A component based architecture to improve testability, targeted FPGA-based vision systems

FPGA has been used in many robotics projects for real-time image processing. It provides reliable systems with low execution time and simplified timing analysis. Many of these systems take a lot of time in development and testing phases. In some cases, it is not possible to test the system in real environments very often, due to accessibility, availability or cost problems. This paper is the result of a case study on vision systems for two robotics projects in which the vision team consisted of seven students working for six months fulltime on developing and implementing different image algorithms. While FPGA has been used for real-time image processing, some steps have been taken in order to reduce the development and testing phases. The main focus of the project is to integrate different testing methods with FPGA development. It includes a component based solution that uses a two-way communication with a PC controller for system evaluation and testing. Once the data is acquired from the vision board, the system stores it and simulates the same environment that has been captured earlier by feeding back the obtained data to FPGA. This approach addresses and implements a debugging methodology for FPGA based solutions which accelerate the development phase. In order to transfer massive information of images, RMII which is an interface for Ethernet communication, has been investigated and implemented. The provided solution makes changes easier, saves time and solves the problems mentioned earlier.