-monitor-1.0

Output example
Device found:
		 
		        name  : VIV
		        class : Video/Source
		        caps  : video/x-raw, format=YUY2, width=[ 176, 4096, 16 ], height=[ 144, 3072, 8 ], pixel-aspect-ratio=1/1, framerate={ (fraction)30/1, (fraction)29/1, (fraction)28/1, (fraction)27/1, (fraction)26/1, (fraction)25/1, (fraction)24/1, (fraction)23/1, (fraction)22/1, (fraction)21/1, (fraction)20/1, (fraction)19/1, (fraction)18/1, (fraction)17/1, (fraction)16/1, (fraction)15/1, (fraction)14/1, (fraction)13/1, (fraction)12/1, (fraction)11/1, (fraction)10/1, (fraction)9/1, (fraction)8/1, (fraction)7/1, (fraction)6/1, (fraction)5/1, (fraction)4/1, (fraction)3/1, (fraction)2/1, (fraction)1/1 } ...
		       properties:
		                udev-probed = true
		                device.bus_path = platform-vvcam-video.0
		                sysfs.path = /sys/devices/platform/vvcam-video.0/video4linux/video2
		                device.subsystem = video4linux
		                device.product.name = VIV
		                device.capabilities = :capture:
		                device.api = v4l2
		                device.path = /dev/video2
		                v4l2.device.driver = viv_v4l2_device
		                v4l2.device.card = VIV
		                v4l2.device.bus_info = platform:viv0
		                v4l2.device.version = 393473 (0x00060101)
		                v4l2.device.capabilities = 2216693761 (0x84201001)
		                v4l2.device.device_caps = 69206017 (0x04200001)
		        gst-launch-1.0 v4l2src device=/dev/video2 ! ...

9. Finally, use gstreamer to verify proper operation. (With this gstreamer pipeline you will see a new window with the camera output. Then, just rotate the lens to acquire the correct focus)

$ gst-launch-1.0 -v v4l2src device=/dev/video2 ! "video/x-raw,format=YUY2,width=1920,height=1080" ! queue ! imxvideoconvert_g2d ! waylandsink

Basic description of Gstreamer Pipeline

gst-launch-1.0 -v: The option -v enables the verbose mode to get detailed information of process.
v4l2src device=/dev/video2: Select input device in this case the camera is on path /dev/video3.
"video/x-raw,format=YUY2,width=1920,height=1080": Received format from camera.
queue: This command is a buffer between camera recording process and the following image process, this command help us to interface two process and prevent blocking where each process has different speeds, in other words, when a process A is faster than process B.
imxvideoconvert_g2d: This proprietary plugin uses hardware acceleration to perform rotation, scaling, and color space conversion on video frames.
waylandsink : This command creates its own window and renders the decoded frames processed previously.

10. Result

I hope this article will be helpful.

Best regards, Brian.