A CMUcam is a low cost computer vision

Computer vision

Computer vision is a field that includes methods for acquiring, processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions...

 device intended for robotics

Robotics

Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...

 research. CMUcams consist of a small video camera and a microcontroller

Microcontroller

A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...

 with a serial interface

Serial port

In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...

. While other digital cameras typically use a much higher bandwidth connector, the CMUcam's lightweight interface allows it to be accessed by microcontrollers. More importantly, the on-board microprocessor supports simple image processing

Image processing

In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...

 and color blob tracking

Blob detection

In the area of computer vision, blob detection refers to visual modules that are aimed at detecting points and/or regions in the image that differ in properties like brightness or color compared to the surrounding...

, making rudimentary computer vision capable in systems that would previously have far too little power to do such a thing. It has been used in past years by the high-school FIRST Robotics Competition

FIRST Robotics Competition

The FIRST Robotics Competition is an international high school robotics competition organized by FIRST. Each year, teams of high school students compete to build robots weighing up to , not including battery and bumpers, that can complete a task, which changes every year...

 as a way of letting participants' robots track field elements and navigate autonomously. The CMUcam also has an extremely small form factor. For these reasons, it is relatively popular for making small, mobile robots.

The original design was originally made by Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

, who has licensed it to various manufacturers.