Lewis, I have not looked into it very deeply but maybe Compact Vision would have been a solution for you too. The form factor looks good and it is a dedicated RT control unit capable to run independent of a host computer. The system can be seen at:
http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nioc.vp?cid=12298&lang=US Regards Urs >One caution regarding using Firewire cameras. They consume a lot of >computer power, just transferring the image to memory. This depends on the >size and kind of image the camera is delivering. So, you may want to >investigate whether or not the computers you will be using can handle >firewire adequately and still have enough power left over for running >LabVIEW, etc. > >I have been testing 2 Q Imaging firewire cameras (monochrome, 16 bit word, >and a resolution of about 1280 x 1024). The image rate is about 15 >frames/sec. Just regularly acquiring the image in LabVIEW consumes 30% -60% >of my CPU (1.2 GHz). I tried using 2 cameras at the same time and my >machine just stops working. > >I am also using a Sony DFW-SX900 color camera (1280 x 96 at 7.5 frames/sec). >This camera, with LabVIEW running consumes 80% of the cpu. Periodically, it >will move up to 100% and the computer will freeze for several seconds. > >If you run at reduced image sizes, it will make a dramatic difference in the >amount of cpu time being consumed. > >Some firewire cards do not work as efficiently as others. For the best >performance, use a dedicated, 1394 only card. Do not use a combination >USB2/Firewire card. And, be sure to use a 1394 card that is OHCI compliant >and uses the Texas Instruments chip set. > >At the end, I had to purchase a new computer with; CPU 3.0 GHz, fast FSB >(400 MHz) and serial ATA hard drive. This eliminated the problems. My >client had to do the same thing in order to be able to use 2 cameras on his >project. The bottom line is: if you want to use 1394 cameras with 1+MB >image sizes, you need the fastest computer you can get. > >Lewis Drake >Process Automation Corporation >Belle Mead, NJ >908 359-1011 >www.processauto.com
