Coral core scanning project

Hi Guys,

I'm planning to build a coral core scanning system for research purpose.

A little background on the project:

Coral deposit layers of skeleton as they grow. When view from a coral core, we are able to see band pattern (see link Cores From Coral Reefs Hold Secrets of the Seas’ Past and Future | Quanta Magazine), with each band correspond to roughly a year, similar to tree rings, except the bands hold environmental information such as sea temperature, water pollution etc. When the bands are exposed to UV light, they illuminate, and by comparing the green and blue ratio of the images, we are able to deduce the environmental information.

I'm planning to build a 1.5m scanning system. The idea is as such:

A camera (Raspberry Pi 8MP camera module V2) will be mounted on a platform with UV light on both side. A stepper motor (NEMA 17HS4401 Bipolar Stepper Motor with A4988 Stepper Motor Driver Module) will drive a gear attachment and timing belt to move the platform. The setup will then be enclosed in a blackbox to minimize ambient light interference with the UV light.

I'm totally new to Raspberry Pi and Arduino, with a little bit of knowledge in Python. I have some questions (in bold) which I hope to clarify before purchasing the hardware.

1. I have done some research online, and I think it is recommended to leave the software and image processing to Raspberry Pi, while the hardware control to Arduino. I hope I'm in the right direction. Do I need two Arduino for motor and camera modules, or can one do the job? Is Arduino Uno able to handle motor and camera?

2. Ideally, the images should be stitch while the motor drive the platform, much like a line scan, so the user is able to see the stitching process during the scan. Is this process possible to achieve with Raspberry Pi and Arduino? Any recommended reading materials on this topic is welcome.

3. Can Raspberry Pi 8MP camera module V2 provide standard camera controls such as zoom, focus, shutter speed, exposure etc?

4. The stitched image should not be warped/distorted. Is this issue common for stitched images, and how can I prevent this from happening?

5. There seems to be a few communication methods between Raspberry Pi and Arduino. Which method is most suitable for this application?

Any help will be greatly appreciate 😀 😀 😀