Getting Started with the Quartet Carrier Board

This application note described how to get started with a Quartet Carrier Board and Blackfly S USB3 Board-level camera.

Supported Products

Teledyne FLIR offers a Quartet carrier board with or without a TX2 module for easy integration of up to four USB3 board-level cameras.

Do you have the parts you need?

To get started with Quartet, you need the following components:

If you purchased from Teledyne, the Micro SD card is preloaded with an image to allow for the Quartet to boot up and have the Spinnaker SDK installed. If you purchased from a third-party, you need to flash the Micro SD card with a boot up image. See How to Flash the SD Card and Bootloader Firmware for Quartet below.

Dimensions and Physical Interface

Drawing.png

Quartet.png

Switches.png A Power In Connector
B HDMI Connector
C Micro SD Card Slot
D USB3/USB2 Connectors
E USB3 Connectors
F Power Switch
G Hardware Reset Switch
H Recovery Switch
I Mini 2 Pin to SATA Power
J SATA Connector

See connector pinout descriptions below.

Installing a Camera

To boot up the Quartet:

1. Attach power adapter to the Power in connector. [A]

2. Attach HDMI cable to connect Quartet to your monitor. [B]

3. Insert Micro SD card into Quartet. [C]

4. Attach mouse and keyboard with USB connectors. [D]

5. Connect the FPC cable to the camera and to the Quartet. There are four USB3 ports. [E]

Note: the FPC cable is labelled camera and accessories. Ensure the camera end is in the camera and the accessories end is in the Quartet.

FPC-Cable.png

Camera-Connection.PNG

6. Switch the power on. [F]

7. Login to the board with ID = nvidia and password = nvidia

We recommend changing the login ID and password from the default immediately after your initial login.

8. Open the SpinView application to test the camera.

SpinView.png

How to Flash the SD Card and Bootloader Firmware for Quartet

Note: This section is not required for users who purchased their Quartet board directly from Teledyne FLIR.

If you purchased your Quartet from a third-party you need to flash your Micro SD card and flash bootloader firmware to eMMC to be able to boot up the board and use the Spinnaker SDK.

You need the following components:

  • PC equipped with:
    • Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04, or 20.04
    • Python installed
    • At least 30 GB of free space
  • 16 GB (or larger) Micro SD card
  • USB2 A-Male to Micro-B cable
  • Micro SD card reader connected to the PC through a USB3 port

To flash the SD card:

1. On the PC download the Etcher flash tool from https://www.balena.io/etcher/

2. Download the image for Quartet from:

3. In a terminal extract the image file with the following command:

  • 4 GB TX2 module: $ tar -xvf ACLinux_4.9_ACLNX49D.NV02.BOXER-8150AI-B1-FLIR.2.tar.gz
  • 8 GB TX2 module: $ tar -xvf ACLinux_4.9_ACLNX49D.NV02.BOXER-8150AI-B1-FLIR.9.tar.gz

4. Launch the Etcher flash tool.

Flash1.png

5. Click Select image and open the file extracted in previous step.

Flash2.png

6. Insert the SD card into the card reader attached to the PC. Click Change and select the correct device. Click Continue.

Flash3.png

7. Click Flash! You may be prompted to enter an administrator password to proceed. Enter your password and click Authenticate.

Flash4.png

A Flash Complete success message appears.

Flash5.png

8. Remove the SD card from the reader and insert it into the Quartet.

To flash the bootloader firmware to eMMC:

1. Connect the PC to Quartet with the USB2 cable.

2. Enter recovery mode on the Quartet with the following steps:

  • Power on
  • Press and hold recovery button
  • While holding recovery button, press and hold reset button
  • Wait 2 seconds
  • Release reset button
  • Release recovery button

