Dual LANC-Controller for 2 Cameras at the same time

9 Hello. Im designing different electronics devices, mostly based on avr, arm MCUs and boards with them like arduino, stm-discovery etc. I can help you with your deal and since im new one here I can do it cheaper then anybody. (autopromotion^)) There is enough info about commands in your link. I can do a device to send those commands to both devices.

9 As this is a one off project we are proposing using a commercial microcomputer, possibly the Raspberry Pi or more likely the Arduino. The LANC protocol (single wire duplex) more or less forces the solution to be based on 'bit-banging' the codes rather then using the inbuilt UARTs. Effectively the proposed controller would be a single micro supporting two LANC channels, thus when the START button is pressed that command will be sent to each of the cameras. However, before you go much further please be aware that it may not do what you require. The LANC protocol dictates that the camera is the bus master. It generates the reporting codes and manages the timing of the communications. The timing is based on the frame rate, so say 20 mS. To send a command to the camera the controller has to monitor the output of the camera and at a precice moment, interject the command code. Additionaly some cameras require the reciept of as many as five sucessive commands before accepting the command, giving a latency of around 100mS. If your application requires that both cameras are in frame sync to create the 3D image then this could be a problem. I would imagine that frame sync would be essential but thats outside my expertise. If the latency is not an issue, or you can sync the cameras in other ways, then our offer would include the hardware and cables as you specified, tested with LANC compatible cameras. Regards James Harrison-Smith INFONICS