Hi,
I’m speccing a setup with 3 ZED X cameras on one machine. Two hard requirements:
- NEURAL PLUS depth mode on all cameras
- Strobe/flash lighting synchronised to the camera exposure, so I need a hardware trigger
What I’ve worked out so far
From the documentation and this thread:
- ZED Box Mini - has hardware triggering (“1x GMSL2 Camera Synchronization Trigger Input” and “1x GMSL2 Cameras Synchronization Trigger Output”), but only 2x GMSL2 FAKRA-Z connectors, so it can’t take a third camera.
- ZED Box Orin - has 4 GMSL2 ports, but per Stereolabs support in that thread, “the ZED Box Orin does not have any GPIO or synchronization pins available, it does not support hardware triggering.”
So neither ready-made box satisfies both requirements: the Mini can trigger but not carry 3 cameras; the Orin can carry 3 cameras but not trigger. I may be misunderstanding something here, so I’d appreciate a sanity check.
My questions
1. Is there a supported combination that gives 3 cameras AND an exposure-synchronised trigger? For example a Jetson dev kit with a ZED Link Duo or Quad capture card, using the GPIO triggering on J13 / J17? Or is there a way to reach sync pins on the ZED Box Orin that isn’t in the public docs?
2. If I go the dev-kit + capture-card route, which card and module? The ZED Link Quad setup guides only list AGX dev kits (Orin AGX, Xavier AGX), so is the Quad AGX-only? Would a ZED Link Duo on a smaller module be a better fit given I only need 3 cameras - and does the Duo cover 3 cameras at all?
3. Compute for NEURAL PLUS. What Jetson module is realistically needed to run 3x ZED X simultaneously in NEURAL PLUS, and what frame rate should I expect? Is that feasible on an Orin NX 16 GB, or does it need an AGX Orin? This may well decide question 2 for me.
4. Native synchronisation across connectors. The Quad docs note “Only the four cameras connected to the same GMSL2 connector are natively synchronized.” With 3 cameras, do they all have to sit on the same connector to stay natively synchronised? Same question for the ZED Box Orin, which splits its 4 ports into 2 groups (A, B).
5. Strobe phase. The trigger output is documented as “a square wave, with its rising edge synchronized with the end of the exposure phase of the CMOS sensor.” For a strobe I need the light during exposure. Is the recommended approach to invert or phase-shift this signal externally, or is there a mode that emits a pulse aligned to the start of exposure?
Essentially I’m trying to land on the best overall combination of module + capture card for: 3x ZED X, NEURAL PLUS depth, and an exposure-synchronised trigger output for lighting.
Thanks!