3. Extract the image file:

  • 4 GB TX2 module: $ tar -xvf ACLinux_4.9_ACLNX49D.NV02.BOXER-8150AI-B1-FLIR.2.tar.gz
  • 8 GB TX2 module: $ tar -xvf ACLinux_4.9_ACLNX49D.NV02.BOXER-8150AI-B1-FLIR.9.tar.gz

4. Navigate to the bootloader folder.

5. Run the flash command:

./flashall.sh

If successful, you will see a screen similar to:

Flash6.png

6. Disconnect and reconnect the power to boot the Quartet.

Setting Auto Power Jumpers

The Quartet is configured by default to use an ATX power supply. This can be changed to an AT power supply by switching the Auto Power jumpers from open to closed. The Auto Power jumpers are located next to the power in connector.

Jumpers.png

Setting Jumpers

A jumper is a simple electric switch which consists of two metal pins and a metal clip that slides over the pins to connect them. The metal clip is often protected by a plastic cover. To close the jumper, connect the pins with the clip. To open, remove the clip. A pair of needle-nose pliers may be helpful.

Jumpers-Open-Closed.PNG


 

 

Connector Pinout Descriptions

A—Power In Connector

Power-Connector.PNG
Pin Signal
1 PWR_IN
2 GND

B—HDMI Connector

HDMI.PNG

Pin Signal   Pin Signal
1 HDMI_DATA2_P   11 GND
2 GND   12 HDMI_CLK_N
3 HDMI_DATA2_N   13 NC
4 HDMI_DATA1_P   14 NC
5 GND   15 HDMI_SCL
6 HDMI_DATA1_N   16 HDMI_SDA
7 HDMI_DATA0_P   17 GND
8 GND   18 HDMI_PWR
9 HDMI_DATA0_N   19 HDMI_HDP
10 HDMI_CLK_P      

C—Micro SD

Micro-SD.PNG
Pin Signal
1 SDCARD D3
2 SDCARDCMD
3 GND
4 SDCARD PWR +3.3 V
5 SDCARD CLK
6 SDCARD D0
7 SDCARD D1
8 SDCARD D2
9 SDCARD CD

D—USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 Connector

U3-U2-Connector.PNG
Pin Signal   Pin Signal
1 VBUS_1   10 VBUS_2
2 (A)D-   11 (B)D-
3 (A)D+   12 (B)D+
4 GND   13 GND
5     14 (B)SSRX-
6     15 (B)SSRX+
7     16 GND
8     17 (B)SSTX-
9     18 (B)SSTX+

E—USB 3.0 Port Connector (TF-38)

Pin Signal   Pin Signal
1 +5 V   10 GND
2 +5 V   11 USB3 TX N
3 GND   12 GND
4 GND   13 USB3 TX P
5 D-   14 GND
6 GND   15 USB3 RX N
7 D+   16 GND
8 GND   17 USB3 RX P
9     18 GND

I—SATA Power Port

SATA-Power.PNG
Pin Signal
1 +5 V
2 GND

J—SATA Port

SATA-Port.PNG
Pin Signal
1 GND
2 SATA TX+
3 SATA TX-
4 GND
5 SATA RX-
6 SATA RX+
7 GND

Additional Connectors

Additional-Connectors.png

K—Auto Power Button

Power-Disable.PNG Power-Enable.PNG
Disable (Default) Enable
  Function
1-2 Open ATX (Default)
1-2 Closed AT

L—LAN RJ-45 Connector

LAN-Connector.PNG
Pin Signal
1 MDI0+
2 MDI0-
3 MDI1+
4 MDI1-
5 MDI2+
6 MDI2-
7 MDI3+
8 MDI3-

M—UART Debug Connector

Pin Signal
1 +3.3 V
2 UART CTS
3 UART TX
4 UART RTS
5 UART RX
6 GND

N—USB 2.0 OTG Connector

USB2-OTG-Connector.PNG
Pin Signal
1 VBUS
2 USB1-
3 USB1+
4 ID
5 GND

O—RTC Battery Connector

Pin Signal
1 +3 V
2 GND