OtO Photonics have developed three high performance control boards which are used across their range of spectrometers, for example compact models, such as SmartEngine, EagleEye and SideWinder; and ultracompact designs including the Bullet series.
These control boards have been developed in response to customer demand and to incorporate new technologies as they become available, and provide the platform for communicating with the spectrometer, and for the processing of the spectrum, triggering, buffering etc.
A detailed description of each platform, including features such as flash and RAM, communication ports and speed, frame buffer, triggering etc., is provided below, a summary outlining the main processor and key attributes is:-
| Model Name |
Platform Name |
Processor | Attributes |
| nn1xxx nn2xxx |
Z5 | ARM926 32-bit/200MHz |
~80% of range Suitable for most applications |
| nn3xxx nn4xxx |
FX2LP | MCUx51 + FPGA 16-bit/48MHz |
Low power consumption |
| nn5xxx nn6xxx |
S7G2 | CortexM4 + FPGA 250MHz |
Combines attributes of Z5 and FX 100Mb Ethernet (Gb in development) |
| Examples | SW20x0 PH41xx SE6xxxES |
SideWinder based on Z5 platform PocketHawk based on FX2 platform SmartEngine based on S7 platform |
|
As intimated by the examples of part numbers above, not all OtO Photonics spectrometers are available with all three platforms:-
- Z5 is well-established and is used in around 80% of the current model range (mid-2026)
- FX2 was introduced originally for the high speed version of SmartEngine family and was then adopted for a range of ultra-compact models targetting portable applications such as the Bullet series and PocketHawk, due to the low power consumption.
- S7 is the latest platform and is expected to be the baiss of most future models.
A more detailed description of the key operating parameters for each platform is provided below:-
| Parameter | Z5 | FX2 | S7 |
| Hardware Specification | |||
| CPU | ARM926-32bit/200MHz | 8051-16bit/48MHz |
Cortex-M4/240MHz |
| RAM | 64 Mb (external) | 16 kb (MCU embedded) | 32 Mb (external) |
| Flash / EEPROM | 8 Mb Flash | 16 kb code | 8 Mb Flash |
| Parameter Storage Size | 256 kb | 128 kb EEPROM | 256 kb |
| UART Speed | up to 3 Mbps | up to 230kbps | up to 460 kbps |
| USB Interface | 2.0 high speed | 2.0 high speed | 2.0 high speed |
| Ethernet Interface | N/A | N/A | 100 Mbps |
| Frame Buffer (Physical) | up to 4096 frames | 2 frames / 4 frames | up to 4096 frames |
| Performance | |||
| Mainboard Temperature | ~32°C | ~28°C | ~30°C |
| Power Consumption (@ 4Vin) | 300mA | 200mA | 260mA |
| Bootup Time | ~6s | <1.5s | <1.5s |
| Spectrum Access Time (oneshot) | IntTime + 2ms | IntTime + 0.6ms | IntTime + 0.6ms |
| Suspend Mode Power | 250mA | <1mA | <100mA |
| Application Features | |||
| Batch Mode | up to 4096 frames | N/A | up to 4096 frames |
| Ring Buffer | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Colour Calculation | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Trigger Mode | Multi- Trigger | Single Trigger | Multi Trigger |
| External Light Source Control | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Suspend Mode | UART only | Yes | Yes |
| PWM Output | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Customised Function Support | Flexible | Limited | Flexible |
| Trigger Latency | <50µs | <1µs (accuracy) | <100µs |
| Hot Pixel Correction | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Minimum Integration Time | 100µs | Defined by sensor | Defined by sensor |
| Embedded Calculations | |||
| Average | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Boxcar | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Background | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Linearity | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Intensity | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Wavelength Table | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Stray Light Calibration | Yes | N/A | Yes |
