6 PIC Configuration Example

This guide provides an example setup for a 6-camera PIC-2592 configuration. The 6 cameras
are connected via 2 Gigabit switches (3 on each switch) to 2 Gigabit ports on the GV3000.

Test Setup
• GV3000CL-x86 with 2 GigE ports
• 1x PL-USB
• 6x PIC cameras, Cat5e GigE cables and I/O cables
• 2x Gigabit unmanaged Ethernet switches
• 1x Power supply +12 VDC
• GenicamSetup driver version 5.10.10.102
• iNspect Express version 1940 (currently unreleased)
• Sherlock version 7.2.2.3

Wiring External Trigger

USB
Switch 1

LAN 1 Notes:
1. Each trigger output
from the PL-USB is
wired to 2 PIC cameras
2. All PIC cameras are
triggered at the same
time (worse case)
3. External trigger is a
constant source running
Switch 2

LAN 2 at 4 pps (250ms)

PIC cameras

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1. System Configuration
The GV3000CL test system is running Win7-32. The platform is based on Intel Core i7
technology running at 2.5GHz with 8 GB of RAM installed.

The following software is installed on the unit:

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2. LAN Configuration
The GV3000CL test system has 2 Gigabit NICs based on the Intel 82574L chipset. The NICs
are setup identically as follows:

Enable Jumbo packets to make

transfers more efficient.

Set # of receive buffers to 2,048. For

systems with less memory, set this
value lower, but not less than 256.

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3. Sherlock Camera Configuration File
This file defines the camera configuration order and the data transfer (packet) performance
between the cameras and the GV3000. A config file is created either from the configurator tool
in the Genicam directory (portable config file) OR by copying and editing an existing file:

If using the PL-USB, you must

include the USB device or the
PL-USB will not initialize when
Sherlock launches.
NOTE: The PL-USB will not
pass triggers to cameras if it is
not initialized

The PACKET_SIZE and INTER_PACKET_GAP are critical parameters for multi-camera PIC
systems. These parameters may need to be tuned to maximize performance on any given
system. Setting these values too low will result in image corruption. Setting them too high will
result in lower system performance (i.e. pps). For the GV3000CL, the numbers shown
provide a BW of ~60MB/S which equates to ~4 pps (each NIC).
Note: Version 5.10.10.102 of the GenicamSetup driver does not support a packet size greater
than 1500.

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3.1 Sherlock Driver Configuration
Sherlock setup requires updating the Drivers.ini and IfcDrv.ini files in the Sherlock Drivers
directory.

Enable IFC driver (this enables the

GenicamSetup driver.
NOTE: Do not enable Sapera when
using PIC cameras.

Set the path of the config file which

defines camera and interface
configuration

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3.2 Sherlock Application
With the configuration correct, launch the Sherlock application and open 6 image windows to
acquire from all cameras (Note: You must have a valid Sherlock license).

The task manager shows

that this application
consumes 10% CPU
bandwidth (for acquisition
and display) and ~1GB
memory.

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4. iNspect Camera Configuration File
If using the iNspect Express application, modify the GEVTEST.txt file in the iNspect Express
“User Data” directory. In the case of iNspect Express, it is not necessary to include the PL-USB
device in the configuration file as the software will detect it automatically.

Open the iNspect Express

Configurator from the start menu,
select “GigE Cameras” and launch the
application.
Note: You will need an “Extended
license” to work with more than 4
cameras.

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