Ambarella Announces New SoCs for Drone Camera Applications

By Mike Ball / 19 Oct 2015
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Ambarella Drone Camera SoCAmbarella, Inc., a developer of video compression and image processing semiconductors, has announced the addition of two new families of systems-on-chip (SoCs) to its range of camera solutions for drones. The Full HD A12S SoC family is aimed at entry-level drone “flying camera” designs, including small form factor designs and racing drones, while the 4K Ultra HD A9SE SoC family is ideal for midrange designs. Both deliver high-resolution video, DSLR-quality photography, live HD video streaming and advanced image stabilization. A comprehensive flying camera SDK (Software Developers Kit), including Linux and complete camera functionality, gives application developers the ability to differentiate their products with advanced camera, flight control and networking features.

“Ambarella has become a recognized leader in flying cameras, with the majority of high quality flying cameras shipping today using our solutions,” said Fermi Wang, CEO of Ambarella. “With the introduction of A12S and A9SE, Ambarella now offers optimized solutions for each class of flying camera, including entry level, racing drone, midrange and professional models.”

The 28nm A12S SoC family provides 1080p video at 60 frames per second and up to 64 mega-pixel photography. It supports advanced image stabilization with rolling shutter correction, HDR (High Dynamic Range) processing for excellent imaging in high contrast lighting environments, as well as low delay, live video streaming to the flying camera controller. A 1-GHz ARM® Cortex™ A9 CPU provides the required performance for advanced camera, flight control and streaming applications. With the option of an 11x11mm package and power consumption of under 1 Watt, A12S is ideal for miniature camera designs.

The A9SE SoC family is a new, enhanced, higher performance 28nm version of the successful 32nm A9 SoC. It enables 4K Ultra HD recording with hardware-accelerated 3-dimensional image stabilization with rolling shutter correction, potentially eliminating the need for mechanical gimbals in midrange flying cameras. It simultaneously records 4K video while streaming a second, low-delay, HD video stream. Its advanced hardware-accelerated image de-warping capability allows the use of wide-angle lenses with minimal image distortion. 1-GHz Dual Cortex ARM A9 CPUs provide the required performance for advanced camera, flight control, streaming and analytics applications. With power consumption of only 1.5 Watts for 4K recording, the A9SE enables extremely small and lightweight camera designs.

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact