Tk1 Cameras Question & Feedback

I was wondering if anybody found a working CSI MIPI camera to go on the Jetson Tk1? USB seem to work fine but I really want to use CSI MIPI so i don’t bottleneck the USB bus and consume all the CPU, which I need for something else.

I looked at http://elinux.org/Jetson/ and pretty much all of the information on e-consystem cameras is useless. The e-Con Systems e-CAM80_MI8825_MOD needs a custom connector as it implies, however, the link does not provide information on how to perform the connection. Similarly, e-consystems tech support is unable or unwilling to provide official documentation on how to connect the camera to the board.

Additionally, the e-Con Systems e-CAM130_CUTK1 13 Mega Pixel 4-lane MIPI CSI-2 Camera Module is advertised as being built specifically for the Tk1 but they are charging $18,000. Yes, 18k for a camera board because they didn’t patent the connector and they are afraid of it being ripped off in the open hardware community. What hobbyist has 18k to blow on a camera board when the Tk1 only cost $195… ridiculous

Anyway, to reiterate my question, has anybody found a working CSI MIPI camera? Thanks.

USB camera as such don’t consume all the CPU, even though CSI MIPI camera is a bit more efficient, afaik.

Unfortunately I think for Jetson the e-Con cameras are the only ones that I’ve seen.

No, actually, you’re right and i made the assumption that a USB camera would consume the bus&cpu but I was wrong. I did maximize the CPU based off recommended performance tuning and a stream of 800x600@30fps is only consuming ~20-25% cpu.